Livorno and Lunch Along the Coast

On Friday we visited Livorno and had lunch along the coast. The city is not high on the list of tourist destinations but the Central Market is well worth a visit.

Here is Dom along one of the canals in Livorno with the Central Market building beyond. The city if right on the coast and is one of the major ports for Italy. 

This church caught my eye as we were walking from our car. It is in sad condition--blocked from public access and obviously falling apart.

Inside the Central Market building our first stop was the toilets. What do you expect after coffee and an hour's drive!

At one time, most major cities in Italy (and much of the rest of Europe) had beautiful buildings dedicated to the sale of fresh produce, meat, and seafood. They were big and light and designed to promote air flow within to keep things cool. With the advent of the modern supermarket, many of them have been converted to other uses. The old Mercato Centrale near San Lorenzo church in Florence used to be just like this one in Livorno. Unfortunately, the stalls there now sell mostly tourist items. There are other traditional markets left in Florence such as the Sant'Ambrogio market to the east of Santa Croce.

Even in the Livorno market there were many empty stalls but business seemed to be brisk at those that remain. Because Livorno is not a major tourist destination there is no incentive for the city to increase rents and drive out the merchants catering to the needs of the local people.
 

Each stall is like a mini store. It is really fascinating to wander around and look at everything.

This frutta e verdure stall was a plethora of color.

The main hall of the market contains stalls selling meat, fruits and vegetables, breads and pastries, cheese, and dry goods. Along one side there are two halls dedicated to seafood. These have been modernized and have refrigerated cases and facilities for washing up at the end of the day.

Clams, mussels, and sea snails.

Outside the market to the north are more stalls. Part of it is more fruit and vegetables but others are shoes, clothing, housewares, jewelry, etc.

I love the colors and the displays. We bought some delicious cherries. They were labeled Vignola but tasted like Bings.

All of these stalls close up at 12:30 or 1 every day. Nothing much is happening at the market in the afternoon so go early and be prepared to do a little snacking.

After we finished at the market we wandered down to the port. There is a large small boat marina nearby and lots of recent development in the old port area. The last time we were there it looked a little dismal but it is going upmarket with new apartment and office buildings.

We drove down the coast and found a restaurant perched on the edge of the cliff. While not quite as picturesque as the Cinque Terre coastline, the area south of Livorno is another string of cliffs and small villages. The nice thing about it is almost no tourists!

We stopped at Ristorante Romito and ate lunch on the patio. The views were stupendous and it was fun to watch the people sunbathing on the rocks, fishing, and swimming in the sea. For a spot with no sand there were a lot of people down by the water. I never took any pictures but this link will take you to some on TripAdvisor.

We drove the long way back to Capannori, through Pontedera where there are HUGE modern windmills. Another fun day.