Locked up with Batman

On arrival in Genoa, Diva was able to take a photo of a nearby ferry full of Batman imagery. She had no idea why they chose such a livery but it is certainly striking.

TSH and Diva decided to take the shuttle bus into the centre of the city. It was one of the first shuttles of the day and the driver had not learned the way out of the port. This was probably not helped by it being a public holiday, so there was not much port activity and many of the gates were locked and unattended. Freedom was gained after many telephone conversations and much reversing.

Genoa has clearly been a very wealthy city and has many fine buildings, some of which have been recently cleaned and restored. Because of the holiday, most shops were closed but there were lively crowds in the squares and around the restaurants.

The weather is now dry but still quite cold and there is no requirement for sun-cream. Fortunately the seas are fairly smooth.

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.