Postal Faces

If any of you has any idea about the possible connection of these three strange faces and our Central Post Office in “Via Cairoli”, please let me know. The three faces are repeated regularly around the building, built in the late 20s of the last century and restored recently.“Via Cairoli” is a quite solemn street bisecting the Pentagon from the apse of the “Duomo” to “Piazza Cavour”. It is mostly banks.

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Viale Caprera

This is “Viale Caprera” now and more than a hundred years ago, before the canal was interred in 1898. In the old postcard we can see how the canal followed the median of the street, exactly where are now parked all the cars.A “navicello” is moored on the right of the canal, just before the “Crocetta” bridge, the one that they are going to rebuild after digging the canal again.

Search labels: new canal
See also: An Useless Dig - Canale dei Navicelli - Micropoles - New Venice - A New Canal - Crash - The Dig - Building the Canal - Venice's Canal - The Old “Cantina” - Along the New Canal - Under Construction - The Bomb - The Buried Bomb - The Wall - Modulblock

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Consulates

Not as many as in the past, but we can still spot some picturesque plaques and the occasional flag of a consulate on city buildings.

The Uruguayan consulate in “Via De Larderel”

The The Honorary Consulate of Greece in “Piazza Attias”

The Swedish consulate in “Via Cogorano”

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Anchors at Work

We have already seen some display anchors around Livorno, so let us see some real ones at work. The first is the half rised anchor of the ferry “Moby Otta”.
I really don't remember this one but it doesn't look in very good shape, probably some old boat “parked” in port.
This is the anchor of the sail vessel “Signora del Vento”, a sort of training ship with luxury accomodations.

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House Numbers

These are house numbers from all over Livorno, all “deviants” from the regular black and white standard issue.A regular tile issued by the “Comune” (Municipality) of Livorno.

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Red Building

This is a building like many others, with no history of note, but every time I pass by I have to try some shots.Built on an irregular plot, I like its colors and the angle. The simple iron balcony is quite perfect.

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Signs

Just some eateries signs, grouped by shape. The first one is a restaurant “Antico Borgo” (Ancient Borough) off “Borgo dei Cappuccini”, as you can see from the hungry friar.The Pizzeria “Da Cecco” is not so famous for its pizza but it is one of the best “tortai” (vendors of “torta” and “5 e 5”) in Livorno.“L'Angolo Bar” is a bar on corner of “Via Magenta” with a perfect sign for this series.

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Profiles of Gulls

Gulls posing inside the “Porto Mediceo”.Pictures taken last September.

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Traffic Light Colors

Three “Fiat 500”, posted just for the fun of it and for what they have in common today with... peppers!

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Only in Ardenza

An ornate corner of a building on the Aurelia road, which crosses the suburb of Ardenza as “Via Mondolfi”.Same street and the quite original “portal” of Keloé, an artisan workshop specialized in signs and props.My friend Stefano pointed me to this star, right on the front of a house, still in Ardenza.

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Bunch of Benches

The first could have been a joke, but the second set of additional odd chairs tipped me off. The third group I saw was actually used by several ladies, quite busy with their mid morning chat.
The few benches in this zone are so far away that people had to carry their old chairs to better socialize. This is not a deprived periphery but a stretch of green in one of the best zones of Livorno, bordering with the fields of the Tennis Club, between “Via Goito” and “Via Sant'Jacopo in Acquaviva”.And where have all the benches gone? I have found some in “Via della Cappellina”, not one of the “poshest” places in town.

This is the second time that Livorno Daily Photo is being posted from abroad, we are in London until November 1st.

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Sunday & Saturday

In my last Sunday afternoon walk, a very short one, I found this satellite dish mounted inside a window. Probably not so rare, very convenient during winter.Pink and blue ribbons usually mark the birth of a baby, but in this case the quadruplets are puppies. I doubt that the real parents have anything to do with this display.I saw these pigeons literally pigeonholed on the inviting walls of the “Benci” elementary school.I caught this on Saturday, but I am eager to show you one of the first lucky motorist to win a wheel boot in Livorno. To unlock the clamp he will have to pay 25 Euro cash plus the parking ticket.

More Walks

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Decorated Shutters

Decorated shop shutters aren't common here, they are usually painted a drab grey, with some recent exceptions: a tattoo shop in “Scali delle Cantine”.A newsstand on a corner of the “Mercato Centrale”, probably worried to avoid worse offences...A seafood shop in “Borgo dei Cappuccini”. The street is called after the friars, not the popular coffee drink. The “cappuccino” takes its name from the friars, because it is the same color of their habit.

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Bored Angels

Inspired by Fort Lauderdale Daily Photo and his relentless pursuit of “strange things that people put in front of their homes”, I have been canvassing Livorno for the same stuff.It's not easy here, too many apartment buildings, but we already got some proud lions and, this time, some bored angels.I know that they look more like “putti” than angels, but I didn't like “bored putti” as a title...

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Chairs

Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi (1804-1873) is a prominent figure in the history of Livorno during the “Risorgimento”, he was even dictator of Tuscany for few months. Sitting on a plinth, on a side of the square dedicated to him, he is looking across “Via Grande”.
Is he cherishing a chair at this table, ready for lunch, at the other end of the square? He knows better: this table is only a display!
But not far, with a geometric progression of chairs and colors, he could sit for a coffee or an ice cream under the porticoes of “Via Grande”.

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Ricetto Templare

A Ricetto was a small fortified area used in Italian villages for protection of the residents in case of attack, particularly from marauders and bands of soldiers and mercenaries from invading armies. (Wikipedia)
I found this “Ricetto Templare” during my Sunday afternoon wanderings: the seal “Sigillum Militum Christi” (Seal of the Soldiers of Christ) is a copy of a real Templar one, so rare that you could buy dozens on eBay in any size.
Our Templars even have a website: www.ricettotemplare.it, where they claim to practice archery and medieval cuisine, in pursuit of some spiritual quest called “The Way of the Forest”. This Templar organization is quite at odds with tradition, because it claims to be composed mostly of women.

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Anchors

On the front gate of the “Accademia Navale”

In front of the “Palazzo del Portuale” (Dockworker's Building)

Outside the “Capitaneria di Porto” (Port Captain's Office)

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Scali D'Azeglio

I hope I'm not abusing this “one hundred years apart” trick, but when I find a new old postcard I can't resist replicating it.Here is a view of the “Scali d'Azeglio” and the “Fosso Reale” (Royal Canal), it is clearly visible the “Palazzo dell'Aquila Nera”.

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