Cruise - Italy - Livorno

Ok.  So what we didn't plan when we set out for our trip was to have a 12 day Mediterranean cruise right in the middle of it.  The idea came about when we were back in Brazil and talking with Cassio's mum and her first cousin.  It has been a dream of Cassio's mum to see Santorini for almost as long as she has known about the place.  She is 81 years old and Vilma is 85.  It's kind of difficult to travel to a place like that at that age.  Well, wouldn't you know it, Cassio, always thinking outside of the box, suggested that since we would be in Europe anyway, why not meet and all go on a cruise together and make Santorini a reality, not just a dream.  After all, the thing is, don't dream, just go.  And so we made very hasty plans and booked all the trips and the airfares on the morning before Cassio and I flew to Paris on May 8th.  The deal was, we meet in Rome on June 5th and have a lovely cruise together. 

Our first port of call was Livorno.  It is close to Florence and Pisa and many people took excursions there but Cassio and I had plans to spend about four days in Florence and both Vilma and Lygia (Cassio's mum) had been there before, so we elected to wander about Livorno.  Nothing terribly outstanding about the place, but pretty enough for a port town.  See the shell bomb pock marks in the building in the photo below.  I imagine from WW1.