Discover Elba: Poggio and surroundings

Finally I have some time to tell you more about my adventure at #Elba4kids at the beginning of September with the TooMuchFamily ant other travel-moms.

We had the great opportunity to discover a bit of beautiful Elba Island, something unconventional of course and off-the-beaten path as I like! One of our stop was in Poggio and its stunning surroundings, where there the is a lovely park.

Poggio, an enchanting village

This is a small village on top of a hill in the municipality of Marciana. It is located on top of a rock of Mount Capanne at 330 meters over the sea level, over looking the Mar Ligure.

It has ancient origins, as testified by the recent findings of a tomb dating back to IV century b.C.. There a few attractions, but its colors, its streets and square are really enchanting and I felt in love with it. And was not only me since it was depicted several times by the famous Italian painter Telemaco Signorini and some important figures used to spend their holidays here, such as Winston Churchill and Greta Garbo.

I recommend you stop by ad just wander around, passing through all the narrow streets, getting on all the stairs, sitting on a bench looking at the landscape and enjoy its peaceful and relaxing atmosphere.

Art into the park

In the area of La Cala between the small village of Poggio and Capo Sant’Andrea Marciana there is Art into the Park, an open-air art gallery immersed in the green and wild nature of Elba.

Thanks to the requalification of some ancient trails passing through the woods, Isola Etica a group of people aiming to promoting their land, they decided to invite some artists to create their artworks on the tracks, transforming the Sentiero dei Profumi into an open-air art gallery.

Each artist had to use only what he found into the wild nature to create its artwork, that become part of nature itself. And because its artwork is made of natural materials is going to disappear over the time leaving space for a new artwork and a new artist, as per the life’s cycle. After death there is life, i.e. Art into the park is an ongoing art exhibit.

It’s perfect for kids too because they can experience nature and art at the same time! And I think that the Coccosauro and the Tartaroccia by Luca Polesi were awesome!!!

Hotel Cernia Isola Botanica

This a small heaven. It’s a real jewel in Capo Sant’Andrea Marciana where you can experience lots of different things, such as the real warm hospitality, good food and relax.

The Hotel Cernia Isola Botanica has a giant garden full of incredible plans and great artworks by different artists from all around the world. It has also a good restaurant where you can have a nice meal with typical food from Elba. I tried their Schiacciata coi Fichi and it was superb!

But what I like the most is that it’s an open place where you can enter, have a seat and talk to the owner Francesca and her staff. every day she organizes something different such as concerts, talks, exhibits, special dinners and so on. She transformed her hotel into a hub for art, travel and leisure where you can feel home.