Gozzi & Gozzette

Here are the “gozzi”, the 10 rowers boats used in all the rowing competitions leading to the “Palio Marinaro”. Only eight of the sixteen quarters of Livorno row with these boats, the other eight do with 4 rowers boats called “gozzette”. After the “Palio”, the winner of the “gozzette” swaps the right to a 10 rowers boat with the last of the “gozzi”.We can see the boats of “Stazione”, “Ovo Sodo”, “San Jacopo” and “Venezia” in the “Darsena Nuova”, before the “Coppa Risiatori”. In background are the “gozzette” of “Sorgenti” and “Ardenza” and the motor yacht “I Dynasty”.“San Marco-Pontino”, the quarter around “Porta San Marco”, was the winner of the 2006 and 2007 “Risiatori”.We have not yet visited “Salviano”, a quarter on the eastern limit of Livorno, the 2008 winner of the “Risiatori”.The boat of “Fabbricotti” was accidentally damaged before the race, so they had to use the “gozzo”of “Antignano”, which was not competing for health problems of some of his rowers.The winner of the 2009 “Risiatori” was the “Venezia”, which also won the chronometer race “Coppa Barontini”, disputed last Saturday in the “Fosso Reale” at night.

Search labels: rowing

Versione italiana

Il Pescatore

“Il Pescatore” (The fisherman) is a bronze statue by Mino Trafeli, placed in 1957 on the Lungomare of Ardenza. The man looks relaxed but pensive, watching the sea beyond the seafront promenade.People take good care of the fisherman and in winter they put on him a pair of socks, a scarf or a bobble hat. Last year someone placed an old TV just in front of the statue, in case the “pescatore” got bored.

Inside Santa Maria

Few days ago I passed near the church of Santa Maria del Soccorso and found it open, but the light wasn't there and the sky was cloudy, so this is the most I got from an 800 ISO.You can clearly see the naves, with the central altar in the apse. We are under the dome looking at the left altar of the transept, the main altar is on our right.
The right altar of the transept, while we are still under the dome. As a personal note this is the church where, long time ago, I received my First Communion.

English

Livornesi love English, even if their love is not always returned...

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Barriera Garibaldi

Opened in 1837, the “Barriera Fiorentina” (Florentine Barrier) was the first passage built in the new Leopoldine Walls. It was a barrier and not a gate because, placed on the main road, it was open even at night.On the city side, in a traffic island, stands an obelisk dedicated to Leopold II of Tuscany. People call it “la guglia”, or the spire.Facing out, two decorated pediments stand on top of each building on the sides of the barrier. “Barriera Fiorentina” became “Barriera Garibaldi” in 1889, but the neighbouring zone is still commonly called “Fiorentina”.This is the usual location of the Sant'Antonino Fair.

See also: Leopoldine Walls - Sant'Antonino Fair
External links: Leopold II of Tuscany (Wikipedia)

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Fosso Reale

Usually I don't take my camera out at night, I'm not good with dark. But this was the night of the football match for the “Serie A”, so I took it just in case. Passing the bridge on the “Fosso Reale” I saw this sky, dark but not yet black, and I liked it.

Neverending Ship

The tugboat “Pierluigi Neri” is slowly towing the 294 meter “Maersk Douglas” out of the port of Livorno. The ship is built precisely to the Panamax standard limit: the maximum length allowed in the lock chambers of the Panama Canal is 294.1 meters. The same cargo ship few moments later, passing behind the “castle” of the pilots of the port.

See also: pilots
External links: Panamax (Wikipedia)
Search labels: port - tug

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Province of Livorno

For the lovers of detail (myself incuded) this is the coat of arms of the Province of Livorno on the facade of the local Chamber of Commerce. The province is an administrative division between the “comune” (Livorno in this case) and the region (Tuscany). The bottom half of the crest, the castle, is the same of the Comune (municipality). The three golden bees on the top half were the flag designed by Napoleon himself for the Elba island, during his exile there. Elba is within the province of Livorno.This is another version of the same crest on the restored facade of the old “Liceo Scientifico”. I attended this school in the 70's of the last century.

Parterre

The “Parterre” as a public garden was designed by the architect Pasquale Poccianti and realized between 1830 and 1854 near the “Cisternone”.It become a zoo almost by chance, even lacking any structure, when a couple of wild boars were sent to Livorno as a gift by the mayor of Sassari, Sardinia. With WWII most of the animals were transferred to the zoo of Salsomaggiore and the park was then commandeered by the Allied Command.In the 50's the “Parterre” was opened again as a public park and some animals were back in the cages. In the 90's the zoo was gradually closed and an area of the nearby former Pirelli factory was included in the park.The cages are now empty or hosts palm trees as decoration and not for protection, as falsely described in my April Fool's post: Cages & Palm Trees.At the entrance of the park was placed a pillar which was part of a fountain designed in 1838 by the Poccianti himself and once located at the crossing of “Via Garibaldi” and “Via Galilei”. The female figure at the top represents Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health.

