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“Via Pompilia”

“Viale Amerigo Vespucci”

See also: House Numbers - Numbers

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Harbor Pilots

A pilot getting off a ferry ...... and the crest of the Pilots Corps of the port of Livorno.

See also: Pilots - Pilotina Due

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Tow-Away Zone

Three no-parking signs under the eye of Amedeo Modigliani. If they misbehave they may end up like these.

See also: Bad Signs - My Name Is 5074

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Scali Cerere Footbridge

Here is how it looked, in September 2009, the old iron footbridge crossing the “Canale dei Navicelli” and linking Scali Cerere with Via Lamarmora, just in front of the “Dogana d'Acqua”.

The whole structure has been recently refurbished and its line is much better now with the side pipes included in the body of the bridge.

I managed to sneak across it, but the footbridge is not yet open to the general public.

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Dancer's Rock

The “Scoglio della Ballerina” (Dancer's Rock), Antignano, December 2012

The same rock, Antignano, early years of 1900

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

Search labels: postcard
See also: Miramare - Rocky Coast at Antignano

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Three Cranes

Three cranes, the lighthouse and several yachts against a dark sky. (Picture taken in September 2012)

This is our 1500th post!

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Outside the Cage

Womens bicycle, with a basket, next to an empty cage outside the Fish Market building.

Due to a medical problem, I won't be able to comment on your blogs for a while,
I really hope to come back very soon...

Search labels: bicycle art
External links: Bicycle Art

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V 2043

The patrol boat V 2043 of the “Guardia di Finanza”, built by Intermarine, speeding in the waters in front of the “Terrazza Mascagni”. (Picture taken in July 2011)

See also: V 609 Falco - Summer Hawk

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Stefano & Matteo

Our friends Stefano Ceccarini and Matteo Giunti have been the driving force behind the collection of signatures for the restoration of the “Chiesa degli Olandesi” (Dutch Church) and many other initiatives. Here they were checking the interior of the church and I was tagging along, taking pictures.

The building is, if possible, in even worse shape than ever, with further collapsing and widespread decay.

All the stained glass windows are broken, but one of the smaller ones inside has still something to say.

Search labels: Dutch church
See also: Abandoned Church - Scali degli Olandesi - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Sad Preview - A lecture - Finale - A Ray of Hope - Falling to Pieces - Flying Rats - Another Collapse - Fenced Off - Piazza Poerio - The Places I Love - A Few More Votes - Rose Window - Second Place?
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Facebook Group: “Salviamo la chiesa degli Olandesi a Livorno” (Save the Dutch church in Livorno)

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Maranello4

To call this tiny two-seater Maranello4 is a bold choice considered that here, and probably in the rest of the world, we are used to associate that name with the birthplace of the Ferrari.

External links: Sakura Maranello4 (GreenCarSite)

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Stolpersteine

Stolperstein literally translates as ‘stumbling stone’ and it is a small stone cube with the top sie covered in brass and etched with the name of a Jew or other victim of the Nazi regime who was deported and killed in a concentration camp. It is usually placed on the sidewalk of the house where they once lived. The dates of their deportation and death are also inscribed on the stone, following a project started by the German artist Gunter Demnig in 1994, when the first stones were placed in Cologne.

Last week four Stolpersteine have been laid in three streets of Livorno.

Two of them are in front of the same building in Via Verdi remembering a father and his twelve year son.

See also: Not Even One Year - Perla - Isacco Bayona - Dina and Dino
External links: Stolperstein - Gunter Demnig (Wikipedia)

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Municipal Building

Municipal building, January 2013

Municipal building, 1908

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

Search labels: postcard
See also: Mural Crown - Town Hall - Piazza del Municipio - Coat of Arms

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Lifeguard Chair

An empty lifeguard chair at the Tre Ponti (Three Bridges) beach, the home of our windsurfers.

See also: Windsurfers - Going with the Wind - Three Bridges - Libeccio

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Piero Ciampi

Piero Ciampi (Livorno, 1934 - Rome, 1980) was a Livornese singer-songwriter, a cult figure whose genius was widely recognized only after his death. This mural is not far from his birthplace in Via Pellettier.

(“Senza rete”, 1970)

External links: Piero Ciampi (Allmusic)
See also: Almost Bicycle Art - Art Is a Disease - Mart - Jeanne Hébuterne - Rothko & Modigliani

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Twin Doors

Two sets of twin doors ...

... on scali della Dogana D'Acqua.

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A GIS's RIB

A Zodiac Hurricane RIB (Rigid-hulled inflatable boat) used by the Carabinieri's GIS (Gruppo di Intervento Speciale), based in Livorno. (Picture taken in May 2012)

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Bridge with a Window

A bridge between the main building of the Teatro Goldoni and its annex in the former Rimediotti firehouse.

