Livorno/Lucca

Livorno [Leghorn] is our first stop on the cruise. It will be Saturday, 8 August, and we will have 11 hours there [7AM to 8PM]. In each port Holland America offers a variety of excursions. They are varied in design and are designated by the amount of activity. Most involve a motor coach transfer to a specific site or a motor coach tour of an area. The buses are usually new or nearly new and a local guide narrates the tour. I found them to be useful when there was a specific destination without stops along the way. The “tours” often described as “highlights of the Ligurian Coast,” “the best of Cadiz” or the like were boring, did not afford enough time for individual exploration and usually stopped at the guide’s brother’s carpet shop or some tourist trap in the worst sense of the word.
We are researching a private van/guide as opposed to a HAL excursion to Lucca and Pisa which would leave the ship probably around 9AM and last about 5.5 Hours. It’s a 45 minute bus-ride to Lucca. After a couple of hours there we would stop at Pisa on the way back and then back to the ship. The cost is coded at $$ [the least expensive of the excursion offerings] which means $51. to $100. A private tour option will cost about $70. per hour for all 4 of us. So 4 to 6 hours would cost about the same but we would have the private car and guide.
Livorno is a port on the Ligurian [Tyrrhenian] Sea on the West [Etruscan] coast of Tuscany. It is the 3rd largest port on the West Coast of Italy and has a population of 170,000 [2004]. It is surrounded by fortified walls and criss-crossed with canals. It is one of the most left-leaning cities in Italy. Tuaca Liqueur is produced here. The Leghorn breed of chicken named for the City of Livorno is the number one breed used for large-scale commercial egg production in the United States. The opera composer Pietro Mascagni (December 7, 1863 – August 2, 1945) was born here. His 1890 masterpiece, Cavalleria Rusticana is thought of today as Italy “most Italian” opera. Of possible interest in Livorno, provided we have any extra time is the Festival Effetto Venezia. From August 1st to 10th [dates approx.] there will be ten days of music, performances, and entertainments in the Venezia quarter. This charming neighborhood is filled with canals, islands and bridges, many from the 17th century. Just like its namesake, the Venice district is criss-crossed by canals. During the festivities stalls and artisan exhibitions are crammed alongside the elegant antique shops of its main streets. Visitors can go on tours by boat along the canals and enjoy a different view of Livorno.
The Orto Botanico del Mediterraneo is a botanical garden located on the grounds of the Museo di Storia Naturale del Mediterraneo. It contains groupings of plants typical to various locations along the Mediterranean Sea, with each group in a specific soil (limestone, serpentine, volcanic, etc.).

We will, however, be focusing on Lucca and Pisa.
First and of primary focus is Lucca which sits on an alluvial plateau near the Serchio River, 19 meters above sea level. Lucca is a city of some 90,000 people. We will probably start our visit at the Piazzale Verdi. Lucca's long history goes back to Etruscan and Ancient Roman [177BC] times, and the city contains some worthwhile ancient architecture. Lucca thrived in the Gothic era just before the Renaissance, and the city contains much architecture from that era. It was the provincial capital of Tuscany in the middle ages. Lucca remained an independent city state until the end of the 18th century. Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca in 1858. His most famous operas were La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, and Turandot. During the summer months the area is regularly dotted with Puccini festivals, hosting a variety of young opera singers from across Europe and North America. The area of most interest to visitors is still enclosed within the old city defensive wall. The top of these broad walls is a ring park, a pleasant place for walking or riding a bicycle.