See also: Parterre - Bowl of Hygieia - More Hygieia - The Gate of the Parterre
External links: Hygieia (Wikipedia)

Versione italiana

Serie A

Defeating Brescia 3-0 at the Ardenza Stadium, A.S. Livorno Calcio is back in “Serie A”, the prestigious First Division of Italian football.People simply went crazy and started filling the streets with cars and motorcycles, waving every flag or banner with the colours of their beloved team.As always “Piazza della Repubblica” is at the heart of any celebration, with people driving around and around with every type of vehicle, honking without a pause.We took these photos at 11 PM, not much after the end of the match, and after a couple of hours the feast is still noisily going on.I don't know how many Livornesi will be able to sleep tonight...

Pala Livorno

The birth of the “Pala Livorno” was a very troubled one: works started in 1988 but it was inaugurated only in march 2004 as “Pala Algida”. In the 80's Livorno had two quite good basket teams in first division. Now, twenty years later, it has practically none.Born as a “Palazzetto dello Sport” (indoor arena for basket) is now used for many different purposes, mainly musical events. It has surface of 10.000 square meters, a capacity of about 8.000 people and parking space for 1.300 vehicles.The main characteristic of this building is the roof: a giant dome of 109 meters of diameter, 33 meters high that is completely made of wood.I took this photo from the round walkway hanging from the dome, just where you can see some of the light in the image above. Offices, storage rooms, a medical center and spaces reserved for police and firefighters are placed in the body of building around the central arena.A bank of collapsible bleachers used to enhance capacity for special events. Did you guess who let me inside? My friend Stefano.

Parasols at Sea

A boatload of tourists from a cruise ship exploring the waterways of Livorno, here in the “Porto Mediceo”, and taking cover from the scorching sun under small parasols.On the top right corner of the first image you can see the new Benetti “Silver Angel”, a 64 meter motor yacht ready for trials at sea, with her peculiar set of side post parasols.The wicker chairs of the stern deck of the “Wind Surf” sail-cruise ship, shaded by a more traditional set of beach parasols.

See also: Wind Star

Making Of

These are our last images of the “Fiera di Sant'Antonino”, where we shall reveal the secret devices behind the production of two delicious sweets: “brigidini” and “croccante”, already described in our post Primavera a Colline.Two different “brigidini” machines are at work in plain sight at different stalls. The first model is attended by a lady swiftly packing the waffles, the other is working in full automatic.
A Tuscan term for a sweet maker or seller is “chiccaio”, or the maker of “chicchi” (sweets, pronounced something like keekkee). Again in plain sight a “chiccaio” is preparing some “croccante” mixing nuts and caramel in a copper pot.This time the copper pot is motor driven, leaving the “chiccaio” a more relaxed task smoothing and cutting the hot mix.

Porchetta & Lampredotto

The most typical food at markets, fairs and festivals is the “porchetta” or roasted suckling pig, originally from Lazio, but now considered a national dish. It is even found in Italian neighborhoods in the States, where it is called pulled pork.Following the traditional recipe, “porchetta” is made by deboning a little piglet, dousing it in salt, stuffing it with its own liver, garlic, rosemary, fennel seeds and other herbs. It is then rolled up and slowly roasted whole, usually over a wood fire. The meat is then sliced thinly and served cold on unsalted bread.Although widespread throughout Tuscany, “lampredotto” is a traditional Florentine tripe dish, made of the stomach and intestine parts of baby calves. Served with vegetables and a green parsley sauce, it is traditionally eaten with Tuscan unsalted bread. Before cooking, the meat is sliced and fried in a big saucepan along with all the other ingredients, so that the beef soaks in all the different flavours.Anyway if you don't feel like eating sliced pigs or tripe, cold cuts, cheeses and generous servings of “patatine” (french fries) are easily found almost everywhere.

Fair Wares

Sweets are peculiar but many other wares for sale at the fair are probably not so different all around the world. If you like something funny and useless, this is the place. Do you want your name on it? They'll write it on the spot.Everywhere are hanging colorful and improbable windmill toys, we even saw one with a wheeled cow speeding in the breeze.You could also buy monsters figurines or any kind of fantastic creatures, with the relative castles or dwellings.