DAY 116 - DAY 110 CRYSTAL SERENITY

WELCOME TO LIVORNO, ITALY​

We wanted to begin with the rest of yesterday’s tour.
 
After leaving Sestri Levante we had an unplanned visit to Camogli. This is one of the advantages of doing a private tour which we did through Crystal Cruises.  We were able to adjust the schedule.  Camogli is another small village.  On the way to this village we took the coastal route and enjoyed wonderful scenery as we went through other small towns/villages and also enjoyed the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea.
 
After walking around this lovely town we continued on the coastal route back to Genoa.  As we got close to Genoa we got onto the highway and eventually made our way to Ristorante  Zeffirino.  This is an intimate restaurant with very personalized service, lot of attention to detail and delicious food. 
 
We began  with a complimentary appetizer of three types of potatoes and a small piece of anchovy. We learned during our tour that Anchovies are one of the local fish that is readily available in this area.

We shared a salad which was prepared table-side with mixed greens, tomatoes, mozarello, and pine nuts/walnuts with salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
 
Anne Marie had Ravioli filled with lobster in a saffron sauce. Keith had blu-fin tuna crusted with sesame seed and lightly cooked.  
 
Everything was delicious including the bread.  The Manager came out often including taking our order and bringing out some of the courses and at the end of the meal he introduced to his Uncle who used to be the Chef/Owner.  
 
 

Before dinner we attended the Cruise  Critic  Meet & Mingle Party.

 

These are the dinner menus from Waterside where we dined.
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We  returned to Waterside last evening  for the first of two consecutive evening's.  We  had three courses;

The Octopus Ceviche appetizer for  Keith and Chicken Consommé for Anne Marie.  We both had Spinach Salads.  Anne Marie had the Sautéed Tiger Prawns and Keith had the Chicken Breast for our entrees.

We also enjoyed a lovely wine  that friends Ashley and Kelly  gave us as a gift when they visited us along with friends Patty and Michael when Serenity was in port in early January  in San Francisco. . It was a wonderful Cabernet from California.

We have  a new waitstaff.  Augusto continues as our  Head Waiter.  Our Sommelier is Mehti who we had on the Holiday Cruise.  We have Kirsten as our Senior Waiter.  We  have gotten  to know her during the past couple of months during lunch at Marketplace.  Kirstin is from South Africa. Roland is our Waiter and he is from the Netherlands.

Senior Waiter, Kasa, who we had for the two cruises before the start of the World Cruise stopped by our table  to say hello.   Kasa just returned from his well  deserved holiday at home  in Turkey.

Even though  we have  a full cruise we would say that Waterside was the quietest it has been since we boarded the ship.  Go figure.  LOL.

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The  entertainment  featured  two performances by vocalist  Jacqui  Scott.  She was on our last cruise and makes regular appearances on Crystal Ocean Vessels. We greatly enjoy listening to her sing.

We slept very well as we sailed to our next port of call of Livorno, Italy.  Keith was up first and began the day with  a workout at the Fitness Center.  This was followed by coffee and breakfast in our room.  

We arrived to Livorno by the scheduled time of  7:00 AM.

Major highlights of Livorno include:
 
Nuova Venezia which was built in the 17thcentury.  It consists of canals connecting  warehouses and the homes of merchants.
 
Mercato Centrale which is an open air market dating  back to the 119th  century,still in existence, with 34 shops and 230 stalls.
 
Museo Provinciale di Storia Naturale del Meditteraneo which is an 18thcentury Villa.  Since 1980 it has been a Museum of  Natural History.

Although there are sites to visit in Livorno such as  the ones mentioned, it is also a gateway to several places including Florence, Lucca and Pisa.  When we  visited Livorno last September we took a  Crystal Cruises  private tour and spent the day in Florence.  

Following are some photos from our most recent visit to Florence.

On previous trips we have visited Lucca and also visited Pisa several times.  We have also spent time visiting the sites in Livorno.  Since this cruise and the following two cruises have very few sea days we decided to make today a sea day.

Keith took an Indoor Cycling Class which was taught by Fitness Director Charlotte.  Keith and only one other guest  took the class.  

Today's program included several enrichment activities including a talk given by Destination Lecturer Marcus Sherwood about Rome and Sorrento which are our next ports of call.

We spent the rest of the  day enjoying a peaceful day on-board Serenity.   This included walks inside and outside the ship, paddle tennis for Keith and lunch at Waterside.  We also  caught up with reading and writing and getting prepared for our next tour when we arrived to Sorrento in a couple of days.  

Following is the daily Reflections program.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

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