2ND BLOG-NOV/19 

LIVORNO:  A few weeks ago Betty made contact with Leonardo via a website called “Tours by Locals”. They discussed and arranged a tour for us when our ship was to be docked on Nov.12.  Betty paid for the tour for us and “our friends.”  Because our cruise started in Marseille rather than in Monaco, we didn’t dock in Livorno until the 13th.  However, Leonardo was able to do the tour that day.  

Early on the 13th Betty and I, along with Marlene and Neal, from LA, were picked up at the pier.  We first drove to Pisa and had a brief driving tour of this lovely college town prior to visiting the leaning tower.  We had not been here since 1983, and were impressed how lovely was the freshly cleaned tower. 

After Pisa we drove through several villages in the Luccan hills before stopping at the old walled city of Lucca.  We parked by the wall and walked into the beautiful city.  Betty’s leg was giving out so we dropped her at a sidewalk café and continued.  The siren song of shopping was ringing in Marlene’s ear, so we soon had to also leave her behind as well.  By the time Leonardo, Neal and I reached the central plaza the sun had gone and the skies opened to a very heavy shower.  However, I fortunately spotted a souvenir shop which was selling umbrellas for only 5 Euros. 

On the way back we had to drag Marlene from a jewelry store , but Betty was easier to extricate from her coffee and pastries. 

We next drove through the countryside to Fattoria del Teso, reputed to be one of the best wineries in Tuscany.  Here we were scheduled for a tour, a tasting and a “light lunch.”  The”light lunch” turned out to be six courses, each carefully chosen to match with one of the featured wines.  Our host would pour each of us a glass of wine and then leave the bottle in case we wanted more.  I managed to have only one glass each of the sparkling wine and the two still white wines, but when we got to the magnificent reds discipline had diminished to nothingness. 

We were next scheduled to return to Livorno for a brief tour of that city prior to boarding.  Leonardo, however, chose to drive four soundly sleeping tourists directly to the boat. Once aboard Betty and I crashed and didn’t wake until the very end of the evening dinner period. 

CIVITAVECCHIA AND NAPLES:  Civitavecchia is the port closest to Rome.  However, to take a tour in Rome would have involved about 11 hours there and back.  Instead we skipped Rome.  As it was raining Betty simply stayed on board and I made a brief walk through a shopping area. 

The next morning we docked in Naples (not originally on or schedule).  When we were last here we took a hop-on/hop-off bus and got soaked on the open deck during a heavy shower.  We thought we might repeat the bus, but a taxi driver at the port gate convinced us that he could show us parts of Naples not accessible by bus.  He was correct as he took us through the very narrow streets of the slums.  Sitting in his van was at least as exciting as the best carnival ride.  At one point he backed ½ km on a street only inches wider than his van.  On a couple of occasions we heard words exchanged between our driver and other drivers that must have included every swear word in the Italian language. 

We are now back in our room, having skipped lunch, in order to prepare our stomachs for tonight’s meal at La Reserve.  Once a cruise we do a meal in La Reserve where we get 8 or 9 courses, each perfectly matched with a great wine.