The Roman amphitheater is found off the Via Fillungo; the main entrance is by Piazza Scarpellini. The massively thick 16th-century city walls can be explored on foot or bicycle. The entire perimeter is approximately 3 km. This gives a good introduction to the city layout. We expect large crowds during our visit. Guinigi Tower, the palace and the tree-topped tower, belonging to the prestigious merchant family of the Guinigi, is located in one of the most characteristic medieval neighborhoods of the city. It is the only remaining example of a home of Gothic nobility, with elegant quadriforium on the facades, large internal rooms, and a second doorway for carriage access. The 130 ft. tower has ancient oak trees on top! There is an admission charge. The tower provides good views of the city; there is no elevator but lots of stairs. Torre delle Ore is an ancient clock tower with the original clock still working; is it possible to go upstairs [207 steps] on this tower, too (a beautiful view on the city, and good perspective of Fillungo Street).
The 6th Century Saint Frediano’s Church is instantly distinguishable from other Romanesque churches of Lucca by its 13th Century golden mosaic high on the façade. The huge, richly carved 12th Century baptismal font, the Fonte Lustrale, at the entrance is decorated with biblical scenes attributed to three different craftsmen. The church also houses a shrine to Santa Zita, Lucca's saint, whose mummified body is brought out once a year when she may be touched by the devout. The Duomo di San Martino in the Piazza di San Martino is a Romanesque cathedral dating to 14th century. It contains a sculpture of the crucifixion attributed to an eyewitness, Nicodemus. There is also a “Last Supper” by Tintoretto. There are some interesting [Tuscan] carvings in the marble exterior, including a labyrinth. At the Palazzo Pfanner are preserved rooms formerly inhabited by the Pfanner family, as well as a pleasant garden. Also on display is some 19th century medical equipment. The Botanical Gardens are situated in the historical center of Lucca, It covers approximately 2 hectares. Entered through a wrought iron gate, there is a tree-lined avenue flanked by shrubs (an 'arboreto') that leads to a small lake. In the Northern part, there are the greenhouses and the library, which houses 2000 volumes with works and many historical manuscripts). The southern part is where various vegetables from the Lucchesi Mountains are cultivated. The 'Hortus Sanitatis' comprises a rich collection of more than 500 medicinal species. In the two huge greenhouses are numerous cacti (Cactaceae) from the Americas and Africa. It is also possible to view a remarkable collection of Ericaceae and the Theaceae (Camellia), in addition to medicinal plants that are native to Tuscany. The Garden was projected under the reign of Felice Baciocchi and Elisa Bonaparte, but it was only created in 1820 for the duchess Maria Luisa di Borbone. In September 1843, the Garden welcomed the botanists of the Fifth Congress of Italian Scientists. The Garden prospered in the second half of the nineteenth century, under the direction of Cesare Bicchi; where once it cultivated only medicinal plants, it now grew a wide variety of plants. After the first World War, the Garden was neglected, and for all practical purposes, abandoned. It was revived in 1956, under the direction of the chair of natural sciences of the Classical Liceo Machiavelli. In the past twenty years, the garden has once again dedicated itself to the cultivation of officinal plants.
It is safe to drink the water that comes out of the public fountains. Many locals fill gallon jugs and it is their primary source of drinking water. It is delicious and quite refreshing. In fact, it tastes better than most bottled water.
On the way back to Livorno, time permitting, we will stop at Pisa on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. The city is known worldwide for its famous bell tower. While the Leaning Tower is the most famous image of the city, it is one of many works of art and architecture in the city's Piazza del Duomo, also known, since XX century, as Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), to the north of the old town center. The Piazza del Duomo also houses the Duomo (the Cathedral), the Baptistry and the Camposanto Monumentale (the monumental cemetery).
The Orto Botanico di Pisa is Europe's oldest university botanical garden. The Palazzo Reale ("Royal Palace"), once of the Caetani patrician family. Here Galileo Galilei showed to Grand Duke of Tuscany the planets he had discovered with his telescope. The edifice was erected in 1559 by Baccio Bandinelli for Cosimo I de Medici, and was later enlarged to include other palaces.
Some famous Pisans:
Andrea Bocelli, famous Italian tenor; Enrico Fermi and Carlo Rubbia, physicists & Nobel Prize winners; Galileo Galilei, physicist; Leonardo Fibonacci, mathematician.