Friday 20 September 2019. Today we are moored in Piombino, Italy. It's an industrial port, so no walking off, but a free shuttle bus into town is provided.
Again in keeping with the Hidden Gems theme of the cruise, Piombino is not one of the well known ports, but tours are heading for Pisa today. Having been there a couple of times already we opt for a look around Piombino itself.
The tower, known as the Rivellino, is the oldest structure here, having been constructed in 1212. The attached walls are from some 200 years later.
The buildings are tall, the streets are narrow. This means the difference between light and shade - the bits higher up that the sun can reach and the ground level in shadow - is quite pronounced. I spot a strip of blue and we head downhill towards the sea.
A fortified house is to our left with hefty studded doors.
And rings of iron with bull's head motifs. Perhaps this was the place to park your bull when in town?
A glance down a steep side street affords me another chance to snap some attractive looking street lighting.
The harbour is small and, rather pleasingly, is home to small fishing or pleasure boats instead of the status symbol yachts of the rich.
One side of the harbour extends to a pier with a square brute of a lighthouse.
Along the pier, metal plaques show the names of islands and hills on the horizon.
The lighthouse is designed to look older than it really is!
Every now and then a little road train, packed with people, trundles down the hill and onto the beginning of the pier before turning before the pier narrows to disappear once again towards the city centre by a different street. We set off to walk up the hill, climbing some steps to bring us out with a viewpoint over the road.
Looking back towards the pier and offshore islands.
We saw several Piaggo Apes in various formats: van, pickup, flatbed etc. Originally a 3-wheeled version of Piaggo's Vespa scooter, they evolved into both cars and utility vehicles and have been in constant production since 1948. The Ape50 was introduced in 1996. "Ape" is derived from the Italian for a bee, the Vespa meaning wasp.
On the little square that we had climbed to, several benches were placed for people to rest and take in the view. However the wall around the edge of the square blocked most of the view below the horizon. Maybe if we had taken a few cushions...?
Language testing... I'm still trying to replace my shaving brush whose hairs are falling out, making me worry about blocking the plumbing. Despite my best efforts, none of the pharmacies we visit have one.
The barber speaks no English at all and my mime act only confuses him. Embarrassingly, so does my attempt to draw a brush in my sketch book. I spot a brush on display and point, but they are for display only, not for sale...
The two-coach road train, mentioned earlier, from the Italian firm of Dotto.
My songs for the night: Billy Fury's Halfway To Paradise and the Beach Boys' I Can Hear Music.
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