Civiavecchia and Livorno

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03/07/14



During last night we steamed in a North Westerly direction following the West Coast of Italy towards Civiavecchia, which is a town and commune of the province of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located 80 Km West-North-West of Rome across the Migone river. The harbour is formed by two piers and a breakwater, on which is a lighthouse. Civiavecchia is a major cruise and ferry port, the main starting point for sea connection from central Italy to Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Tunis, and Barcelona. The name Civiavecchia means “ancient town”.

We decided not to do much today so just went for a walk around the town, bought myself some new sandals as my old ones were knocked off, when I left them out on the upper deck to dry out.



04/07/14



Livorno: During the night the vessel proceeded North and passed from Tyrrhenian Sea into the Ligurian Sea towards Livorno. Ligurian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea between the Italian Riviera and the islands of Corsica and Elba. The sea borders the countries Italy, France, and Monaco. The port of Livorno was known as the “ideal town” during the Italian Renaissance period due to its structure of fortified walls, canals, and tangle of streets. Today it is a key port on the western side of Italy and a gateway to Florence and other destinations in Tuscany and Umbriaa.

Florence boasts works of some of the most famous artists in the world. In the Uffizi Gallery you can see original masterpieces of DaVinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Botticelli.

Greg, Judy, Colleen and I decided to do our own thing today so as experienced travellers we knew exactly what we could or could not do. The shuttle bus from the ship to Livorno was 5 Euro each return, okay with that. We then decided to catch a bus for a 20 minute ride to Pisa, for 15 Euro each return, okay with that. This fare also included the hop on hop off bus around Livorno on our return from Pisa. From the leaning tower bus point we thought we would catch the local bus into Pisa township for a look around as we had all seen the tower before cost 2:50 Euro each, okay with that. However we only had two hours in Pisa before the bus left for the tower bus point to go back to Livorno. This is where things started to go a bit haywire, when we finally arrived in Pisa we realized we only had enough time for a bite to eat before we had to catch the bus back to Livorno. Not allowing for time it would take to walk to the bus point in Pisa which is where the railway station is we were cutting the time very fine indeed. The bus did not show up so we caught a cab back to the tower and just made it in time to get on the bus back to Livorno.

When we arrived in Livorno the hop on hop off bus was held up by an accident, so it was delayed, and we had already paid for this. In the end we said bugger it and then caught the shuttle back to the ship, in time to sail overnight to Barcelona.

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Photos

Pisa
check out the girl top left wondering what is going on

Pisa
Our own leaning tower impression

Pisa
Heading towards the railway station

Pisa
Town square