Late afternoon we went into the dock to have a berth for the night, do a little shopping (Greg bought more than me) and experience the life of the town. We loved talking to Johnny, our Italian neighbor who is on his way to Corsica for his family holiday. It's amazing that someone like Johnny is worried about his English not being perfect and yet our Italian is so minimal it is shameful.
The "promenade" along the waterfront starts about 6.00 pm but really gets underway about 8.30 and is in full swing about 9.30 when many people with families have had dinner. We went to dinner at about 9.00pm (mussels and clams shared as a first course and veal with lemon/veal with white wine plus spinach and roasted zucchini and eggplant as a second clourse, with Vino Bianca di Elba - a white from the vineyards of the island) and then sat on our boat until 11.30 (with Limoncello and a chocolate) watching the passing parade. Fascinating! All ages, still taking their evening walk until after we went to bed.
Today we walked the lower part of the town, including a visit to the remains of a Roman villa on one point of the harbor, first built about 1st century BC. This was a villa of a wealthy family, built on the edge of the sea, with the "thermal room" still very obvious. Smart those Romans, to know the advantages of a sauna in your home.
Dinner tonight was the best pizza we have ever had. We think it wasn't just the pizza dough but also the quality of the mozzarella under the prosciutto and ruccola (rocket). A bottle of red from Isola di Elba.
It was a full moon that rose over the buildings of the old town (built about 1500 years ago) as we sat at our waterfront restaurant. How lucky we are to see such a glorious sight. We enjoyed sharing the moment with two lovely Italian ladies from Northern Italy at the next table, who were amazed to find out we were from Australia and sailing a boat by ourselves.
We have met delightful people all along the trip. Italians are both classy and homely, realizing the importance of family. It's a great place to be on vacation.
Thanks to Judy and Peter Kitchen who sent us information about why Napolean was exiled (here) - because his troops no longer supported him being Emperor of France.