Six Chimneys

I have found these chimneys on top of a set of buildings called “Palazzi Rossi” (Red Buildings), on the corner of Viale della Libertà (Freedom Boulevard) with Viale Mameli. “Palazzo”, in contemporary Italian, has rarely anything palatial in it and is currently used for any type of building. It is also used for a palace, meaning a large and stately mansion. “Palazzi Rossi” is a residential compound built in the 1930's occupying an entire block. It was completely repainted a few years ago in the same dark red visible in the photo.

Window on the Harbour

The “Porto Mediceo” seen from a window of the “Fortezza Vecchia” (Old Fortress), built by Antonio da Sangallo for the Medici in 1534. My “window” was probably an embrasure for a large gun. On the left, before the swing bridge, there is the “Darsena Vecchia” (Old Harbor) which now host the Coast Guard, the Fire Department and mainly fishing boats. On the right, you can see one of the three bastions of the fortress: this is called the “Canaviglia” and Cosimo I liked it so much to have a residence built on top of it. After the bridge is the “Porto Mediceo” proper, dominated here by the huge yellow hull of a Corsica-Sardinia ferry.

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Versione italiana

The Tamarisk Rock

“Scoglio della tamerice” (Tamarisk Rock) is a quiet and beautiful place on the Antignano coastline, which alternates small pebble beaches to rocky outcrops. The namesake lone tamarisk is still there on the top, telling us that no great toponymic effort was needed for this rock.Enlarging this second photo you can easily spot, in the middle of the horizon line, the “Fanale dei Pisani”, marking the port of Livorno. On the same level, between two lamp posts on the right, is the pinkish top of our “grattacielo”, that appeared in yesterday's post.

Versione italiana

Piazza Matteotti

We call it “grattacielo di Piazza Matteotti” (Matteotti Square skyscraper), even if it barely qualify for the term. Technically is probably a high-rise, but it is so much taller than anything around that you can see it from everywhere.

This building by the architect Giovanni Michelucci (1891-1990) was commissioned in the second half of the 50's by the Department of the Treasury. Construction was completed in 1966. The tower rises from a five-storey base, reaching a height of 91 meters with 26 floors. The base mostly houses offices, while the tower is for residential use with eight apartments per floor.
It's no Chrysler Building, but I like it.

External links: Giovanni Michelucci (Wikipedia)

Versione italiana

Man in Black

Seen few days ago outside an interior design studio in “Via Roma”. I think this is a quite fanciful way of advertising for their premises.

Pogoria

On Sunday morning I found this Polish training ship from Gdynia at the Molo Mediceo: it is the “Pogoria”, built in the Gdańsk Shipyard in 1980, during the rising years of Solidarność. Technically is a barquentine, or a sailing vessel with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main and mizzen masts, a rig often used nowadays for sail training on tall ships. The Pogoria, partially owned by the city of Gdynia and now based in Genoa, has an impressive record of cruises and races around the world, on lease to various organizations.

See also: Welcome Back Pogoria - STS Pogoria - Goodbye, Pogoria!

Versione italiana

Pro-shoot-toe

“Il prosciuttaio” is, in this case, the prosciutto sandwich vendor. I understand that this italian word for raw or dry-cured ham is now of common use in english, probably due to the diffusion abroad of Parma and San Daniele ham. In Italian we call these types “prosciutto crudo” (literally: raw, not cooked), the wet cured ham is known here as “prosciutto cotto” (literally: cooked).
Wikipedia says: The word prosciutto (pronounced “pro-shoot-toe”) derives from the Latin perexsuctum, which gave way to the modern Italian word “prosciugare” which means “to thoroughly dry” (lit., “[having been] very sucked out”).
Do I like prosciutto? Absolutely yes! And, as Fio rightly comments, “prosciuttaio” is “pro-shoot-teye-oh”