We knew that our friend in Chianni, Marisa (check out her YouTube channel), was without transport. And although there are buses that roam around the countryside, you really have to plan ahead with about a third of your daylight hours being on them if you want to travel to one of the ‘premium’ towns (and back again, duh!). They tend to go everywhere, and frequently you may need to change buses. The service is good, though, and is generally timely and reliable – so long as you have your expectations set.

Anyway, we knew it had been a while since she travelled out, and we decided to do here solid by bringing her to Livorno for the first time. And we love Livorno too. We’ve visited the place a bunch of times before. Check out the blog archive, or do a search for Livorno.

Earlyish in the morning, we picked Marisa up at her place, and drove the 50-60 minutes to Livorno. We always park here, because it’s only a couple of blocks away from the food market, and we can always find a spot here. This time around, we came close to not finding a place, and had to park on the roof.

We took the lift down, and made immediately for the food market, and for the normal Italian-style market which surrounds it. It’s always fun to see the wonder and enthusiasm on the faces of people who are seeing the market for the first time. And Marisa was no exception. And, in fact, the tables were slightly turned, as Marisa’s Italian is a chunk better than ours, and she wasn’t shy in talking to some of the stall-owners about their produce – in particular, the famous Livornese white eggs.

Early into the excursion, we stopped off at the common area in the market building (check out the architecture above, by the way), and had some coffee/hot-chocolate and pastries.

Afterwards, we walked about Livorno’s “Little Venice” area. It was a warm enough day, but a light breeze around these roads kept things tolerable.

Those of you who have read about our trips to Livorno, particularly when we’re accompanied by someone breaking their Livornese cherry, can probably guess what’s coming next – and you’ll be right – it was a 15 minute walk around the fortress, and oo-ing and ahh-ing at the sites that lay about it.

Then it was off to the fortress to admire the canals and central from a different angle. I love the fortress. It’s usually a little oasis of calm amid bustle of Livorno. This time around, Marisa pointed out the little boat ‘garages’ that lay along the canals, adding colour to the scenes.

There is a photo above of Livorno’s Piazza della Repubblica (yes, the name is not just confined to Florence). You’ll see the little archway under which water flows? Well, that goes all the way to the other side of the square and feeds the ‘New Venice’ quarter of Livorno’s canals. Some call this Piazza della Repubblica the widest bridge in Europe, as a result.

When we were done with the fortress, we had quite a hunger on us then, and needed to grab something for lunch. Instead of going for views, we went for quality of food, and found Dietro l’Angolo, a Livornese specialist restaurant and, as it turns out, one that serves the best food we have had in Livorno – plus it’s fun! Niamh and I knew we were going to be eating later that evening and so eased up on our order. I had deep fried anchovies, and shared a collection of polpette (balls of beef, fish and veg). The beef ones were tasty and spicyish, and the fish were nice too, but I’d have to give the rosette to (incredibly for me) the vegetarian ones. They were delicious. But I loved the fried anchovies!

We had been sat next to a group of four people, who were evidently hungrier than we were, because at one stage, the owner/manager came out and excused herself before ringing a manual bell on a rope. This heralded not only a fright from us, but the entrance (onto the street) of an enormous bowl of cacciuco – Livornese fish stew. There were legs and claws poking everywhere! The people who ordered it seemed to like it, and each received a badge from the restaurant! A good and funny thing to do.

When we finished, we praised the food and the interior, and what do you know, after a brief bit of hesitation, we got our badges too! We went back to the car, but instead of heading home, we introduced Marisa to Terrazza Mascagni – Livorno’s bewildering checkered tiled coastal terrace. She was blown away by it, and remembered a friend of hers stayed in the nearby Grand Hotel Palazzo. We stayed awhile, admiring the bravery of the bathers in the natural bay and took a few selfies, before heading home.

We drove back over the mountains. It’s a route I have a love/hate relationship with, because although the first half has views back towards the sea and you get to drive through the cute towns of either Castellina Marittima or Castelnuovo della Misericordia, depending your route – the second half’s road is narrow, winding and in places subsided. Additionally, it’s tree-lined, which sounds fab, but I know the views that the trees are blocking (all the way across the Southwestern part of the Val d’Era and the Val di Cecina, and I’m gutted!

Here’s Marisa’s video of the day out to Livorno. Mine will be linked in a later blog.

After the lengthy drive, we chilled, before heading out again for dinner in Ristorante Etruria. It is very definitely one of the more touristy restaurants (it’s temporarily closed at the time of writing this – December 2024), but I like their Zuppa alla Volterrana and Niamh their Parmigiana di Melanazane. They often welcome us with a glass of fizz, a plate of salted flatbread and, after paying the bill, a half-bottle of Chianti It’s a good way to retain clients. Anyway – we enjoyed ourseves!

Thanks for reading to the end. I hope you enjoyed it – but let me know if you would like to see anything covered!