Veterinary Ambulance

The “Ambulanza Veterinaria” (Veterinary Ambulance) is an ambulance for small animals of the “Società Volontaria di Soccorso” (Voluntary Aid Society). No pets injured here, it was just a presentation at the Terrazza Mascagni.

(Picture taken last March)

See also: Terrazza Mascagni

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A Longer Urania

The 61-meter “Urania” is a research vessel of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (National Research Council).

A few days ago the ship has been cut in half and additional pieces were inserted to bring her length to 67 meters.

A close up view of the cut with part of the new hull in place.

External links: Research vessel - National Research Council (Wikipedia) - RV Urania (Eurofleets2)

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A Hooded Crow

A hooded crow sitting on a fence, inside the Porto Mediceo.

(Picture taken last March)

See also: Hooded Crow
External links: Cornacchia grigia (Wikipedia)
Search labels: bird

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The Reliefs in the Council

We have already seen the eight busts decorating our Council Chamber. Here are now four bas-reliefs, placed on the walls just above the busts, illustrating the history of our city.

Looking from the public area we have on the left “Livorno nella leggenda” (Livorno in legend).

On the right we can see “Livorno all'epoca della contessa Matilde” (Livorno at the time of the countess Matilda).

Opposite we have on the left “Livorno venduta dai genovesi ai fiorentini” (Livorno sold by Genoa to Florence).

On the right we can see “Livorno Medicea” (Medicean Livorno).

See also: Town Hall - Footbridge with a View - City Council - The Busts in the Council

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The Menacing Eye

The eye of the vehicle carrier “Neptune Kefalonia” on a small sailboat...

(Picture taken last March)

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The Chessboard

We are coming back from Florence: the city was wonderful as always, but we have been missing the sea view...

(Picture taken last March)

See also: Terrazza Mascagni
Search labels: Terrazza Mascagni

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More Cannons

The first cannons recycled as bollards we have seen were those around the North Lighthouse. There are many more around the South Lighthouse at the other end of the “Diga Curvilinea” (Curvilinear Breakwater).
Two more cannons are quite at hand at the entrance of the Porto Mediceo: one is just past the pilots' boats, the other lies by the green light of the port.

See also: Two Cannons - The North Lighthouse - Green Light

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Piccolo Birrificio Clandestino

“Piccolo Birrificio Clandestino” means Clandestine Microbrewery. This is their pub in Via Solferino, the brewery, even if small, is obviously elsewhere.

External links: Microbrewery (Wikipedia) - Piccolo Birrificio Clandestino (Official site, in Italian)

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Moby Vincent aground

Here is our beloved “Moby Vincent” undergoing some off-season maintenance inside the floating dock. The ferry is already ready to ply her usual route from Livorno to Bastia, in Corsica.

See also: Moby Vincent - Traffic Jam
Search labels: Moby - ferry

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Magnolia × soulangeana

Flowers of a Magnolia × soulangeana at the corner of Via Montebello with Via Ebat. The x in the name means that the plant is an hybrid. The x is not pronounced, but replaced with “the hybrid species.” In this case: “Magnolia, the hybrid species soulangeana.” (Picture taken last March)

External links: Magnolia × soulangeana (Wikipedia)

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San Simone

In the first years of the 19th century Ardenza was a quickly-developing neighborhood of Livorno and was in need of a church. The construction began in 1837 thanks to a Simone Bini, who offered a plot of land, building materials and a considerable sum of money.
The new church, inaugurated in 1839, was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and also to Saint Simon, in honor of the first and most important of several donors. The bell tower was erected a few years later.

(Foto scattate lo scorso gennaio)

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Greetings from Livorno #2

Today we are starting to post a series of old “Saluti da Livorno” (Greetings from Livorno) postcards. These first two were published by Künzli Frères in Zurich around 1900 and clearly they are not photos.

The Four Moors and Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, now Piazza Grande.

The Torre del Marzocco (Marzocco Tower) and the Accademia Navale (Italian Naval Academy).

(Postcards digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

See also: Greetings from Livorno - Four Moors - Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II - Torre del Marzocco
External links: Italian Naval Academy (Wikipedia)
Search labels: postcard

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To Florence

This is an Air One Airbus A320-216 over the port of Livorno, en route from Tirana to Pisa. We are not flying away, but we are going to take a local train to spend a few days in Florence.

(Picture taken last March)

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Ten Sails

The Laser class is one of the most popular in the world: here are ten boats at the Terrazza Mascagni, on a Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago.

(Picture taken last March)

See also: Terrazza Mascagni
External links: Laser (Wikipedia)
Search labels: sailboat - Terrazza Mascagni

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The Singing Blackbird

This blackbird was singing loudly in a tree, inside the Porto Mediceo.

He was also so kind to pose for me...

