A Trip To The Ocean

On Monday as we were heading to the train station Scott suggested we go to Livorno first to "stick our feet in the Mediterranean" and then head on to Pisa and Lucca on the way back to Florence. It was about an hour and a half train ride and by the time we got to Livorno, it was about 60 degrees and sunny. A beautiful day! We didn't know where the train station was in Livorno in relation to the ocean, but we headed off in the direction of the breeze and made a direct route through downtown and to the sea. It was a long walk but extremely pleasant. The ocean was so blue and quite clear. There were huge ships, cabin cruisers, tug boats and little rowboats all coexisting at the docks. We made our way to a rocky shore and climbed over the rocks to the water. Tiny crabs scrambled out of the way and I finally sat on a flat rock near the waves, took off my shoes and socks and dipped my feet into the icy water! It felt so good! We strolled back to shore and stopped at a little restaurant half a block from the ocean. We ate seafood of course, and lots of it: polipo {octopus}, squid, shrimp, smoked fish shaved like proscuitto, all on a bed of rucola {arugula} with warm crusty bread to mop up all the juices. We smiled through the entire meal. The waitress enjoyed our rapture. We finished the meal with some creme caramel and caffe {espresso}. We left the restaurant very happy and sauntered back through town to the train station to catch a train to Pisa.