isola d'elba
Diego's section of the farm
Camping welcome sign
View of the WWOOFer campground
Rose
Britta
Britta's baked goods for the farm stand
Farm stand
Hammock chair in the convivium
Enrico with a guest
Nearby church
Apartment spaces
Sunset view from The White Hole.
Scenes from the reenactment of the arrival of Napoleon during his exile, 200 years prior
Rio Marina
Rose
Live music in Capoliveri
Claudia, Anna, Giulia, Rose and I with our Zero Gradi gelati
Campo Lo Feno beach
Underwater view at Campo Lo Feno beach
Calone Beach
Volterraio Castle
On my last day at San Cassiano I finished my work with the tomatoes and then had my final meal with Andrea who made the dish I told him I had been wanting to try since my arrival in Italy, spaghetti con olio, aglio, e peperoncino. As usual, it was perfectly done and it was awesome that he remembered my mentioning it. I made my way to Napoli before dark and met with Kaelee for an eventful micro-reunion. We had a very fun night out drinking €1 spritz and “building our Italian personalities” by learning slang in the Spanish Quarter with some local friends she had made during my time away from Napoli. At one point late in the evening, a young boy stopped me on the street and told me he recognized me from a few weeks prior when I had been playing some beach soccer in Salerno. It was pretty wacky to have such a hilarious small-world moment while traveling! Kaelee and I found ourselves out late enough to see the sun rising, a jolting reminder that my train would be leaving within the next hour but, most importantly, providing us a quintessential travel story that I had imagined unfolding since childhood.
As with most great adventures and memories, lack of sleep was a small side effect of my Napoli romp, making quite a haze of my nine hour journey to Elba. Trains from Napoli to Roma, Roma to Campiglia Marittima, Campiglia to Piombino Marittima, a ferry from Piombino to Portoferraio, and a bus from Portoferraio to Lacona were all it took to get me to my second WWOOF farm. On one of the train rides I met a young boy from Senegal with a tale similar to many who have made their way to a new place in hopes of bettering the lives of those they love. He was 18 years old, spoke four languages, is here in Italy on his own, and has been earning money to send back to his family. Despite having no food to share with him, he gave me a small keepsake that he said brings good fortune and called me sister; I think of him often and hope that good fortune has found him as well.
ORTI DI MARE
This agriturismo paradise, five minutes walking distance from Lacona Beach, has been a dream of Vittorio’s for many years. The grounds consist of large and diverse gardens, a farm market, a bakery, a restaurant, several apartment rentals, a village of rabbits, forty different campsites, and even a yurt. The farming methods used here are quite different than my last farm, but the food is still superb and there are a few plants that were absent at San Cassiano. The operation here is much larger and spread out with far more people employed and generally a greater use of technology, with wifi available in almost every major area and four-star amenities for guests.
In the campeggio there are many options for guests to choose from with regards to location, site size, RV hookups, and even rental space for private bathrooms and/or food refrigeration. All guests have access to communal bathrooms, showers, wifi, and certain sites even provide a small kitchen, allowing visitors a wide range of options to enjoy their “glamping” experience on Elba. Breakfast and lunch are served walk-in buffet-style but dinner is by reservation only with the menu changing every two days using the freshest ingredients the farm and nearby farms (literally within 1 km) have to offer.
The market sells all kinds of fresh produce and goods baked on site as well as many other local artisan foods and products and serves as the reception desk for guests. There are a few tables set up for any visitors to sit and enjoy a nice aperitivo of fresh focaccia, schiaccia briaca, pizza, wine, fruit, cheese, etc. and also a comfortable hammock (great for napping) and complete play-set for the kiddies. There are also some great banana and chair hammocks in the Convivium by the restaurant next to a great collection of books and periodicals.
ISOLA D’ELBA
Elba is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been but it is also very similar to the scenery I grew up in, which was really comforting. It is a very popular vacation destination for Germans, Swiss, Dutch, and Austrians so there is a lot of English used here and I have noticed more foreigners than Italians on most parts of the Island, but very few Americans. Lacona is south and central on the island so we never see the sun rising or setting but the residual colors in the sky are always stunning and the moon phases have been stellar.
Sirocco, the Mediterranean wind that sometimes finds its way here from the Sahara, has been an interesting phenomenon to learn about. Many here claim that it causes health problems and blame it for this summer’s relatively “bad” weather. I have no idea if there is any scientific validity to these claims but I do know that I have never felt this tired doing so little or had so many long nosebleeds. The air does feel different and it seems that everyone on the island falls into a collective, zombie-esque, stupor sometime after lunch; I definitely did not feel this out of it anywhere else in Italy.
