Saturday 30 September
So farewell lovely Siena! On Saturday morning it was yet another epic trolley bag drag about 30 minutes to the station, and then 10 more minutes just to get down the escalators. The 9.18 train to Empoli, so we got on at about 9, and it was half full already. More and more people got on with lots of luggage, and all the seats rapidly filled and then there was barely standing room left. The train slowed down several times, and then stopped a few miles from Empoli. There was vehicle damage at the level crossing and no trains could move. In the end we were an hour late, and there was no toilet!
Arriving at Empoli was an enormous relief! Then we got another train to Pisa, and a third one to Genoa. The last train went past Carrera where I could see the vast marble quarries, and the Cinque Terre, where we saw glimpses of the beaches between tunnels. I know we should have stopped there, but it’s expensive and Genoa has much more choice of accommodation.
Our flat is pleasingly close to Brignole station, so we were soon settled in an enormous 19th century apartment furnished in Ikea chic. It has a washing machine, which is brilliant for our smalls, and a freezer with ice for our drinks! It overlooks a busy street, and we can hear the trains going by, it reminds me of home.
Our first trip into Genoa was to find the Tourist Information Office. We do this in every city we visit to get hold of free maps and guides to the city, and the people are usually very helpful and speak good English. But to get to the Tourist Office we followed Google Maps which led us through the old town with very narrow quaint streets with tall buildings on either side.
Hang on, what’s that lady in a short skirt doing on the corner? Oh dear there are more ladies in tight clothing, actually there are dozens of them. Those blokes standing in doorways look very dodgy as well.
We won’t be taking that route in the future.
Sticking to the main streets we found our way to the seafront and the Porto Antico, the old harbour. Genoa was one of the Maritime Republics, and very rich from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The old harbour is blighted by modern edifices designed to make an impact in the 1990’s, but IMHO have blighted the area today. There’s a panoramic lift, which is quite bizarre, and the aquarium which is just fugly. It was Renzo Piano who designed the aquarium, he must have been having an off day.
But there was a restaurant on the harbourside selling burger and chips, and it was really really good, a taste of Good Old Ingerland.
Sunday 1 October
It was time to put our newly acquired maps to good use, so we followed a walking tour that promised us the highlights. Genoa is very different from Siena and Verona. The oldest part is next to the harbour with very tall houses (8 or 9 stories) and narrow streets. Beyond those there are the 16th to 18th palazzos where the richest merchants lived, and the the 19th and 20th century buildings.
Our first stop was Piazza Ferrari, a big square with a theatre and statue of Garibaldi on a horse. On the way home we walked through again and saw David Harewood having a drink on his own, he’s a very cool man.
Genoa has a beautiful Doges Palace, it’s not just Venice that had a Doge. There was an antique market going on inside, but my bag scarcely has enough spare room for a fridge magnet, so I won’t be bringing any vases home.
There were several churches on the route, with flamboyant baroque interiors clad in marble and gold. The rich in the days of old didn’t have cars or superyachts, so they spent their money on palaces and getting a place in heaven by funding churches.
Our route took us back to Porto Antico, which was packed with tourists, and we soon saw the reason why. There were 2 gigantic cruise liners moored up across the harbour. One of them, the MSC World Europe can carry 5,400 passengers, they must buy a helluva lot of pizzas!
Alongside the harbour, there were superyachts tied up, one of them called DAR cost $175m to build and costs $17m a year to operate. That’s just stupid big willy waving.
We ate lunch by the harbour, Julie had a deep fried calzone pizza. It was a bit strange, and probably not as good as a proper pizza.
In the afternoon we continued our walk to the Palazzo Real, which belonged to various aristocratic families and then the Italian Royal family. I’ve seen so many palaces I have got quite blase about them, I expect King Charles feels just the same. But it was nice and cool, and best of all, free.
This little fella is Crapula
Our last stop was the Funicolare Zecca Righi, which goes up the hill behind Genoa to a height of 279 metres. Its 1.5 km long and there are 7 stops on it, like a tram line up the hill. There is a forest park at the top, and a road along the old outer wall of Genoa which is dotted with forts. Of course there were fantastic views over Genoa city and the harbour. We could see the football stadium where Genoa were playing Udinese (2-2) , and we could hear the crowd cheering from the top of the hill.
Genoa is a much more interesting city than I knew it was. It has a fascinating history, but is not a “living museum” like Siena or Verona. It definitely has a rough edge, more like Liverpool than Bath.
Monday 2 October
I was woken up by a strange noise last night from next door, a woman whining loudly. I think the neighbours might have been..yer know. So I stuck my head under the sheet, focussed on the history of Genoese fortifications, and bored myself back to sleep.
Walls of Genoa
Genoa boasts of having the biggest aquarium in the Mediterranean, so we went to see it. I have seen a few, and it was quite good, but not the biggest or best. It was very popular though, and the children loved the pool where they could touch Rays. They feel like sandpaper by the way. I found out that tropical fish and manatees both like lettuce to eat, and swordfish appear to sleep at the bottom of tanks.
A sawfish having 40 winks
The aquarium.was designed by esteemed architect Renzo Piano, but it was not one of his finest works.
We had lunch at a stand up bar underneath a road. It was cheap and sustaining, and a bottle of Moretti was 1.5 Euros, result!
A YouTuber has recommended a walk to Bocadasse called the Corso Italia. The first part was down a busy road which was a bit grim.But it turned into a picturesque coastal walk past an excellent gelateria where we sat down in the shade for a cornet.
Bocadasse is a tiny former fishing village with a beach about 30 metres wide. It looks like one of those tiny Cornish villages, but instead of a pub selling Proper Job it has a bar selling Aperol Spritz. So we got one and it was the perfect drink for the situation.
We CBA to walk back to our flat, so bought bus tickets for the 31 from a tabacchi by the bus stop. Unfortunately we stood on the wrong side of the road and got the bus in the wrong direction, DOH!
We went for dinner at a restaurant about 10 minutes walk from the flat, and had seafood risotto and yet another Spritz. Living the high life in Italy.
Tuesday 3 October
This is our 4 week anniversary, the longest holiday we have had since Sri Lanka in 2017. Another recommendation I got from YouTube was Nervi, which is only 20 minutes away from Brignole station.
It was a great decision to go there. It’s a small fishing harbour within greater Genoa, but feels a hundred miles away. After watching a fisherman load his nets from a tub on the quay into his boat, we went for coffee on a terrace overlooking the sea.Just bloody lovely.
At the bottom of the cliff was a little stony beach and clear blue sea. I found a good spot on the beach and enjoyed my first swim of my holiday. It wasn’t exactly a swim, more of a bob around in the water and a few duck dives.
We ate in a little cafe within a supermarket, and it sold various types of focaccia, which is a delicacy in Genoa. I have some that was like Margarita pizza, but the base was light and airy, very delicious.
Walking beyond the harbour there is a promenade called the Parcheggio Anita Garibaldi, named after a Brazilian revolutionary and the wife of Guiseppi Garibaldi. It is a really beautiful walk along the coast that passes by a small castle, a few cafes and bathing beaches.
One spot where we sat is called the “stoves” because the sun heats up the dark stone in the cliff and it radiates heat. There is also a well kept park close to Nervi station, but we couldn’t sit for long because of the annoying flies, we were constantly flicking them away.
Pah, pesky flies!
Nervi is easy to get to and delightful, go there.
timharnesstravels 