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Today was a later start than the 5.00am start yesterday.  We had a look out at Livorno and then had breakfast in the buffet restaurant.  After breakfast, we headed off the ship to get the free bus into Livorno.  You can’t just walk there because Livorno harbour is designated an industrial area and pedestrians are not allowed.  Waited about 15 minutes for a bus, then three came at once.  I think they must have learned this trick from the British transport system.  Absolutely mental traffic system in this town.  We headed away from the port, turned around and headed back again.  Granted, we were on the other side of the road now, but is it really necessary to take so many twists and turns? 

After 15min or so, we arrived in the centre of Livorno.  Scamp wanted a map, so we headed for the tourist information place.  They only had maps for the tourist Red Bus, and that wasn’t what she wanted.  Now she didn’t want a map, so we walked through the town, following our noses.  On the outskirts of the town was a great piazza and just beyond that, the river.  We couldn’t understand why the piazza wasn’t built on, because it seemed to be completely empty, no statues or anything.  Later we discovered that it was in fact a gigantic bridge over one of the many canals in the town.  One of the reasons it’s called ‘little Venice’.  Beyond the piazza was the river with loads of little boats.  We crossed the road, taking our life in our hands and found a little flea market.  Some dodgy people selling even more dodgy stuff.  One old bloke berated me for taking his photo.  He should be honoured, this was my new camera.  I could see Scamp was not happy in the Livorno ‘Barras’, so we made our way back into town.

We found another market there, this time it was one of those markets where they sell just about everything.  Needle to an anchor, you get the idea.  Running along the side of it was the town fish and meat market.  It’s only when you see the variety and quality of the fish and meat available, you understand why Italians are so disappointed when they come to Britain where Tesco and ASDA pre-packed food is the norm.  Next was the vegetable market.  Same story, loads of good cheap veg and fruit.  We really are being ripped off by the supermarkets in the UK.

Eventually we decided we’d seen enough of Livorno, bought two gigantic ice cream cones and caught the bus home.  Same story as before.  Waited 30min then three came at once.

Sunbathed, read and swam two lengths of the tiny pool when we got back.  Dinner tonight was Prawn Cocktail, then Fried Cod with butterbean sauce and roasted sweet pineapple and icecream.

Wander round, watched the show which was good.  Had a drink and even managed a dance on the pool deck.  Then headed to the cabin.  Captain’s reception tomorrow.  Black tie affair.

Up early, at 5.00am to be precise then quick breakfast then off to Embra airport.  Check-in and security was excellently handled again.  In the twice we’ve travelled from Edinburgh, the way you are ushered from entry to embarkation makes Glasgow look like the amateurs they are.  Real breakfast after passing security because we hadn’t booked in-flight meals.  Flight left on time and was really smooth all the way to Genoa.  Check-in there was really slick too with no waiting.  Soon we were in our cabin.  Just an inside cabin in one of the areas near the ventilation equipment, so a bit noisy, but nothing too bad … so far.  Wandered round in our travelling clothes as we waited for our luggage, always a worry when the last time you saw the cases was at Embra check-in.  Cases arrived about an hour later.  Got changed into holiday togs and felt a lot better.  Time to wander round more seriously and try to find our feet and to work out where the sharp end of the ship was (where our cabin was, as it turned out.) and where the blunt end was.

Dinner was in the posher of the two paid-for restaurants and was very nice.  I had risotto as a starter then beef pave with potatoes and veg, then meringue with passion fruit to finish.  Scamp had melon as starter and a lovely looking veg curry and then the meringue.  We were supposed to be at a table for six, but only one other couple were there.  English, but we won’t hold that against them!

After dinner we sat and watched the ferries leaving, and after a few tannoy requests for passengers who had gone ashore and not been registered back on board to contact reception (don’t know what happened to them!), we were off.  One strange thing, as we were leaving the port, we passed what looked like a floating dry dock with a ship inside it.  It looked as if it was being salvaged.  I got the strangest feeling that this was the remains of the Costa Concordia, and I was right.  Possibly not the thing you want to see when you leave on your cruise.  However, we mentally and literally put it behind us.

Had a drink later and retired after a lovely day in the sun.  Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

I couldn’t sleep this morning so got up to see Scamp off to work, read for a while, finished off a painting and settled down to wait for the gas man to come to service the boiler.  You can’t say I don’t lead a busy and active life.  What I don’t do is turn on the TV as soon as I get up.  I don’t know if I’ve ever turned on TV in the morning unless it was to watch the (few) live Formula one Grands Prix on a Sunday morning – that’s different though.  I did get a chance to watch the birds teaching their young to feed and that was a laugh.  Didn’t even have to go far, just watched them from the kitchen window.

In the afternoon after the gas man had been and gone, I went in to Stirling by myself so I could window shop without interruption.  Wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, just browsing.  I knew I had some shots in the bag for today’s POD, so the pressure was off.  Just as well, as I didn’t see anything that caught my eye.  It was surprisingly warm and almost dry.  I think that was the extent of my exciting day.  Some days are like that now.  Being retired can be such hard work 😉

Yesterday, Scamp was my taxi driver. Today I was her driver. Seems fair. She was going in to town for a ‘witches day out’. That would take too long to explain, so I won’t bother. Enough to say that she had a great day and I had a day to do what I wanted. what is known as a Win-Win situation, I believe.

As it happened, without trying too hard, I got a lot of stuff done. Painting, grass cutting (gasp!), meeting friends for coffee and a natter, organising appointments. I could almost do with a secretary these days. Where did I find time to work?

I was thinking I would go out cycling today, but the weather just kept getting in the way, as weather sometimes does. I took some photos as I usually do, instead of cycling. The lavender flowers were interesting in terms of colour and of texture. The pigeon just happened to be there and was interesting because of the contrast between the feathers and the dark background.

Hopefully more generally interesting stuff tomorrow.

Hazy, this was Ecto.

It was one of those days when you can’t settle down to anything.
Started off making a mat for one of my first acrylic paintings, in fact
it might have been my first since I retired. Selected some photos from
Skye to use for painting and sent them to Dropbox to share on the
Samsung Note. So much easier to paint from the 10″ screen than from the
7″ screen of the Nexus. Dropbox is one of my favourite apps of the
moment. It was good before the Note appeared, but with the extra 48GB
for connecting the Note, it’s much more interesting. Only for 2 years, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.

So, I decided to go in to Glasgow for a wander – Stravaigin’. Nothing to go for, but I thought I might get some photos in the sunny spells, or even if I was daring, in the showers too. Scamp offered to drive me to the station so I could get the train in and be there in 15mins rather than in the 45 boring mins it takes on the bus. Sorted. I pay her back tomorrow by driving her to the station.

Walked through the town down to the Clyde and got some shots on the Clyde Walkway.  Wandered round the centre of town for a while, window shopping, then got the train home.

When I got home the light in the garden was wonderful for a short while, so I made the most of it and managed another set of flower shots, but more carefully taken than some of my “stop-gap” last minute shots … I hope!