Among fanny-pack popularity, the required use of swim caps at a nearby pool, and Napoleon exile anniversary celebrations, one of the top surprises Elba has provided me was the discovery of a surf culture here. I learned from a young surf rat named Guido that in the winter waves get up to 3 meters and when I sarcastically asked him how many surfers there were on Elba he earnestly answered me with “I think, twenty.”
WWOOF OR LOW-KEY ART RESIDENCY?
Much to my surprise, and slight disappointment, I arrived to Orti di Mare expecting to expand my knowledge first-hand of agriculture and was asked instead to spend my work hours photographing all aspects of the operation for their website and other marketing purposes. Since food, architecture, and people are my main subject interests, it wasn’t too difficult to get excited about the prospect of being fed three gourmet meals a day and have a place to rest my head in exchange for doing my most favorite work. And, actually, I have managed to learn an extraordinary amount from my fellow WWOOFer and new friend, Rosie, about farming but I’ll talk about her in depth a bit later.
I usually spent my days at Orti di Mare waking up early for a run on the beach to be back in time for the best light, and then I would create and edit photos and videos for the remainder of my six hour work commitment. I usually finished working by the time lunch rolled around which left me the better part of my day (usually 2 PM on) to do whatever I wished, AKA continue my beach-bum-ness all over the island. I was tasked with documenting all of the camp sites both empty and occupied, the animals, apartment rentals, amenities, bakery, crops, restaurant, market (and all of its goods), kitchen, pasta making, meal-times, WWOOFers, workers in action, a few videos of how to get around the grounds and to the beach, and also to crank out the occasional painted sign—I can officially add rock-painting to my resume now, right? Every now and then I would get to work in the gardens or help with other tasks but not as much as I would have liked to.
LE GENTE
Vittorio-owner and proprietor of Orti di Mare
Vittorio is a very kind, soft-spoken, former park ranger turned idea man and entrepreneur. He has a deep appreciation for beauty and art and designed all the apartments on the grounds himself. I never saw him quite as boyish or tickled than when he would listen to Rosie play music or when I would show him a photo or video I worked on. He is not confident in his English speaking abilities but he should be because he speaks very well. He would practice with me every day and seemed to be very proud when he would receive confirmation about the correct use of a phrase or slang: “If I want to go swim in the sea with someone I could say ‘care to take a dip?’ yes?” I have been told that creating Orti di Mare was an idea he has had since the age of 9 and it was really nice to see someone fulfill a dream like that.
Britta-baker and life-long organic farmer
Britta first arrived to Orti di Mare from Germany many years ago and decided to stay when she fell in love with Vittorio. She is the biggest animal lover I have ever seen, is very dedicated and hard-working, and feels great pleasure when she gets word that people love her culinary creations. During the high season she wakes up at 3 AM and begins to make every baked good for the market and restaurant including many types of bread, focaccia, schiaccia, pizza, cookies, cakes, schiaccia briacca, and even the jams. With only a short break in the middle of the day, you can find her back in the oven room in the late afternoon working hard into the evening. Everything she makes is delicious and I can’t imagine how much the farm could benefit from her years of experience and knowledge, but it would be impossible to have that much responsibility.
Monica-head chef
Monica is a very pleasant and kind person and works tirelessly every day of the season to feed all of the employees, guests, and WWOOFers of Orti di Mare. Her food is superb and she continuously made me feel taken care of. Her father Italo would come for the dinner service every night to help set and wait on the tables and I thought they made a great team together. I already miss her food.
Diego-partial land owner
I didn’t spend hardly any time with Diego because we were never working in the same place and he seldom was at the same table at meal time but I can tell you that he talks very fast and has the most hilarious wardrobe I have ever seen.
Sara-sous chef and wife of Diego
Sara is the most gentle and kind person I have met on my trip, I could always expect a cheery buongiorno and voi caffe? in the morning from her and she always asked everyone how their day was.
Rose-fellow WWOOFer
Rose is the closest friend I have made on this trip and someone I hope to see much more of in the future. I am pretty sure the Universe had us cross paths at the precise moment we needed to. After hearing nothing but Italian and seldom speaking at San Cassiano I was elated when I found out that not only were there three other WWOOFers at Orti di Mare but one of them was from California. After our stints of silence it was nice for us both to befriend someone with a similar background and upbringing. I’m pretty sure she is a certifiable genius, she knows so much about farming and living things in general and can go on for hours filling brains with priceless knowledge without consulting an outside source. If it weren’t for Rose I would not have learned much about farming in my five weeks at Orti di Mare, and I definitely would not have made as many great memories on Elba. In the anecdotes to follow, she was there for 98% of them and can be credited with a large part of my enjoyment factor. She is a very talented artist, she has a very soulful voice and plays guitar with an enviable amount of mastery; she’s the kind of performer that can effortlessly demand the attention of a large noisy room to focus together on the present moment.
