drron29

I was now at the fishing port and just like this fellow was too late to see anything. Came across some interesting vehicles. Didn't realise I was going to see a lot more.

The rain stopped so I got the 1130 shuttle into the town and walked around. Actually a few nice buildings.

Just behind the ship was some activity happening. A small boat let out a line with white rafts plus a diver. The rafts were removed and after a while the diver resurfaced,put a large black object into the boat. Hopped in and off they went. Meanwhile we refueled. And surf boat training going on.

The next morning it was off to Atlantide for breakfast. We both started with some fruit and a danish pastry and coffee. Then Rojaan had a small mushroom omelette and I enjoyed eggs benedict plus grilled tomatoes. Then a lazy morning as it was raining a lot. Livorno is a very busy port and lots of coming and going. And a rainbow..

Now to the food.Rojaan started with the carpaccio and I the octopus salad. She then had the king prawns and I the mediterraneum sea bass. Service was slow so we decided against desserts.

That night we were off to La Terraza. The menu.. As usual you receive an antipasti plate soon after seated plus a glass of prosecco if you wish. Now the wines for the night. Both very acceptable.

Just have to wait. In May we are doing all of those except Opatija but also Sarande, Bari, Kotor, Ravenna and Piran. All on the Moon.

Yep food is subjective. Your 3 worst restauants are our 3 preferred and the ones you thought good are our lowest 3. How a buffet can be considered fine dining intriques me. On our last 2 cruises, Dawn and now Moon .The steaks have been very good. Cooked as asked tender and flavoursome. We have tried most of the top ranked US steakhouses. The only difference is size of the steak. Kaiseki. Well we have only had 100n trips to Japan and we think the lunches are excellent. Our experience of Asian restaurants in the US is they cater for US tastes which usially are not authentic Asian. There are of course exceptions.

On our Dawn cruise last year Americans were only the third largest group of passengers after the UK and Australia. Also can't remember SS being really Italian apart from it's Captains but we have only been cruising them since 2010.

We have never used SS hotels or flights. We much prefer choosing our own.

There is no pressure from the staff for this to happen so it is entirely up to you. Don’t accept the offer of a glass of a wine from the connoisseur list. Not hard to do. An easy excuse is that it is not the wine type that I enjoy.

An old church. Then the harbour. Then back on board for lunch at Kaiseki,

Then past a US Army base where alot of the equipment for Ukraine transits. And on the outskirts of Livorno a large Petro chemical place.

A building that is basically falling down. You get views of planes taking off from Pisa airport. And now back on the bus. You pass several yacht builders. A canal runs behind those buildings.

We were now walking back to the meeting point but taking a detour around the local area.

The tower isn't the only structure to lean. The Baptistry leans 0.5 degrees in the opposite direction to the Tower that leans 5 degrees. It was closed for many years until an International team came up with a plan to slightly decrease the lean but also to stabilise it.

I'm a very naughty boy and every Sunday is a day off church. So much so in the last 2 censuses done in Australia I put my religion as Shinto. I do admire my forebears and Shinto allows you to have any other religion you wish. But again back to the Church and history. The Cathedral used stones and decorations from Roman ruins as above. Now most people take pictures showing people holding up the Tower. We prefer pictures showing how easy it is to push a tower over. Now I did briefly consider climbing the 294 stairs to the top but a 20 euro fee to do so seemed ridiculous.

Then we walked around the Cathedral to the Fawlty Tower. This part of the Cathedral is being cleaned by hand. So far it has taken 7 years. Note on the roof tiles are only on the side that was facing the sea. This side was on the sea when built. The side facing away from the sea didn't get salt laden breezes hence is metal. Then the Tower comes into sight.

The pulpit was made by one man. And for JP scantily dressed females. But others might like the male figure. And finally outside again.

The paintings were done by students at the local Art studio in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The church knows how to make money. The audio visual guide costs 2 euros, Now we walk to the Cathedral.

We entered the Bapistry.