Wednesday, September 10, 2008

un giorno a Livorno


The monument of The Four Moors, placed at the gate to the city, is one of the most famous in Livorno. The monument is made up of a marble statue, portraying the Gran Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici, surrounded by four bronze Moors at his feet. The realistic naturalness of their manners are so very suggestive. The monument is commemorative of the Order of Saint Stefano's Knighthoods founded in 1561 by Cosimo I de' Medici who engaged in a fast struggle against Turkish pirates who acted cruelly in the whole Mediterranean Sea.

Places that caught my eye...




Living in Sicily, bikes unfortunilty are not a popular means of transportation. So, seeing families riding with their children in tow, and those on their way to work was a great thing to see.

Being that we were in Livorno, we wanted to try their signature dish the Cacciucco alla Livornese. With this in mind, we followed the guide of Via Michelin and dined at Da Galileo run by Ivo Piagneri, an eminent chef in the full historic city center of Livorno. This fish stew is on the menu at nearly every restaurant in the area that serves local dishes all in varied versions. Eel and squid are always included, as well as a variety of shellfish and firm fleshed white fish, octopus, and cuttlefish. Actually, I read that thirteen different species of fish make up this Chowder tradition: cuttlefish, shark, octopus, trigla lucerna, eel, capon, scorpion fish, goby, blenny, grimace, cicada, and sugarello. Yeah, I wasn’t aware of that when I was eating… But, we are certainly willing to try anything. One thing is for sure, I truly miss the Sicilian Simplicity.

We enjoyed the lovely town of Livorno...

2 comments:

Rosa said...

That second photo looks so real !
I thought it was a street actor.

Jill said...

I know!