Sunday, March 31, 2013

Villa Jana, Quercianella

Villa Jana, Quercianella, Livorno
A recent view of Villa Jana in Quercianella, Livorno

Villa Jana, Quercianella, Livorno
A panoramic view of the area from a 1923 postcard

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)
Search labels: postcard
See also: Villa Jana - Trillian's Walk - Green Lizard's Bay - Baia del Rogiolo - Quercianella

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Dark Pink

Marmorica ferry, IMO: 7717353, port of Livorno
A fresh hand of paint for the ramp of the “Marmorica” ferry.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Retro or Not

There was an interesting assortment of unusual bicycles at the TAG Heuer VelaFestival. Some of the bikes were for sale at the stands, a few were clearly used by boats crew members.
Magic Retrò bicycle, TAG Heuer VelaFestival, Livorno

Strida folding bicycle, TAG Heuer VelaFestival, Livorno
STRiDA folding bicycle

STHÜB telescopic bike, TAG Heuer VelaFestival, Livorno
STHÜB telescopic bike

See also: TAG Heuer VelaFestival
Search labels: bicycle art
External links: Bicycle Art

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Dagadà Spirito di Maremma

Simone Gesi's Dagadà Spirito di Maremma, Porto, Mediceo, Livorno
Maremma is a large area of south-western Tuscany whose ‘spirit’ the “Dagadà Spirito di Maremma” honors with her name. 42-year-old Simone Gesi crossed the Atlantic with this 6.50 meter sailboat, taking part in the 2011 Mini Transat 6.50, a solo transatlantic yacht race that started in La Rochelle (France), to end in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), after 4000 miles, with only a stop in Funchal.

See also: TAG Heuer VelaFestival - Wianno Senior
External links: Simone Gesi e Dagadà Spirito di Maremma (Official site, in Italian)
Search labels: sailboat

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Strange Dolls

Dolls, decorative objects in a shop window, via Piave, Livorno
I saw this weird bunch of dolls (or decorative objects?) staring at me from a shop window in Via Piave.

Monday, March 25, 2013

After Godzilla

Sign of the 1921 political center, Livorno
The more recent sign of a political center in Via dei Mulini, which now goes as “1921” or “El Chico Malo” (The Bad Boy). The reference is to the year when the Italian Communist Party was founded here in Livorno.
Sign of the Godzilla social center, by Errico Fiorini, Livorno
In December 2010 it was still a social center and it was named after the main character of so many monster movies: Godzilla.

External links: Centro Politico 1921 (in Italian) - El Chico Malo (in Italian)

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Wianno Senior

Wianno Senior sailing inside the Porto Mediceo, Livorno
The Wianno Senior is a 25-foot (7.62 m) gaff rigged sloop originally designed about a century ago by Horace Manley Crosby for a group of sailors from the Wianno Yacht Club, who were looking for a type of sailboat to race in the difficult waters of the Nantucket Sound.
Wianno Senior sailing inside the Porto Mediceo, Livorno
A couple of hundreds of these boats have been built, the more recent in fiberglass. The one you can see sailing inside the port of Livorno, is built under licence by the Wianno Senior Italia.
Ted and John Kennedy on the Wianno Senior Victura, summer 1946
One of the most famous owner of a Wianno Senior was John Fitzgerald Kennedy: he received his “Victura” (Latin for ‘she who will win’) as a gift from his father for his fifteenth birthday. Here are the young Ted and John on board, in the summer of 1946.
Senator Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier on the Victura, Life magazine cover, July 20, 1953
On the same boat: Senator Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier on the cover of Life magazine, July 1953.

External links: Wianno Senior (Wikipedia) - John F. Kennedy's True Love (YachtPals)
See also: TAG Heuer VelaFestival
Search labels: sailboat

Saturday, March 23, 2013

My Ideal Boat

Kinder sailboat, TAG Heuer VelaFestival, Porto Mediceo, Livorno
Wandering about the TAG Heuer VelaFestival I have found the perfect boat for my sailing skills: she would fit perfectly on my terrace and I would still be able to reach my couch and the fridge with a few steps. All joking aside, I think this is a kind of sailing simulator for kids or people like me...

