No Foghorn in Leghorn

We just docked in Leghorn Italy, or Livorno in Italian. No foghorns needed here today - at just before 8:00 a.m. it's already 73 degrees F here, and will hit 90 later, both here and in nearby Pisa. The destination for some on our ship, Florence (Firenze in Italian) is predicted to hit 94 degrees today.

We've been to Pisa and will look forward to spending a couple of days in Florence at some future point, when it's less hot and less crowded.

We will enjoy another relaxing day aboard Riviera after walking around Livorno for awhile today.

Last night we ate in Polo, the specialty steak house. It was as good as ever. Kathy enjoyed her foie gras appetizer and main course of lamb chops, and Brian liked his jumbo shrimp, followed by pancetta-wrapped veal.

Of course, another fringe benefit of getting bumped up into a 450-square-foot suite is that we can order as room service meals from any of the specialty restaurants. Tonight we've been invited to dine in the main dining room with two of the ship's officers (the second purser and the head of housekeeping - no captain's table for us), and that will be our first evening meal in that location.

We're very fortunate to have spent time in many of these destinations already so we don't feel the need to push ourselves to fight the crowds and heat of mid-July.