Odoardo Amoretti

The 140-meter “Odoardo Amoretti” is an oil and chemical tanker.

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The Busts in the Council

Eight busts of famous Livornesi are hosted in niches along three walls of the City Council Chamber. The room goes back to the years after World War I and was not originally part of Town Hall proper. It was connected to the main building through a footbridge with a view and was completely refurbished in 1994. Until then the room was facing south, toward the side without busts.

Enrico Mayer (1802-1877) Pedagogist and writer	Angelica Palli (1798-1875) Writer
Carlo Bini (1806-1842) Writer and patriot	Enrico Pollastrini (1817-1876) Painter
Giuseppe Orosi (1816-1875) Chemist	Francesco Bonaini (1806-1874) Philologist and palaeographist
Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi (1804-1873) Politician and writer	Vincenzo Malenchini (1813-1881) Soldier and politician

See also: Town Hall - Footbridge with a View - City Council
External links: Enrico Pollastrini - Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi (Wikipedia)

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La Darsena Vecchia

The Fortezza Vecchia beyond the water of the Old Harbor, also called Pamiglione. From the left we see the bastion of Canaviglia, with the Palazzo di Francesco on top, the Molo del Soccorso and the imposing Mastio di Matilde.

Part of the same view in a 1900 postcard.

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

See also: Fortezza Vecchia - Canaviglia - Palazzo di Francesco - Molo del Soccorso - Mastio di Matilde - Pamiglione - Old Harbor
Search labels: postcard - Fortezza Vecchia

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Toxic Cloud

We already had a fire a couple of years ago, this time it was a toxic cloud of sorts which chased us away from our apartment last Sunday night. Firefighters searched the building and then the neighborhood until midnight, while an ambulance was ready for the worst. Eventually, we all went to sleep in our beds and nobody was seriously hurt.

See also: Theme Day: My Street

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Road Victims

A ‘ghost bike’ in Via della Cinta Esterna, a memorial dedicated to road victims.

See also: Ghost Bike - Destroyed Ghost Bike
External links: Ghost bike (Wikipedia)

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Via della Bassata

An unusual building, at least for our standards, in Via della Bassata.

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Ortensia II

In view of the next regional elections in May, hundreds of millions of euro (which nobody has) are being promised to transform Livorno in the first port of the known Universe. Meanwhile, the dredge “Ortensia II” keeps excavating the entrance channel to the port: an absolutely necessary work, planned years ago, and long overdue.

See also: CREI I

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The Cats of March

A cold and rainy Sunday for these two cats on Scali delle Pietre.
Their only refuge was the small entrance hall of a bank, open for the ATM.

(Pictures taken last February)

Search labels: cat

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From the Bridge

The crew of “Venezia” seen from the swing bridge during a training session on Sunday morning.

See also: Swing Bridge - From the Swing Bridge
Search labels: rowing

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Walk... on Water

There was a time when, mostly on Monday, I posted four or five photos following an itinerary, a story or a pretext. It ended because I exhausted almost every possible route and there was not much to photograph anymore. The last one was in June of the past year, but something changed yesterday...

It doesn't happen every day that a friend comes to pick you up with a boat just by your home: here comes Maurizio in the Fosso Reale on his boat.

A few tens of meters past my personal landing, we were already passing under the San Benedetto Bridge.

For the first time I was able to cross the whole lenght of Piazza della Repubblica without worrying about speeding cars and scooters. The police boat in the basin of the Fortezza Nuova wasn't waiting for us.

Our friend cieldequimper will probably recognize this place...

Soon we were passing the new bridge, here with the Fortezza Vecchia in background, and ready to enter the port. But that is another story...

See also: Maurizio - San Benedetto Bridge - Piazza della Repubblica - Fortezza Nuova - La Bodeguita - The New Bridge - Fortezza Vecchia - Cantina of Maurizio and Luciano
More Walks

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Officially Spring

A succulent may be not the best sign of spring, but I liked this one... I saw it in a wall pot in Via Magenta.

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Paint and Vespucci

A simplified model of the “Amerigo Vespucci” on display in a shop window in Corso Mazzini.

See also: Amerigo Vespucci
Search labels: Amerigo Vespucci

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The Missing Building

In this block, the building on the corner of Corso Amedeo with Via del Collegio is practically missing...

