Italy’s best kept secret is definitely the beautiful coast of Porto Santo Stefano. You won’t find this beautiful place in many travel books, and that’s what makes it super special. It’s more of Italian local’s summer destination. The beaches are so incredibly blue green that it doesn’t even look real. So isolated and untouched that you find yourself driving in circles before you find that tiny wooden sign pointing you in the right direction! Eventually we found the sign “Calla de Gesso” scribbled on a little wooden board. We looked over the cliff in awe. I had never seen anything so serene! Water so crystal clear. Made for swimming out to the giant rocks, only to discover hidden coves. We sat and dangled our feet, fully enjoying this once in a lifetime moment. When we’re on the road, we always made sure to pack some mozzarella tomato sandwiches because we really never knew where we’d end up, and there’s nothing a good sandwich can’t fix when you’re on the go. I had a feeling we’d be on this tiny little beach for most of the day, with nothing but our little umbrella stuck in the rocks, and a layer of sunscreen. Calla de Gesso reminded me so much beach I was reading about in the book Beautiful Ruins…a tiny beach washed up with little rocks on the side of a cliff. And it’s so difficult to get to, but worth trekking down in the summer heat. We also spent a day at the calm La Feniglia Ansedonia. A beach town lined with giant tall trees. I still remember the meal we had there like it was yesterday. It was one of the best meals we had the entire trip! We started with extra fresh buttery garlic mussels, and licked our plates clean of the shrimp spaghetti. We rented bikes and were zooming down the coast, only the trees towering above us. I was living in nothing but one-piece swimsuits and cut-off denim shorts. Complete freedom. Life is good.

// Solid & Striped red swimsuit, Hudson Jeans boyfriend shorts, Onia black swimsuit//