Introduction to Livorno

19km (12 miles) S of Pisa; 95km (59 miles) W of Florence; 315km (195 miles) NW of Rome

Livorno is like a blue-collar Tuscan Venice, a busy port city second only to Florence in size and graced with canals and some of the peninsula's best seafood, as well as a nice seaside promenade that was once the dreary banks of the port but has seen a rebirth over the past 3 or 4 years with new bars and ice cream stands opening every year. The recently overhauled waterfront esplanade has had a profound effect on Livornese life. For one thing, nightlife has gravitated south to take advantage of the emerging seaside energy. Moreover, the city has built on this tourism-driven momentum by adding a cumulative ticket that includes a tour on the city's battello, or boat rides, around the downtown canals and underground passages. For example, the Cooperativa Itinera operates a 50-person battello called the Marco Polo, which even offers a food tasting tour. Their website, www.itinera.info, is in Italian only and doesn't have much critical information. Your best bet is to contact the Livorno tourist office for the latest schedules and details.

Other than that, there isn't much to grab a photo-snapping tourist's attention. The city is unique in Tuscany because there are very few churches to speak of and just one measly museum of 19th- and 20th-century paintings by artists of the Macchiaioli movement, a Tuscan variant on French Impressionism.

You'll see posters in town of a tower sprouting from pale cobalt-blue waters apparently in the middle of the sea. Actually, this watchtower, Meloria, is resting on a barely submerged reef about 5km (3 miles) offshore. It was here, in 1284, that Genoa's navy thoroughly trounced the Pisan fleet, signaling the beginning of Pisa's slow decline under Genoese maritime dominance.