Sunday April 27
Livorno in the rain
Today is the first rainy day we've encountered and it is the coldest as well! This affected our plans as we had planned to go to Lucca, a small, hillside walled Tuscan village. Instead we decided to stay in Livorno and explore more of it as we had a quick look here 3 years ago, and of course the station was where Noelle came to grief on our way back from Pisa. Also with today being a Sunday most of the shops were closed so it was a good thing we did some shopping over the past 2 days.
We set out to do some of the city walks on the map we got from the tourist info office, but the rain was getting heavier so we decided to go to our "wet day" contingency plan - buy a local travel pass, ride the buses around town and go to a museum! There was an art gallery housed in a beautiful old mansion that was open so we hopped on a bus and headed for that, taking in the sights as we travelled along the waterfront. There were some magnificent mansions along the waterfront and in the suburbs, and there were parks, baths, restaurants and wide walkways overlooking the ocean.
Along the waterfront
The art gallery was only small and contained works by local Italian painters and sculptors from the 19th and 20th centuries, with the featured artist being Giovanni Fattori. He was the key figure among a group of artists based in Florence between 1855 and 1870 who focused on scenes of everyday life featuring ordinary people. Some of the other artists represented were great portrait painters, while others from the 1920s and 1930s were a lot more modern. Very different to the old masters but we enjoyed the change of style and it was very local which was meaningful with being in Tuscany.
Giovanni Fattori Art Gallery
After all this culture and sightseeing it was time to eat, and we came across a cafe overlooking the sea which looked warm and inviting. It had a quirky look about it from the outside with paintings and sculptures on display. Inside was decorated with lots more artwork as well as a young girl doing her homework! Her mother could speak some English and it didn't take long before the young girl (Lara) took an interest in us, especially on hearing we were from Australia. Fortunately we had the photos on our phones of the Aussie animals from when we had visited Healesville Sanctuary with our American friends just before we came away, and she loved seeing them. We found out that the artwork in the restaurant was done by her older sisters so it was a real family affair, and we left after a long chat and the promise to send a postcard to them from Australia when we get home!
Lara doing her homework while we have lunch!
Tonight on the ship the chef is serving up all Italian dishes to help us enjoy the local specialties, so we're really looking forward to some (more) fine wining and dining.
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