Genoa

On Sunday late afternoon, we arrived at the train station in Genoa/Genova. Upon exiting the train station, one stares at a very impressive statue of Christopher Columbus. This is the city of his birth and the Genovese are rightfully proud of him.

Britt and I had done a bit of internet scouring on tripadvisor for a place to stay in Genoa and one hotel that kept popping up was the Best Western City Hotel, so that is where we went by taxi. It turned out to be great for what we needed it for: a central location, early breakfast, and complimentary wireless internet. To those of you who are questioning my judgement about the Best Western let me say that Best Westerns tend to be much nicer in Europe than in the US. Seriously.

We dropped off our bags and embarked on a walking tour of the town. We didn’t expect much from Genoa, bc when Sandy printed out the Genoa highlights it didn’t even fill one page. Plus, Britt’s guidebook said that Genoa was primarily just a transport junction. I was curious bc of the Christopher Columbus connection and bc the University of Genoa has a long and prestigious history. It was founded sometime in the late 13th or very early 14th century.

So, when we started walking around Genoa and saw these incredible buildings, we were somewhat surprised. Then I remembered that Genoa had it’s height during the Renaissance period, so this began to make more sense to me. The city is a port city about an hour and a half’s train ride from Vernazza and also from Milan.

Via Garibaldi is a World Heritage Site. The street has block after block of 16th century Renaissance-era palaces, including Palazzo Grimaldi, the ruling family of Monaco.

Beautiful and opulent, as you can see above.

Then we followed the road down Via Cairoli to Via Lomellini, the street where Guiseppe Mazzini lived. I used to teach about Mazzini's role with the Carbonara and in the risorgimento. His home is now a museum of the risorgimento.

Then we found ourselves facing the water, somewhat by accident, but it turned out to be fortuitous bc there was a Sunday evening international fair going on. Vendors were selling goods, crafts, food and drink from all around the world. I had a chocolate covered kiwi. Why? Because I had never had one before and the brown and green looked funny together. We bought some gnger bread cookies for my Dad and just enjoyed people watching. One of the more interesting sights was the scene and sounds of these “Native Americans” completely rocking out on the outskirts of the fair.

Here was "Germania." Lots of meat.

This group was wild.

Then we proceeded up Via San Lorenzo, a pedestrian street with lots of shops, towards Piazza San Matteotti. Then we came upon Cathedral of San Lorenzo, consecrated in 1118 and built between the 12th and 16th centuries. It was closed, which was disappointing because this cathedral houses the bones of St. John the Baptist, who is Patron Saint of Genoa.

The view of San Lorenzo (Duomo) from down the street:

Here is a church I really liked. I thought this church was beautiful, and I'm so glad I decided to run in for a quick check. Incredibly ornate inside.

The Chiesa del Gesu, a Jesuit church, built in 1597. It has 2 painting in it by Peter Paul Rubens.

Here is one of the Rubens, titled St. Ignatius Curing the Sick.

Then Sandy saw some nice buildings off to the left and so we walked up the hill to the left to see the Piazza Ferrari.

This was the Post Office. Nice!

After marveling at these unexpectedly beautiful buildings, we walked towards the Piazza Dante to see the home that is believed to be the birthplace/natal house of Christopher Columbus.

Thank you, Christopher Columbus, for sailing the ocean blue in 1492!

Behind it was an intriguing structure, which turned out to be the remains of the doge's palace. Below is a photograph of the remains of the city's medievel-era walls.

Then it was time for dinner. After eating nothing but Italian food the entire duration of this trip, we were in the mood for something different. We found what turned out to be a great Chinese restaurant. Ha! I had not had Chinese since the day before I left the US at Happy China on Augusta, so I particularly enjoyed this. While finishing we saw that the table behind us had ordered what appeared to be frozen lemons with something white in them. We ordered some, and it turned out to be a carved out lemon, frozen, filled with lemon gelato.

The menu had it listed as limon repiento. It was very refreshing. The funniest part of the meal came when Sandy asked the server, who spoke no English, what the bright yellow frozen thing in her hand was called. The server immediately developed this quizzical look on her face, and replied, “lemon?” HAHA. We had a great laugh over that one.

We walked back to the Best Western to check some emails, etc. and then the time came to say see ya later to Britt and Sandy. We have had a great trip with them. Being able to spend this much time with them has been a very special experience I will always treasure. They are leaving for Paris in the AM and I am excited for them.

Sad to see them go...here we are, closing out our trip, in a Chinese restaurant in Italy. Ha!