See also: TAG Heuer VelaFestival
Search labels: sailboat

Friday, March 22, 2013

TAG Heuer VelaFestival

TAG Heuer VelaFestival, Porto Mediceo, Livorno
In a wonderful and sunny day the Porto Mediceo of Livorno welcomes the first “TAG Heuer VelaFestival”, an open-air boat show, but mostly about sailing. The event is organized by the magazine “Il Giornale della Vela” (Sailing Journal).
TAG Heuer VelaFestival, Porto Mediceo, Livorno
The location is suggestive: the jetties of the Yacht Club Livorno are close to the Forte di Punta (Fort of the Point), which once defended the port of Livorno with a powerful battery of coastal artillery. On the other sides of the Medicean basin we have the “Fortezza Vecchia”, cargo ships, ferries and luxury motor yachts.
TAG Heuer VelaFestival, Porto Mediceo, Livorno
Some boat slips are still empty because in the past days it wasn't smooth sailing to get here: on Monday we had winds at 110 km/h (60 knots or 68 miles per hour). The boat show will go on until next Sunday.

External links: TAG Heuer VelaFestival - Il Giornale della Vela (In Italian) - TAG Heuer (Wikipedia)

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Rivellino di San Marco

Turret, Saint Mark's Ravelin, Rivellino di San Marco, Livorno
This turret is part of what once was the “Rivellino di San Marco” (Saint Mark's Ravelin), a fortification erected between the “Fortezza Nuova” (New Fortress) and the “Forte San Pietro”.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Ril

Tug RIL, IMO: 8116441, port of Livorno
The tug “Ril” has towed in port a barge of huge containers called sponsons, which will be used to float the “Costa Concordia” during her coming salvage, probably next summer.

External links: Risky Rescue: A Year After It Sank, Raising the Costa Concordia (The Daily Beast)
Search labels: tug

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The Sign of Leo

Segno zodiacale del Leone, Leo Zodiac Sign by Francesco Musante, corso Mazzini, Livorno
In the same window of the art gallery where I saw “Ottobre” (October), there was also “Leone” (Leo), a zodiac sign interpretation by Francesco Musante.

See also: Secret Dreams - October

Monday, March 18, 2013

Trebialdule

Commemorative marble plaque, Via Santa Barbara, Livorno
Ask a Livornese if he knows where is (or was) a place called Trebialdule and it is almost certain that the answer would be no. The most daring would speculate about a faraway land or some mythical tales, without knowing that the answer is at one end of Via Grande, about where Piazza Guerrazzi lies today.
Map from the Annali di Livorno by Giuseppe Vivoli
The toponym was first mentioned in ecclesiastical records in 891 and comes from “Trebbio di Aldule”, where trebbio is an old form of trivio, which is the meeting of three roads. The first road once lead to Salviano and then to the Via Aemilia Scauri, the second coasted the ancient “Porto Pisano”, while the third lead eastward, toward the sea and the tiny hamlet of Livorno. It seems that this is the place where the first church of Santa Giulia, the patroness of Livorno, was built. A quite large and verbose plaque in Via Santa Barbara reminds us of this story. (Map from the “Annali di Livorno” by Giuseppe Vivoli)

Fronteggiava questo palazzo - unica nella popolare via Grande
la chiesa della Misericordia - già di Santa Barbara
e prima ancora duomo designato della nuova ampia Livorno Medicea
elevato su resti presumibilmente appartenuti alla memorata
pieve matrice di Santa Giulia di Porto pisano

Antica tradizione e indagine urbanistica avvertono che qui vicino al famoso scalo della laguna pisana
era il trebbio di Aldule donde si diramavano le vie per Pisa Roma e la cala di Liburna e Livorna
quivi sarebbe sorta - forse sul posto del sovente citato tempio d'Ercole e sotto il titolo di S. Maria
la prima chiesa della nostra terra che dopo la traslazione del corpo della patrona dalla Gorgona a Brescia
- operata da re Desiderio dei Longobardi intorno all'anno 762 - troviamo nominata S. Giulia di Trebialdule
in essa Adelchi avrebbe implorato protezione da qui salpando esule per Costantinopoli
nel 1286 la pieve e il piviere di porto pisano andarono devastati dalle milizie di Carlo d'Angiò
sui citati resti il granduca Francesco dei Medici - il 18 giugno 1581 - prese a elevare una più ampia costruzione
perché servisse da duomo alla rinascimentale “città ideale” fondata il 28 marzo 1577 su piano del Buontalenti
allineante sulla chiesa quella che è tuttora la maggior via cittadina
sorto - con la piazza Grande - nel 1595 - l'attuale duomo “a fundamentis” la chiesa ricordata passò alla compagnia
che ha lasciato il nome a questa strada e - nel 1780 - come detto - all'arciconfraternita della Misericordia
finché colpita dalla guerra nel 1944 scomparve del tutto nel 1953