Luisa-fellow WWOOFer
Luisa arrived in the last two weeks of my stay but also played a large role in my happy adventures on Elba. She is another lifelong friend I can see myself having and has helped me so much in my Italian travels. Luisa visits Orti di Mare as often as she can ever since she first arrived to WWOOF there after university five years ago. She is a tour guide for Intrepid Travel now and has that knack for making friends everywhere she goes, an ultimate networker. Luisa is bubbly, kind, fun, and is one of those people you meet that makes you certain she has figured out the secrets of life and the universe. She jumped at the chance to write me an itinerary for the remainder of my trip and offer up pages of suggestions in my Moleskine and also found me accommodation at a friend’s place in Firenze. I hope to see her on my next travel adventure!
Enrico-fellow WWOOFer and honorary fratellino
At the age of sixteen, Enrico is one of those young boys a mother can be very proud of. He is thoughtful, respectful, and hard-working. We got into the habit of calling each other fratellino (little brother) and sorrella (sister) and could do active things like play paddleball or juggle a soccer ball together. He was also a great addition to any World Cup viewing.
Mattia-fellow WWOOFer
Mattia was the first Italian dreadlock rasta I met, a young revolutionary with big ideas and lots of enthusiasm. He loved to practice English with Rose and I at meal times and kept trying to get us to a jam session in Norsi that we never made it to. My favorite thing he said was when he explained his frustration about communicating in a foreign language: “I feel like I cannot properly express myself.” Amen!
Giulia, Anna, and Claudia-visitors
Giulia, her older sister Anna, and their cousin Claudia came for a week-long visit and provided some of my favorite memories and experiences. Giulia had WWOOFed previously at Orti di Mare and is working on her masters in Agriculture, she is also a very talented musician and has a unique style combining guitar, singing, scat, and mouth trumpet. She performed nightly in the restaurant as her work exchange for the three of them staying in the camp and eating meals with us. Anna is very much an older sister and made it fun to be mommied and taken care of. She’s working on her Ph.D in Scotland and was very keen on soaking up as much sun and sea as she could, so we got along great. Claudia is a very sweet, soft-spoken, and gentle youngster who works restoring paintings and is so in love with her cousins. She reminded me a lot of my cousin Colette.
Britta and Noah-visitors
I got to know many people staying at the campeggio but Britta and Noah were something else. Britta is German, speaks English and Italian, and was at Orti di Mare alone with her 8 month old, Noah. I’m not sure if I have ever seen a parent-child bond as strong as theirs and I know I’m not alone in thinking that because any time the two would enter a space it was like there was this beautiful aura they brought with them that would cause everyone to stop and stare with smiling faces. She always had him close to her either in front in a wrap, on her back in a pack or even in the little trailer for her bike. She could often be seen going on walks with him or in the camp playing guitar and singing for him and in her spare time she would read all kinds of books on parenting. Together they were the calmest and happiest pair and the only time I saw him cry was when he had gone number two and needed a change. They made me and everyone else very happy and truly encapsulated love.
HIGHLIGHTS
I had so many fun memories on Elba and in my time at Orti di Mare, here is a little chronological list of some of my favorite snippets:
Talking and hanging for hours with Rose on our first night and watching the World cup at the most poorly-named bar with the best staff ever, The White Hole.
Buying MY FAVORITE gelato in all of Italy thus far out of an Ape truck. Zero Gradi is the bees knees. The best local and organic ingredients made traditionally to produce the creamiest, heftiest, most delicious-est gelato my taste buds have ever enjoyed. It’s so good Rose and I would often take the long bus ride to Capoliveri for the sole purpose of having a Zero Gradi gelato. I’ve tried about 80% of the flavors—they’re all winners, but my favorite combinations included menta (mint) and stracciatella (chocolate chip), fior di panna (cream) pesca (peach) and melone (cantaloupe) or pera (pear), and cioccolato fondente (dark chocolate) and nocciola (hazelnut).
The best ricotta ever at lunches. Made from a combination of goat and cow milk this cheese was great with everything. Cry-worthy.
Picking blackberries and teaching Enrico the meaning of “take it easy.”
Running in the mornings with the sun coming up on Lacona Beach.
The first time Rosie played music for me in the vineyard.
Rosie teaching the word “sour” to the kids she was teaching English to by having them eat unripe grapes.