See also: Caffè Palcoscenico

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In Pisa

At least once a year we go to Pisa, taking all the needed precautions, to watch the Pisan creatures in their natural habitat and study their rare and curious accomplishments. Last year we missed this visit, getting only as far as the Livorno airport, that our city successfully managed to place, a while ago, on Pisan land.

Pedicab tours are an absolute novelty in Pisa and their adventurous drivers still don WWI pilot attires.

A wondrous example of Pisan sculpture: the subtle message and the elegant forms overwhelm your senses.

As you can see, our beloved cousins are very precise with distances (103 meters!), but can't even get right their own web addresses on advertising. In fact, the right one for this restaurant is www.osteria-isanti.com.
If you, as we, are thrilled by the Pisan way of doing things, please check the links below.

See also: Livorno Airport - Pisan Walk (2010) - Pisan Walk 1 of 2 - Pisan Walk 2 of 2 (2011)

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Customs on the Water

The “Dogana d'acqua” complex was built in the 1830s as a barrier where the “Canale dei Navicelli” passed the Leopoldine Walls. It was heavily damaged during the WWII air raids over the port of Livorno.

Dogana d'acqua (outer side), Canale dei Navicelli, January 2013

Dogana d'acqua (outer side), Canale dei Navicelli, early 1900s

Dogana d'acqua (inner side), Canale dei Navicelli, January 2013

Dogana d'acqua (inner side), Canale dei Navicelli, 1902

(Postcards digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

Search labels: postcard
See also: Dogana d'acqua - Canale dei Navicelli - Leopoldine Walls
External links: Canale dei Navicelli (Wikipedia)

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Scattered Clouds

Scattered clouds reflected in a window of the Antonio Benci elementary school.

See also: Antonio Benci School - Benci

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Nostalgy of Summer

Fishing on a pier in August, with a parasol and a bicycle with a plastic crate.

Search labels: bicycle art
External links: Bicycle Art

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Slice of Cake

Due to some weird angles between our streets, we have several building like this in town. This is one of the most recent, in “Via de Larderel”.

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JoyMe

The unusual colors of the “JoyMe”, a 50-meter yacht built in 2011 by Philip Zepter Yachts in Split, Croatia.
Both the exterior and interior design are by Stand By studio of Marijana Radović.
The yacht was offered at € 27.000.000 and is already sold.

(Pictures taken in July 2012)

Search labels: yacht
External links: The unique and highly individual JoyMe (SuperYachtTimes)

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Marco Alessandro del Borro

The Arezzo-born Marco Alessandro del Borro was a quite popular governor of Livorno from 1678 to 1701. He promoted the expansion of the Venezia Nuova quarter, whose main street is named after him: “Via Borra”. His funerary monument inside the Cathedral was realized by the sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini, but it was badly damaged by the WWII air raids.

See also : Duomo di Livorno - Around the Duomo - Via Cairoli - After the Snow - Fontana del Duomo - Inside the Cathedral - Most Blessed Sacrament Chapel

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Sausages and Olives

“I politici sono come i maiali mangiano sempre presto diverranno salciccie per il popolo”
(Politicians are like pig: they are always eating, but soon they will be sausages for the people)

While one can even sympathize with the incipit, here is a semi-analphabet cannibal revolutionary who can't ever write “politici” in one go and spells “salcicce” (“salsicce” would be even better) with a superfluous “i”. Punctation is a unresolved mystery to him.

“Una serata davvero vuota, le olive finiscono” (A really empty evening, we run out of olives)

An enigmatic message, but it is just a quote from the story “Senso contrario” from the book “Altri libertini” by Pier Vittorio Tondelli (1955-1991).

External links: Pier Vittorio Tondelli (Wikipedia) - Altri libertini (Google Books, in Italian)

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Rocky Coast at Antignano

The coast south of the Antignano Marina, December 2012

Almost the same view from a 1901 postcard

A slightly different view in a 1928 postcard

(Postcards digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

Search labels: postcard

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Fresh Tomatoes

Fresh tomatoes in a crate on display outside a shop in Via Magenta.

See also: Hot Peppers - Peppers and Eggplants

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Rothko & Modigliani

Mark Rothko by Mart, Scali del Refugio

Amedeo Modigliani by Mart, off Viale Amerigo Vespucci, Antignano

See also: Almost Bicycle Art - Art Is a Disease - Mart - Jeanne Hébuterne

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Alfredo Cappellini

Alfredo Cappellini was a Livornese captain of the Italian Royal Navy who died in the Battle of Lissa, during the Third Italian War of Independence (yes, we had four of those!). The local “Istituto Tecnico Nautico” (Nautical Technical Institute) is named after him.This former Coast Guard motor boat was donated a few years ago to the Institute and was refitted and refurbished almost completely by the students of the school. She was then renamed “Alfredo Cappellini”.

(Picture taken on May 2012)

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