Ponevasi questo ricordo il 22 maggio 1962 - nello stesso giorno di accomiatava dalla diocesi
il vescovo S.E. Mons. Andrea Pancrazio - promosso arcivescovo di Gorizia - per la cui iniziativa fu eretto nella cattedrale
l'altare per accogliere le reliquie della santa patrona ritornati dopo dodici secoli

External links: A 1160 unpublished document (in Latin)

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Remembrances Park

Old postcard, via Montebello, parco delle Rimembranze, Livorno
Parco delle Rimembranze (Remembrances Park), Piazza Roma, 1931

Piazza Matteotti, Via Mameli, Livorno
Piazza Matteotti, Via Mameli, February 2013

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)
Search labels: postcard

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Habemus aquam!

Multi-faucet drinking fountain, piazza XX Settembre, Livorno
Finally we have running water again. Luckily there are still around several of these century-old drinking water fountains which, in the lower parts of Livorno, have never ceased to supply drinking water. Fixing them with multiple faucets is probably one of the few positive things done in these days.

See also: Without Water - Dried Up - Third Day without Water
External links: The dig - Queueing for water 2 - 3 - 4 (Il Tirreno)

Friday, March 15, 2013

Third Day without Water

Inscription on the monument to Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, piazza della Repubblica, Livorno
On the plinth of the monument to Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in Piazza della Repubblica:

A Ferdinando III
auspice dell'opera
onde la città
ebbe ricco ristoro
di acque salubri
gratitudine pubblica
(To Ferdinand III
inspirer of the works
from which the city
received plentiful relief
of salubrious waters
public gratitude)

Queueing for water, piazza della Repubblica, Livorno
Yesterday, on the other side of the same square, longer lines to get some water, with the above mentioned monument in background.

See also: Without Water - Dried Up - Habemus aquam!
External links: The dig - Queueing for water 2 - 3 - 4 (Il Tirreno)

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Dried Up

Water tanker supplying potable water, piazza della Repubblica, Livorno
Yesterday was the second day of a Livorno without water. The underground main pipe supplying water from Filettole has been heavily damaged along the Canale dei Navicelli. Fixing the broken pipe is made harder by the nearby canal which keeps flooding the dig.
Water tanker supplying drinkable water, piazza della Repubblica, Livorno
Meanwhile, a tanker in Piazza della Repubblica is supplying drinking water.

See also: Without Water - Third Day without Water - Habemus aquam! - Canale dei Navicelli
External links: The dig - Queueing for water 2 - 3 - 4 (Il Tirreno)

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Without Water

Water fountain, via dei Bottini dell'Olio, Livorno
Livorno, a city of 160,000, is without running water since yesterday. A control unit at the local utility was allegedly struck by a lightning during a storm last night. They probably have never heard of the interesting contraption invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1749. Schools will be closed today and we will be on the dry side at least until the late afternoon.

See also: Dried Up - Third Day without Water - Habemus aquam!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Monday, March 11, 2013

Giuseppe Garibaldi

The hero of Italian Risorgimento Giuseppe Garibaldi died on 2 June 1882 on the Caprera island. For many municipal authorities, every other consideration apart, this event started a race to erect a monument to the Hero of the Two Worlds in their own quickly renamed “Piazza Garibaldi”.
Statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi by Augusto Rivalta, Livorno
Livorno fared quite well with a beautiful statue by Augusto Rivalta, which was ready in 1889: they even had time to organize a parallel unveiling with Lucca and Como.
Statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi by Urbano Lucchesi, Lucca
The monument in Lucca by Urbano Lucchesi shows us a slightly less heroic Garibaldi. As we have already said, it was unveiled the same day of the one in Livorno, on 22 September 1889.
Statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi by Ettore Ferrari, Pisa
The Pisans, as always, were late: they got their monument only on 26 June 1892. However, the bronze statue by Ettore Ferrari shows us a very down-to-earth Garibaldi in shirtsleeves, without the cloak and with a hand on his flank.
If Tuscans were timely with their tributes, the Italian-American community of New York was even more so: the Garibaldi monument in Washington Square Park, a work by the sculptor Giovanni Turini, was dedicated on 4 June 1888.

