Pandemic Diaries - Mediterranean Cruise - Livorno, Italia

30 October 2022 – Livorno, Italia

 

We stopped in Livorno for the day – Livorno being the port city closest to more well-known Italian hotspots in Tuscany such as Florence, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, and Lucca.  But we’ve never been to Livorno, so it seemed like a good day to explore this sea port, especially since it’s Sunday and not everything will be open.

 

Richard mostly wanted to use the Wi-Fi, so he settled down at a little café.  I wandered off, my goal being to visit the site of the medieval synagogue of Livorno.  A nice man at the info center grabbed a map and showed me the location, and I set off.

 

Of course, I was distracted by interesting buildings, sidewalks made of random chunks of marble, things like that.  I also had to take photos of some manhole or sewer covers, because they said “Comune di Livorno” and had lovely towers and fortresses and crowns pressed into the metal.

 

What with wandering a bit back and forth, I became a little turned around at one point, because the map showed that I should turn just after the Duomo, but the street wasn’t labeled so I wasn’t sure exactly where to turn.  I asked a nice older couple where to find “la sinagoga,” and they happily pointed it out to me. 

 

Of course, the medieval synagogue is no longer there, and a modern one now is in its place.  The modern synagogue is sort of a strange building, tall with a round footprint, and very little to show it’s a synagogue.  Except some designs under the doorway roofs, and some stars of David windows way up high.  The building looks rather austere and a bit like a fortress tower, with no windows at lower levels.  This could be a way of keeping the building and its occupants secure.  I have no idea, I haven’t heard of much violence against Jews in Italy in recent years.  But, well, Italy was occupied by the Germans for much of WWII, so maybe this building was designed with security in mind.

Being Sunday, the synagogue was closed, but I did hear a Hebrew school class in one of the classrooms in the adjacent building. 

 

I wandered a bit more, and got a bit turned around – but once I saw the bell tower (campanile) of the duomo, I knew which way to go.

 

Walking onward, well, I’m not sure where I went wrong.  I passed a pasticcieria, a pastry shop, that I had noticed on my walk there.  I crossed the street and went inside, but there were tons of people at the counter, and it just seemed quite busy and crowded.  Not the place I wanted to be on a peaceful Sunday morning.  So I walked on, possibly on the wrong side of the street, possibly in the wrong direction.  I have no idea.  I did make it to Piazza Grande, which we passed on our way into town, and which I passed on my walk to the synagogue.

 

But somewhere, I made a wrong turn.  I did find a not so busy bakery and had an excellent strawberry tart (crostata di fragola).  I found some interesting buildings, including a Greek church with all kinds of statues and carvings on the exterior.  I also found park benches, where I could eat my tart and try to get reoriented. 

 

However, I’m used to getting lost.  Happens all the time, and is just part of my travel experience.  So, I asked some older women for directions.  In Italian.  I understood enough of their Italian to get “street – straight – left – Piazza Grande – street – right – Piazza de Municipio.”  Okay, I could do that.  I think.  I’m never quite sure how many streets, but I knew I would recognize Piazza Grande, and I knew that where I wanted to go, Piazza de Municipio, was only about two blocks away.

 

So, my elegant two women turned out to have excellent directions, even if I couldn’t understand all of them.  I easily found the piazza I needed, though I found it from the opposite side.  But there was Richard, happily checking email.

 

I went to join him, but was accosted by a young woman asking for money.  I’ve seen this ploy in Italy before – the woman has a “baby” wrapped in cloth and tied to her body, while she really uses the arm under that cloth to pickpocket her victim.  And I could see that hand trying to grab at my purse, or the camera in my pocket.  I kept one hand on my purse, telling her no in increasingly louder tones.  She was quite persistent, and finally went off after Richard got up and pushed her away. 

 

She came back with a friend a few times, who also asked for money.  Nope, we kept refusing.  They finally gave up.  Annoying, but at least we had a clue what was going on so we could keep our wallets safe.

 

I had planned to get on one of the boats that does a tour of the canals of Livorno, but that episode with the women kind of soured Livorno for me.  Eventually, we headed back to the ship on the shuttle bus.  We passed the old Medieval fort along the way, right by the cruise ship docks.  But there were several ships in port, and we were at the far end of the docks.  There didn’t seem to be a way to walk to the fort to see it, not with all the buses and trucks and cranes dealing with the cargo or driving cruise passengers around.  (Yes, there were ships or ferries or possibly cargo carriers with Bugs Bunny and Tweetie Bird on them!). It was a really busy port!

 

But I had a special lunch.  I had bought several jars of salsa tartufata, black truffle sauce, while at La Romita.  I told Richard we should use one of them to embellish our meals.  So we went to the burger bar by the pool, and I had a plain chicken burger, but added a healthy spoonful of tartufata.  YUM!  The truffle sauce was also good on French fries, as well.  We still have about two-thirds of the jar, so will use that over the next several days to fancy up our meals.

 

I spent my afternoon in the library, looking through an atlas.  I think the mountains we saw in the distance are most likely the Apennine Mountain chain, which begins in northern Italy near the Alps, and runs just right of center along the length of Italy, all the way down to the “foot.”  At least, according to the maps that’s the most probable answer. 

 

At dinner in the dining room, I end up sharing a table with various other guests.  Rarely the same people twice.  But I have to say, in chatting with them about how they spent their days, no one ever seems to have the odd experiences that Richard and I do!