Livorno Things to Do

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The Corso Carducci takes you right into the old part of the city, and the main square. It is packed with people and parking is a nightmare. Of course on the day we visited, it was also market day, making it much worse. WE never found a spot after driving around for 1/2 hour and the only vacant places were about 1 1/2 miles away. So, to say the least, we left, and regret we could not see the antiquity of the city.
It has about 170,00 residents and has been a port city since of importance since late 1500's. The Medicis declared it a duty free port. That brought in immigrants from many other countries. Religion tolerance was also liberal, so a mix of people with varied beliefs located here.

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the climate in Livorno is so good that we actually don't have what you call a proper winter, just spring, summer and autumn
we are in January 2007 and it's already spring, flowers and plants blooming

red hot chilly pepper field close to my apartment

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Fortezza Nuova..located in the old quartiere Venezia ..is an old historical part of this city..
free and just 10 minures walking from the Livorno's port it was built from the Medici family for defence the old city..
it takes 30 minutes to visit it and is free,,i suggest to see it

i love strolling around with my friends' crazyass dog, the so called Dogatee or Manadog (in between a dog and a manatee),
i come here on foot or by bike almost everyday
i need to see the sea so bad everyday

this is me and my friend Nathalie holding the crazydog's leash

today,June 5th 2005 i went for a walk with my friend by our promenade with my German friend Astrid and then we went for aperitivos. we had Brunello di Montalcino as aperitif at Mauri Cafè

Such a nice evening

Livorno has got the old fortress on the harbour but in my wanderings I didn't see a lot of old stuff.
(And I never took a photo of the fortress. Dunno why. I did buy a fridge magnet of it. 7 euro!!!! Made me draw me breath in a bit but I really wanted a souvenir of Livorno. I also bought 31 Songs by Nick Hornby to give my son. But when I got home I found my daughter had sent it to him as a birthday present. Snap!)
Anyway. Old stuff.
Did they never have it? - I wondered to myself.
Were they just so pragmatic they ripped it down and built something useful?
Maybe a monster earthquake shook all the old stuff into piles of rubble.
Quite a puzzle.
Then I got talking to someone and they suggested that as the Allies landed on the coast near Livorno during WW2, maybe it all got blown to bits.
Having seen the bomb sites in Genoa, I thought this was quite a realistic assumption.
Just an afternote. I had such a lot of trouble finding somewhere to stay in Livorno on the internet. But when I got there hotels of all manner and description were thick on the ground.
See the hoarding pointing the way to yet another hotel?

PS I have been told this is the remains of a 19th century railway station.
And yes. Livorno got a hammering in WW2 because it had docks.

This is all being done up and will be a tourist trap any minute I expect.
I have just gone off and done some googling to find out more about it.
There was an info board on the promenade but it had been translated into English by a machine and almost completely mystified me.
The web sites aren't much better.
But as near as I can figure it out there was an Etruscan Queen who got keen on sea bathing (about the time the English got keen on sea bathing - in the 18th century???) and had a bathing shed built for herself.
Somewhere to change and leave your wallet while you take a dip sort of thing, I expect.
All the locals got keen on it too when she set the lead and the promenade developed from there.

... that I hadn't arrived in Livorno kitted out with waterproof beach bag and all the trimmings. Like I saw so many people on the bus kitted out with. (I would have added shady hat, sun tan lotion and dark glasses.)
Everyone lying down getting brown.
This might be the place to say that what struck me everywhere I went in Italy is how trim and active people are. You simply did not see overweight people. I saw young mothers wheeling their babies out and the young mothers looked great in their capri pants. I saw older gents with no belly on them at all. They can't all be sucking in their guts. And the strange thing is, they love their food so much!
I have a theory that it is the little rocket fuel coffees they drink. Called cafe normale. Yeah, sure. Normale for a rocket.
I saw quite a few coffee bars with no seats. My theory is you go in, order a cafe normale, choof it down, wait for it to hit, and you are already standing ready to fly off and be Italian. Active and trim.
BTW in the background is the Hotel Universal, if you are interested in its location.