Barbarians at the Front Door

This is not our typical front door, they (the barbarians) usually write and draw on walls everywhere, but still have some respect for doors. More similar masterpieces will be posted...

Mascagni vs Puccini

In a previous post I wrote about the now demolished birthplace of Pietro Mascagni. This is the original plaque, now placed on the the new building.
Sorry, but the translation cannot be literal because the text is a bit too bombastic:

On December 7th 1863 Pietro Mascagni was born in this house. He gave to the world inspired and original melodies and with his immortal operas made Livorno, as already are Pesaro, Catania and Busseto, world famous.
Plaque restored care of the local council - March 1980

The city quoted are Pesaro for Gioacchino Rossini, Catania for Vincenzo Bellini and Busseto for Giuseppe Verdi. Carefully omitted is Lucca for Giacomo Puccini: “things” between Tuscans?

Versione italiana

Moby Love

A detail of the ferry Moby Love moored in a storm of kisses at the “Porto Mediceo” (port of the Medici). Moby Lines ships have funny liveries usually painted with Looney Tunes characters but in this case the author is the famous cartoonist Mordillo. These ferries serve routes to Olbia (Sardinia) the whole year and to Bastia (Corsica) april to september.

Search labels: Moby - ferry

Half-Dome Fad

The “Cisternone” (large cistern) is the largest of the three cisterns of Livorno: it was built between 1829 and 1842 on a project by the architect Pasquale Poccianti (1774-1858). The building appears quite unusual in its design, due to the open dome which resembles a cut-away architectural model, appearing as a half-dome or “semi-cupola”.This cistern was (and still is) used for water storage and treatment before distribution. A later removal of the gravel filtering system enhanced its maximum capacity up to 2.6 million gallons of water (10.000 cubic metres).The “Cisternone” was also considered as an inspiration for several half-dome bandshells, such as the famous Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, New York, designed by William G. Tachau in 1916.

Versione italiana

Island Prison

A patrol boat of the Italian Penitentiary Police exiting the harbor, probably directed to the penal colony of Gorgona, an island in the Tuscan Archipelago about 37 km west of Livorno.Gorgona is still an administrative division of the municipality of Livorno, but access to the island for not residents is allowed only with the permission of the Italian Justice Department.

External links: Gorgona - Tuscan Archipelago (Wikipedia)
Search labels: Gorgona

Versione italiana

Wilhelm Oberdank

Wilhelm Oberdank, who italianicized his name to Guglielmo Oberdan, was an Italian irredentist executed in 1882 after a failed assassination attempt on the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.
Just before his hanging he cried “Viva l'Italia” (Long live Italy!), estabilishing his reputation as a martyr of the Italian National cause. Statues of him were erected in towns and cities throughout unified Italy.
You can see this bust, sculpted by Ermenegildo Bois in 1928, in piazza dei Mille (The Thousand square), of Garibaldine memoirs.

Kayaking in Livorno

As you can see, after the igloos, we are trying kayaks along our canals. I am still checking about dog sleds... Who knows?