The first day off Rose and I had together we went to Rio Marina for a festival where the townsfolk reenact the arrival of Napoleon. 2014 marks the 200th anniversary of his exile on Elba. We first visited the market area that was set up to replicate the period and then went to the small castle tower on the marina. After that, we enjoyed some adult juice boxes (wine in a box) while we talked by the ocean, and then didn’t actually get to see the parade since it was over an hour late. Only in Italy would a parade be late.
Viewing the golden hour light that sets on Capoliveri from the top of the vineyard by our camp.
The first night I spent in the restaurant area at night listening to Giulia and Rose sing and play guitar with everyone all together.
Passing the halfway point of my trip and reflecting on all that happened thus far.
The day Vittorio took Giulia, Anna, Claudia, Rose, Enrico, and I to a secret beach at Campo Lo Feno. Crystal clear water, adorable algae that looked like tassels. Swimming, music, apperitivo... bellissima.
Trespassing with the girls to get to Calone Beach and then more music on the beach in Lacona in the moonlight on their last day in Elba. We also hiked up to a castle that provided a 360 degree view of the island.
The never-ending questions like “who taught you how to play soccer?” “How do you know how to play soccer?” “Why would you leave California to come HERE?!”
Painting two signs for Vittorio, one on a slab of granite, while listening to The Rise by Sarah Lewis and meeting many of the guests curious about what I was making.
When Rosie and I went to the pool at Lacona Pineta and cry-laughed as we struggled to figure out why we had to wear swim caps and how we had come to the original conclusion that everyone in the pool must have been playing water polo (OBVI). And then we got invited to a 4-person birthday celebration that evening by Consuelo the bartender whose son is the 19-year-old Guido that taught me about Elba surf culture.
Meeting Mairin, an 18-year old solo female traveller from Wisconsin with a bag no bigger than some college textbooks.
Figuring out that Enrico’s father was the one who gave me directions to Orti di Mare when I arrived in Lacona.
Watching movies in my tent with Rosie and Enrico. They both loved Pitch Perfect, especially Enrico.
Getting stuck in the rain all day with Rosie.
Making heart-shaped lemon cookies with Luisa and Britta whilst talking about love, romance, and sharing stories.
The night celebrating Notte Blu in Capoliveri with Luisa. One of my last Elba adventures and perhaps my best/craziest story yet. The festival itself was fun and had Capoliveri the most crowded I’d ever seen it. Everyone wears blue and celebrates...something? Not really sure what the significance of the festival was (it seems like there is a festival every other day in Italy) but there was a Vegas Bellagio-style water show with lights and music that sparked a lot of PDA, great food, and some time around midnight the plaza turned into a big outdoor discotheque. Many of the doors in Italy lock from the inside with an actual key. Alas, at about two in the morning I went to use a bathroom I knew was across the plaza and found myself trapped inside of the closet-sized bathroom when the key broke in the lock. I started to bang on the door yelling in Italian “help me! The key is broken! Please!” etc. etc. but I only received some knocks back accompanied by laughter of those too inebriated to realize the dire situation I was in. After about five minutes of being trapped, a girl who answered my cries was actually trying to help. I looked down and realized that the bottom part of the door had shutters that opened so I squatted down and peeked through to talk to her. With my night-blindness and cropped view all I could see was her face and a few pairs of feet. She went to go find help and returned with the bar owner who proceeded to force each louver out one by one until there was a space big enough for me to climb through. Upon emerging from my bathroom prison, I rose to see about thirty people standing in a semi-circle all clapping and yelling bravissima! giving me hugs and telling me they were glad I made it out okay. I was laughing hysterically and was slightly embarrassed as I thanked the girl and the owner, then quickly made my way back to my friends. I tried to explain to them what had happened but they just stared back blankly so I thought maybe I had overreacted and in my hysteria had found it funnier than it really was. The next day I went to Luisa to reminisce about the night before and asked her if she heard me when I had told her that I got stuck in the bathroom. She looked at me puzzled and it was clear she had no knowledge of the debacle. After I explained what happened, we were both belly laughing and she couldn’t wait to tell our Lacona friends over dinner. They too thought it was a riot and one of them, Tommaso, inquired about where it had happened and after I explained which bar it was, he had his phone out. Elba is a small island so it shouldn’t have surprised me that he would know the bar owner but it did, and the phone conversation (translated from Italian) was hilarious:
Tommaso: “Hey! I heard some stupid tourist broke your bathroom door yesterday at Notte Blu!”
Bar owner: “How did you know?! Yes, a girl broke the key and I just finished fixing it the moment you called me!”
Tommaso: “Really? No way! I know because I am sitting here at dinner with the girl and our friends and we just heard the whole story!”
Bar owner: “Oh God! Well tell her thanks a lot! Va fanculo! Che cazzo! That is too funny!”
