Oh my wonderful friends, your patience is TRULY appreciated. This is the last of it. I promise.
Livorno Italy:
It was cloudy and quiet. This was our Sunday stop. It was a quickie to say the least. Nothing was open but to see it, reminded me of NYC. It was more modern in building style (few tight streets, modern materials not the stones and romantic warped wood or lacy iron work) There were skyscrapers instead and several "Macy" or "Sax" equivalents rather than the quaint boutiques. I was disappointed here. It was congested, a little dirtier and careless. Moder life tramples tradition, shoving it aside for direct TV and neon lights. It's simply a different view.
Pisa
Cloudy and cool (a mere 71) with spitty rain. Spent the day in the Piazza De Miercoles (4 miracles...consisting of the Baptistery, Cathedral, Hospital, and cemetery) Taking over 200 years to construct this is a mish mash of influence and it is nothing short of breath taking. The cathedral was partly destroyed by fire in the 1500's and to rebuild, they used nearby materials: mainly the Roman tombs. There are now Romanesk sarcophagi doors intricate with their story telling and rich detail. Inside they recarved the wood from those tombs and gave it almost a Baroque style. It is truly rich and decadent. It was astonishing to find the Bizantine-Baroque vs the Muslim-Asian styles in one building separated only by time (of construction) The Baptistery was beautiful. To see the top, you literally had to crane your neck all the way back. It's smooth dome and amazing height lent to acoustics that were indescribable. On the half hours, they close the doors and ask for silence. One of the guides begins to sing. She builds her own chords one note at a time. The sound is strong, flawless and the tone provided reaches into your very soul. It brought tears to my eyes. I've never been so humbled. It was holy. On the outside was a festival celebrating Republic Day (kind of like 4th of July in a sorts) so it was full of all military branches in full dress, sky divers...the works. Although there was rain, it came at the end of our tour.
Pisa was special.
Portofino
This was the walking tour from hell. Portofino is small but high. It boasts only 600 residents. But it is one of the most expensive places in the world. They have 50$ gelatti....no I didn't. I looked at it though. I bought the generic for a lot less. Socialized snacking at its best. It was picturesque and elegant full of name dropping and celebrity homes / hang outs. We took the ferry next door and visited Santa Margherita and enjoyed that a little more. We had a complete artery clogger of a pizza with beers almost too heavy to lift...almost. I browsed but didn't buy here. I'm just too simple for these ritzy places. hee hee.
Corsica, France
People complained about how tiny it was. I liked it. The French were....French. No biggie. It was quaint and intricate but shoddy in spots as if they simply lost interest in what they were doing. There were some FANTASTIC butcher shops with fresh meats/hams/ sausages, cheeses all dry aging. It was stinky though WHEW! Man, cover up the Limburger! But we found some unique jewelry and beautiful clothing. Here they have beautiful beaches surrounded by lush greenery. Not like most of our trip; very few beaches and rocky at best.
The drawback here is that wild boor hang out in the woods...Kind of like Jaws on land. so now you know why the butcher shops are 1) so close to the beach 2) always full. Hmmm.
Regardless, I thought it was a charming place; great for a complete QUIET relaxing getaway.
That's all I have folks. I'm sorry it dragged on so long. At least I only put a few of the photos up. Otherwise I'd cause an Internet brownout just trying to download. But I hope you enjoyed them. It meant a lot to share them with you. Thanks for hangin with me.
Tess
