I'm here this morning, in Livorno, Tuscany. Just for 24 hours.
I had breakfast down by this wild and beautiful sea ... after battling Wellington-like winds to get there. But the wind was warm enough and the coffee & crema brioche superb.
I was on a train at 9am yesterday, slipping through Liguria and down into Tuscany, to attend the first birthday of my favourite little man in the world. It was really worth it. I met some lovely people, ate delicious food, and got to spend time with that lovely family I know.
I had to buy a new phone last week. My old phone is almost legend, in that I've had trouble with it since moving to Italy ... It finally died an ugly android death. I tried making-do with someone else's old phone but it was turning into an incredible saga. Finally I caved and bought something new.
I love my new phone. I asked the guy to help me out, said I was a photographer and wouldn't mind having a phone with a decent camera. I think he's done that. No, it's not an iPhone but a Samsung, and so far it's impressing me. I took the photograph above, using it.
On the packed train, I discretely took photographs as we passed through Carrera, with all its mountains and marble, and Rapallo ... a place I had read of in both of the books I just read about Hemingway's life. And now this morning, after my cafe breakfast, there I was ... tears streaming from my eyes, hair a wild wind-blown mess, leaning into said wind to take a series like this.
I'm getting picked up soon and it's road-trip time. I love road-trips. I'm like the tail-wagging Labrador who loves nothing better than going someplace in a car. Anyplace. I think it's a couple of hours back to Genova, and I'm really looking forward to seeing Italy from the road. But for now, it's time to explore Livorno.
I had been thinking of getting a Vesper one day but now I'm thinking, I'm a road-trip kind of woman, maybe I have to get a car.
Buongiorno from Livorno.