See also: Giorni della merla - The Blackbird - A Blackbird - Blackbirds Don't Tweet
External links: The Merla Days (Italy Heritage)
Search labels: bird

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Zim Qingdao & MSC Vigo

With the help of Maurizio we are well inside the Darsena Toscana. This is a part of the cargo port that we usually do not see and where both the 260-meter “Zim Qingdao” and the 270-meter “MSC Vigo” are loading or unloading containers. (Picture taken last March)

See also: Cargo Port - Maurizio - Walk... on Water

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Trashed Bins

People keep talking much about tourism, but the funny state of our trash bins says a lot about our city...

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Vivicittà 2015

I didn't know much about “Vivicittà”, but yesterday I saw a lot of runners in Via Ricasoli.
This event is a spring half marathon that takes place in several Italian and also European cities. I tried to catch the runners again in another part of Livorno, but they obviously outrunned me.

The winner was Andrea Gesi (race tag 53) and the second was Federico Meini (race tag 1).

External links: Half marathon (Wikipedia)

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Palazzo Saccardi

Palazzo Saccardi was built in 1907 in Piazza San Jacopo in Acquaviva.

The same building in a 1919 postcard.

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

Search labels: postcard

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A New Bike Lane

Many Livornese bicyclists amuse themselves chasing pedestrians on our narrow sidewalks, with the flimsy excuse that there aren't enough bike lanes. Here is a fresh new one at Porta a Mare: maybe they will really use it.

See also: Porta a Mare - The Two Towers - Via Edda Fagni - Luigi Orlando - Cranes in the Wind - A New Shopping Center - 6 PM

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April 10, 1991

In the late evening of Wednesday April 10, 1991, the ferry “Moby Prince” collided with the oil tanker “Agip Abruzzo” just outside the port of Livorno. An extensive fire ravaged the ship and there was only one survivor, the other 140 on board were killed by the fire or toxic fumes. A plaque at the entrance of the Porto Mediceo remembers the names of the victims.

External links: Moby Prince disaster (Wikipedia)
See also: Moby Prince - Nineteen Years - Twenty Years

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April Cat

Early Sunday afternoon, on the sidewalk in Via del Fagiano.

(Picture taken last March)

Search labels: cat

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Maìn

The most visited page of Livorno Daily Photo, with more than 3,000 contacts, is still the post we did about Giorgio Armani's Yacht almost five years ago, in June 2010. The 65-meter dark-green “Maìn” is here again, undergoing some maintenance at the Benetti Shipyards.

(Picture taken last March)

See also: Giorgio Armani's Yacht
External links: Exclusive interview: Armani on board (SuperYacht World)
Search labels: yacht

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Starling Guano

I wasn't too sure about the color of this building on the corner of Scali Novi Lena and Via delle Vele, so I asked one of my Stefano friends, who is a graphic designer. He said “dark mustard”, which is a real color, or “starling guano”, which isn't. In my deep ignorance I wondered about the colorful dietary habits of the starlings, but I knew that even stranger color names existed, like “jonquil” or “stil de grain”. At last, I realized that Stefano was joking, but I think that the fake color is perfect for this title.

External links: Yellow (Wikipedia)
Search labels: corner

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Weeds 2

More than a year has passed since my last photos of this place, but the weeds on the steps of Scali Cialdini still lie there untouched, enriched by abundant trash.

We are less than fifty meters from our most famous monument, the Four Moors, and Via Grande: so this is a quite welcoming sight for the first tourists of the new season... and maybe it will still be for the last ones.

See also: Weeds - Canale dei Francesi - Scali Cialdini - Four Moors
Search labels: decay

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Hotel Palazzo

The magnificent Grand Hotel Palazzo, practically in front of the Terrazza Mascagni.

A quite fantastic representation of the same hotel in a 1906 postcard.

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

See also: Grand Hotel Palazzo - Terrazza Mascagni
External links: Grand Hotel Palazzo (Official website)
Search labels: postcard

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Cantina of Maurizio and Luciano

A “cantina” is a vaulted room which faces the water and usually runs partly under the street along the canal, which in this case is called “Scali”. These spaces were originally intended as storerooms, but now they are mostly used for leisure. This is the “cantina” owned by Maurizio and by his friend Luciano.

See also: Maurizio - Walk... on Water

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Lux Nautis Securitas

This is a monument to the Navy crews who once manned our lighthouses: it was erected in 1993 inside the Porto Mediceo. Last Sunday I was quite surprised to see that it wasn't there anymore...

April 2014

March 2015

The plaque that was on the base of the monument: “Lux nautis securitas” (Light safety for the sailors), 1993.

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Killer Gulls

The usual brilliant minds have recently discovered what everybody here already knows: Livorno is invaded by gulls. These guys are also a bit confused about the number of the beasts and even more about what to do about this. Please do not click on this image if you are not ready for something quite crude.

Search labels: gull

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