Search labels: corner

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Mega Smeralda & Gaz Victory

The ferry “Mega Smeralda” and the LPG gas carrier “Gaz Victory” seen from Montenero.

See also: Mega Smeralda
External links: MS Mega Smeralda (Wikipedia)
Search labels: ferry

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Gull in Flight

Gull in flight over the waters of the Porto Mediceo.

Search labels: gull

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A Diabolical Endeavour

“Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum”

(To err is human, but to persist is diabolical)

It took more than two years and a change of Administration, but at last even our local daily has acknowledged on its front page that our bike sharing system is a disaster and a waste of public money.

It was also easily foreseeable to anyone who has lived in Livorno even for only a few months: here public property is enthusiastically vandalized and any kind of bicycle is systematically stolen, with absolute impunity.

See also: Five-Thousand-Euro Bicycles - Waste of Money - Bike Sharing
External links: Poche, rotte e sconnesse: il “bike sharing” è a terra (Il Tirreno, in Italian)

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Via della Torre

On the corner of Viale Italia and Via Pacinotti we can see an old gazebo inside the garden of a villa. The place faces the Rotonda of Ardenza, a round grove of pine trees by the sea.

A similar view, from the first years of the last century.

The same place in 1933: Via della Torre (Tower Street) was the old name of Via Pacinotti.

(Postcards digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

See also: Via Pacinotti
Search labels: postcard

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Sailing

Last Sunday there was a boat race of sorts, just in front of the Terrazza Mascagni.

See also: Terrazza Mascagni
Search labels: sailboat - Terrazza Mascagni

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Via Roma 69

Just a few more shots about the ambience of the new premises of the Belforte bookstore in via Roma.
Speaking of distances from Livorno, Rome and Santiago de Compostela seem quite right, Jerusalem should be much nearer than that, but we are probably speaking of pilgrimage routes. We also have a ‘disinformation desk’ which is a glass top resting on four piles of books.

See also: Belforte Bookstore - Pedestrian Zone - Belforte - Belforte, via Roma

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Mail at the Gate

A mailbox in the garden of a townhouse in Via Micali.

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Alaska of Georgetown

The 43-meter motor yacht “Alaska of Georgetown” was built in 2004 by Shipworks Brisbane, in Australia. You (and nine guests) can charter her for 120.000-150.000 Euro per week, depending by the season.

(Picture taken last octobrer)

External links: Shipworks Brisbane (Website) - Alaska of Georgetown (Ultimate Charters)
Search labels: yacht

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The Grasshopper

I took this picture at work: we had a guest on a window sill. My friend Stefano says that it should be an Anacridium aegyptium, but this time even he is not so sure...

External links: Anacridium aegyptium (Wikipedia)

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Choccolandia 2015

“Choccolandia” is back, with its fantastic display of hypercaloric temptations.
Orange peels and figs in dark chocolate, small cannoli with coconut and Nutella.

Black cherry, coconut, coffee and lemon truffles.

See also: Choccolandia - Sicily in Tuscany - Hardware - Art & Ciocc - Choccolandia 2014

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Via del Cedro

The project around the Dogana d'acqua goes beyond encasing the rebuilt structure in glass: another completely new building is taking form on its right: here is the Via del Cedro (Citron Street) facade.

One of the strangest things about this wing of the complex is that they will soon re-dig a large water basin just in front of it. The basin was once part of the Canale dei Navicelli and was interred when the waterway fell in disuse.

See also: New and Old - Glass Panes - PIUSS - Scali Cerere Footbridge - Customs on the Water - Dogana d'acqua - Canale dei Navicelli - Leopoldine Walls
External links: Canale dei Navicelli (Wikipedia)

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Apuan Alps

This is one of a few photos I shot from the panoramic terrace in Montenero, where we can see the northeast part of Livorno. About in the middle, from left to right, you can see the yellow cranes of the cargo port, the wooded area of Tombolo and, just above it, Marina di Pisa, at the mouth of the Arno river. Far away the imposing Apuan Alps.

See also: Montenero
External links: Apuan Alps (Wikipedia)

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The Interview

The rower in front of the camera is the president of the Palio Marinaro and he is being interviewed by a TV crew in the Porto Mediceo.

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