Day 2 Wednesday 6th October Livorno
Oceana arrived early morning in Livorno and was already docked by the time I went to get some fresh milk and fruit from the buffet restaurant at 7.00 am. The weather was definitely Autumnal and quite chilly with the wind blowing off the sea.
Our early morning view was that of the Norwegian Cruise Lines Epic moored across the harbour.
We were not going on a trip to Florence or Pisa this visit to Livorno. We had a leisurely breakfast in the restuarant before leaving the ship to catch the shuttle bus into the city. The cruise terminal was already full of crew and passengers taking advantage of the free wi-fi there.
Bizarrely as we boarded the bus we were given a map of Florence as well as the hop on hop off bus details for Livorno. Our shuttle bus dropped everyone just past the Piazza Grande next to the tourist information office. There we picked up a large scale street map and went to look for the Venetian Quarter of the city.
I’m guessing that this bar owner knew that three English speaking cruise ships were in port.
Along the side streets were these stencils on the walls.
Walking down along Via Grande we stopped to have a walk around the open air market before walking down Via Della Madonna to the canals.
Then we were at the canal.
These bananas were on one of the roads as we followed the canal around the Fortezza Nuova.
There was not much choice in the street art where we walked.
Back at the Piazza Grande it was time for a coffee and a cake. There was one empty table in the sunshine outside the Dolly cafe. Even better tat they had a cabinets full of cakes to choose from inside.
The cafe is on the Piazza Grande and has tables inside and outside. On the tables outside there was a waitress service. Inside you can pick fresh cakes and order your coffees and we had a croissant and an Italian version of a mille-feuille. The cafe was very busy with every table outside taken and long queues inside – very popular. When our latte came it was only lukewarm but a visit to the counter and a request in broken Italian soon had it blasted with enough steam to get it back to temperature.
After the coffee we walked away from the Piazza to the harbour by the famous statue of the founder of Livorno, Ferdinand 1st. He is depicted in armour with four ‘barbarians’ in chains below him to symbolise his many victories.
Walking back towards the Piazza Grande we found a wallet on the side of Via Montegrappa as we crossed to go into the Conad store. The wallet had money, credit card and a cruise pass for one of the other ships in harbour.
In the basement of Conad is a supermarket and it was time to stock up with some gin.
Back out on Via Grande we walked back to the Piazza and there was a Seven Seas shuttle bus. I shouted onto the bus asking if there were any crew members as I had a crew pass that I had found. Remarkably the guy who had lost his wallet was on his way back to the ship. He explained that we had ‘saved’ his life and after a few hugs, he danced away to his friends by the bus stop beaming to his good fortune.
Rather than join the queue for the bus back to Oceana we walked over to the Cafetteria La Gran Guardia next to the Duomo church that offered pizza as well as coffees and beers.
Sitting outside the cafe, we were not only pestered by street vendors but by the most persistent pigeon that defied even hand claps to land on the table. I ordered draft beer and it came with a bowl of peanuts and later a plate of mini pizzas were delivered to our table. These both were clearly were the target of the pigeon.
The cafe’s tables were next to a busy route for cyclists and I passed the time capturing them as they rode past.
Back at the ship, I watched the busy port as tugs sorted out cargo ships in the turning area just by Oceana.
Before dinner I tried Okell’s IPA from the Winners Bar. Dinner was chicken Caesar’s salad (no anchovies), chicken Maryland and then coconut ice cream.
The show from the Headliners was ‘StageDoor’ which was a mix of West End show music along with some mashups of the songs.
After dinner while I listened to Al & Chris play in the Winners Bar I tried Snowdonia Ale.
The concierge rate for postcards from the ship was £1.50 leaving at 4.30 pm.
Addenda
If you are ever passing through Livorno the Wifi at the cruise terminal is excellent and free and despite lots of users I still had a fast response.
We did skip the open top bus ride due to the cool morning air and missed out on riding the ‘Funicolore Per Montenero’ (Montenero’s Funicular) or the ‘Mercator Centrale Coperta’ (Central Market), which is the largest in Europe. Maybe next time!
And I did have fun trying to order room service . . .
… as the select dials were misplaced, after getting the emergency medical service I gave up and went to Reception for a directory.