When in Livorno...
We are not so far from Pisa. Since we'd not been there, it was a clear choice for our day. However, Livorno itself didn't look too shabby on this sunny day.
Those choosing to spend the day in Florence or Siena headed off early for long drives and ten hour days. We were happy to potter about during the morning and meet our group at 1.45pm.
Driving out of this, Italy's second largest port (second only to Genoa) it was interesting to look out at the network of waterways filled with small boat moorings. Life here is very much on the water.
It was only half an hour or so before Tracey, our guide suggested we look out over the fields to our right for a first glimpse of our destination.
Our excitement tempered a little when we arrived in the coach park and saw the huge numbers of people heading to exactly the same place as we were headed.
The numbers only increased as we got nearer to the gateway. My heart sank when I saw the crowd. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all?
But once through the narrow gate, the Piazza dei Miracoli opened up in front of us and suddenly the crowd seemed to disappear - or at least, dissipate into the open space - and we stood and marvelled at the sight in front of us. The “Don't step on the grass” signs were obeyed and that green surround to the architectural masterpieces framed them perfectly.
We now had a new, local guide, Ilaria, who spoke well and whose commentary was fascinating. Proud of her city, she told us of Galileo, also born here and baptised here in the Baptistry. As she spoke, I couldn't help but notice - and photograph - details like this small feature.
That small detail can just be seen on the edge of the roof which spans the Baptistry and the Cathedral, out of shot. Though I thought I must have taken photographs from every angle, of every detail, this was one I missed! Fortunately I found the photo above, taken later in the afternoon.
Whilst inside the Baptistry, a member of staff demonstrated the remarkable acoustics under the dome and when I'm able to upload the short video I recorded, I'll insert a link here.
Inside these buildings, we found it hot and very humid and not at all the cool, stone interiors we hoped for. Nevertheless the magnificence that surrounded us, enhanced by Ilaria's stories and the details she pointed out made for a memorable experience.
For example, the pillars on the cathedral facade were each brought from a different part of the country. One stands out more than others however: the red marble one fourth from the right, which comes from Spain.
Inside the Cathedral, we looked for the point from where the chandelier hangs, right there at the top of the white central arch, for that's where Galileo hung the votive lamp which he used for his pendulum experiment.
And finally, the place where Galileo dropped different things from the roof for his experiments on falling objects: the Bell Tower, aka the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The queue to climb inside the Tower as far as the last but one viewing platform was enormous and I'd like to offer that as a reason for not doing that. But, sad to say, there's no way either of us wanted to climb up there, much preferring to use our free time to sit and watch people…
How many entertaining poses were made that afternoon? Every minute offered another range of funny pictures and in between gazing at the wonderful tower itself, shining in the sunshine, I couldn't help but smile.
And tempting though it was, no we didn't pose!
By now it was late afternoon and we thought we'd take a slow stroll back to our meeting point. We had no doubt that we'd seen the architectural composition at its best earlier in the afternoon but I couldn't stop taking more photos!
As we left through the gate in the city wall, there was the sound of a tour guide calling numbers, having lost a couple of her guests. Earlier in the afternoon, two people with very little English language asked our guide for help, for they had lost their group - I wondered if this was the other side of that story?
We'll never know. But I did remember that we'd learned those plants growing in the city wall were caperberries!
Back then through the tourist market. No thank you, we don't want to buy the fridge magnet/hat/T shirt!
Walking back to the coach park, we were amazed by the number of people and large groups still arriving, even though it was now gone 5.30pm.
We were back on board Voyager by 6.30 and had ample time to shower and change for dinner. We found Compass Rose to be the emptiest we've seen in quite some time, for the Florence tours weren't expected back till much later. We looked forward to the ABBA themed deck party planned for the late sailaway and joined some friends up top for after dinner drinks.
But a couple of flashes of lightning, a huge crash of thunder and suddenly, the Dancing Queens met their Waterloo and had to run inside. What a dramatic end to the day!
