Day 7 -- Livorno ("The Ugly City")

Our scene upon arrival.  Not saying "ugly", but ...?

Livorno is considered by some to be a “new” city.  Prior to that, it was a little fishing village.  Pisa was a great city and about 3000 years old, and the river(s) through here split many times near the sea, making a huge delta.  Livorno was at one end, and Pisa was at the point where the rivers broke into “many mouths” of the river.  But the river changed over the centuries, and became smaller and one main river, not so many deltas.  So, the powerful in Pisa decided they needed a fort near where the river ended up, and ordered that the first stone be laid for the new fortress/city in 1577.  It is also (by some) called the “ugly city” though it really doesn’t warrant that name.

Livorno...dock?

Angry sea!

Apparently this is the new "scene" for Livorno postcards.

We disembarked and began our bus ride to the city, which was about 10 minutes.  Our guide pointed out all of the city’s highlights.  The currents from Elba brought many minerals and sort of dumped them at the shores of Livorno, so it became known as a great place for bathing.  We stopped and looked, but no one bathed today.  Off the bus, we continued our tour on foot, stopping in a spot where they sold a traditional snack, a “T’acchecchina” which literally means “5&5”.  Having very little money, people would buy a bit (as much as 5 Lira would buy) of “torta” which here is a thin savory cake make with ground chickpeas.  It is rather salty, too.  Eventually, people would add another 5 Lira worth of bread, and have the chickpea torta inside.  So, it became known as a “5&5”.  We were given the chance to get ours with or without eggplant, which boggles the mind, since eggplant is gross, and would only serve to ruin everything it touches.  So, we got one each way.  (Blech!)

Someone's "Castle"!

It's no castle, but...nice!

The old city wall, and a building needing paint.

Once a moat, now a canal!

Along the way, someone remarked on our group number.  I guess they have a sort of “Bingo” game here but the numbers all have a particular meaning.  23 has a not very nice meaning, but she wouldn’t tell us what, exactly.  But more than one person on the street commented on it.

Fruit!

Our little restaurant for 5&5s.

Inside.

Just a "5&5".

with eggplant (blech!)

The market from the outside.

We eventually made our way to the big market, where many locals buy their food.  It once was an outdoor market, but the city built a large building to house the vendors, so it is now an nice indoor market for seafood, meats, cheeses, etc.  They put the seafood up front so you can be hit with that right in the door!  We wound our way to the center, where there was an “Oil Bar”, a place where you can get an assortment of very high quality olive oils.  They even have a book of all of the highest quality olive oils from around the world.  The store owner gave us a taste of the “best of the best”, supposedly the one the Pope uses.  We were served bread with olive oil sprinkled on it.  Then we were given a special drink, a ”ponce”, which is a shot glass with sugar at the bottom, coffee, then a sort of rum (not really rum but something supposedly like rum?), and an orange peel.  It was nice to try.  The store owner thought Bill looked like Oprah’s private chef, so much so he pointed it out to the tour guide, more than once!

Our "olive oil bar".  With a "ponce".

We took a few minutes to explore the market on our own, and found some interesting little stores, with delectables of many sorts!!  And then finished our walk back.

Really fancy oil.

A "ponce" (coffee and 'rum')

The market.

Ollllllllllives!!!!!!

Look at all of that ham and cured meats!!

Say CHEESE!!!!

We found a pasta shop!

The Cathedral.

The only part of the Cathedral not destroyed in WWII.

The Cathedral from the front.

Oh, look!  A mobile scanner van!

On the boat, we had lunch, and took a nice relaxing afternoon, putzing about and taking naps.  We considered taking in a movie in our room with room service, but none of the movies struck both of our fancies, and the menu seemed to have something worth pursuing!  So, we went to the dining room hoping for a quick dinner (relatively). 

Lunch view!

These guys were rowing back and forth again and again.
It's a local competition, and a long story.

At long last...the right dessert!

Dinner was good, but dessert was the main show.  We each chose our desserts, but then, after the order, Theresa spotted the one we didn’t get…and it was NOT to be missed.  So, we decided it was necessary to get that third choice!  The Profitteri (?) was a pastry with a giant ball of ice cream in the middle!  Oh yeah!

We went to work on the puzzle a bit, and got a drink, before heading to the show for the night.  It was…like a plastic smile.  But, that’s OK, it gave us a little time to relax in the room with the balance of our drink, and watching news about Hurricane Idalia.  (Sort of a mixed experience!)   But early day tomorrow so…

Goodnight!!