Taking a parrot for a walk

The last call of the first cruise was to Livorno, from where TSH and Diva took an excursion to Lucca - a town inhabited at least since Roman times. Lots of very narrow streets, shops and churches. Perhaps the most notable feature was the Roman amphitheatre, which had shops and offices in its perimeter walls and a circular open space in its centre.

Goodbye to Bright, who is taking 2 months leave. After a contract of 7 months, that does not seem unreasonable.

While waiting for disembarkation, the faces of the leavers were classic - miserable because they were leaving, tense because they were travelling, anxious because the food and drink bonanza was over.

The morning was spent walking along the waterside at Civitavecchia, in a freshly landscaped area. Nearby ferries were painted all over with characters such as Batman.

TSH has been asked to do something outrageously bloggable without embarrassing Diva in public too much. So far, he has not obliged.

Oh, yes, the parrot. Sitting by the waterside at Civitavecchia was a man with what was initially assumed to be a toy parrot on his shoulder. However, this was not a dead parrot!! After a few movements of the head and ruffling of the feathers, TSH and Diva realised that it was real, that it was sitting there voluntarily and that it was acting like a pet. The man and his female companion were dressed more like tourists than locals.  Do people take parrots on holiday? Can you get a passport for a parrot? No idea of the back-story here.