See also: Garibaldi
External links: Garibaldi (Rome) - Garibaldi (Paris) - Garibaldi (New York) - Garibaldi (Venice)

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Viale Amerigo Vespucci

Coast and villas by the sea, Antignano, Livorno
Coast and villas by the sea at Antignano, December 2012

Vintage postcard, coast and villas by the sea, Antignano, Livorno
Almost the same view from a 1932 postcard

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)
Search labels: postcard
See also: Miramare - Rocky Coast at Antignano - Dancer's Rock

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Nodding Off

Wall lanterns outside a restaurant, via dell'Origine, Livorno
Wall lanterns outside a restaurant, Via dell'Origine.

Friday, March 8, 2013

The Flowering Court

La corte fiorita, The Flowering Court, via Borra, Livorno
“La corte fiorita” (The Flowering Court), via Borra

Nato in Vinarchia, Born in Vinarchy, via Borra, Livorno
“Nato in Vinarchia” (Born in Vinarchy), via Borra

Caffè Borbone, House of Bourbon Café, via Sant'Omobono, Livorno
“Caffè Borbone” (House of Bourbon Café), Via Sant'Omobono

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Palazzo Ciampi

Palazzo Ciampi, Piazza del Cisternone, Livorno
On the right side of the Cisternone, facing the the square with the same name, we find Palazzo Ciampi, built between 1830 and 1840, with its characteristic and elegant semicircular facade, probably a design by the archittect Pasquale Poccianti (1774-1858), the same of the above mentioned Cisternone.

See also: Half-Dome Fad - Cisternone

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Canale della Giudecca

Cruise ship Wind Surf, IMO 8700785, Canale della Giudecca, Venezia
As our friend Jack would say, we are out of jurisdiction posting pictures of cruise ships slowly sailing along the Canale della Giudecca, after leaving the port of Venice at sunset.
Cruise ship Celebrity Solstice, IMO 9362530, Canale della Giudecca, Venezia
But Wind Surf and Celebrity Solstice are, so to speak, old friends: we have already seen both of them in Livorno last year. (Pictures taken in Venice last September)

Search labels: cruise ship
See also: Wind Surf - Celebrity Solstice

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

October

Ottobre, October by Andrea Agostini, corso Mazzini, Livorno
Seen in the window of an art gallery in Corso Mazzini: “Ottobre” (October) by Andrea Agostini, the same author of “Sogni segreti” (Secret Dreams).

See also: Secret Dreams

Monday, March 4, 2013

Election 2013

Senate lists poster, Election 2013, Livorno
As usual, in case of an election, I spent last weekend in my old school which hosted four polling stations. The last times I posted some of the children's works, but now it is more funny to show you the official poster with the 16 parties competing in Tuscany for 18 of 315 Senate seats. By the way, with a fifth of the population, Italy needs three times the senators of the United States...
Camera lists poster, Election 2013, Livorno
The number of the lists increases to 19 on the poster for the election of 38 “deputati” (representatives) to our 630-member lower house. If you care to see even more of the 215 fancy party symbols registered with the Ministry of Interior, please check this pdf file.

See also: De Amicis School - Inside De Amicis - Friends Near and Far
External links: Italy Votes for Chaos and the Euro Crisis Is Back (Bloomberg)
- How Beppe Grillo's social media politics took Italy by storm (The Guardian)
- Italy’s Political Mess: Why the Euro Debt Crisis Never Ended (Time)
- Ungovernability wins (Economist)

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Music Pavilion

Old postcard, Padiglione della Musica, Terrazza Mascagni, Livorno
The “Padiglione della Musica” (Music Pavilion) was built in 1935 by the architect Ghino Venturi, when the “Terrazza Mascagni” was still named after the local Fascist leader, Costanzo Ciano.
Gazebo, ex Padiglione della Musica, Terrazza Mascagni, Livorno
Destroyed in the Second World War, the structure was rebuilt in 1998 as closely possible to the original and now it is called simply “Gazebo”.
(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

Search labels: postcard - Terrazza Mascagni
See also: Terrazza Mascagni - Gazebos