Since we've basically seen the Cinque Terra, we put aside today to go check out Genoa (or Genova, in Italian). We started off with a tasty pastry breakfast with the Sicilian brothers and then hopped on the train. We had misread the schedule yesterday - the train we had planned to take only runs on weekends - so we took another train and transfered a few stops later. Almost three hours later we arrived in the bustling city of Genova and started on our whirlwind tour that Mike had planned out with the map we bought yesterday.
Genova is a great city - and our opinion of the city doesn't have anything to do with the fact that we've had a little metropolis-withdrawl ever since Palermo. Since we probably covered about ten miles today, I'll just briefly summarize some of the highlights.
- There are a lot of churches here. Only one of them was actually open when we were passing by, but many of them have really great architectural features. The San Lorenzo Cathedral had the similar black/white stone concept as the duomo in Siena, and some people believe that one of the items in the church's treasury is the Holy Grail (Mike busts into Indiana Jones music). Sant' Agonstino had an amazing tiled steeple, and the Santissima Annunziata del Vasato had some great columns - some people say this is Genova's most beautiful church
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- For every church, I'd guess there are at least 20 palaces. This place is palace-crazy. Several streets are just lined with palaces from the big-time money-making days in Genova. There are a pair of streets - Via Garibaldi and Via Cairoli - that are on the Golden Register of the UN World Heritage Sites. These streets are lined with palaces that were the first "hotels" in Europe from the 16th and 17th centuries - the noble families owned the palaces and were used as hotels by Kings, Queens, and other royalty visiting Genova. Today several of the palaces operate as musueums, banks, and commerical areas, but many of them seem to be part of the university.
In addition to churches and palaces, there are many other great buildings and remnants from history. We randomly found a galleria (which are always great to walk through), we saw a war memorial that is very similar to the Arc d'Triomphe, and we saw some old towers that provided access through the old city walls - one that was near a seemingly out-of-place cloisters that is in the same neighborhood where Christopher Columbus was born.
- Genova, like most big cities, has a strong sense of ethinc diversity. There were Asian markets, Senegalese markets, a big exposition of French food and crafts, and a lot of middle-eastern/kabob restaurants. We sort of "broke the rules" and had falafel for lunch today. It was one of the best falafel wraps we'd had and it was nice to have something different.
Given the importance of sea-trade, we went to see the old port area. Turns out that Genova has the largest port in Italy and the largest aquarium in Europe. Mike was most excited by the pirate ship. While we were walking along the waterfront we got to see a team of artists building a mosaic.
- Lastly, the Genovese like to shop. For clothes, food, books, games, etc. The streets were filled with stores ranging from super high class to the vendors selling cheap bags and sunglasses. There was a large public food market (about a square block), and hundreds of restuarants, bars, cafes, etc.
- We definitely give Genova two thumbs up and agree that we could easily spend more than one day here. Its a great city to walk around even though its deceivingly hilly. There are clearly some similarities to Palermo - some small narrow streets in the Medieval old town are places you don't want to be after dark - but during the day we felt comfortable every where we were.
Now, for the gelato update: on our way back to the train station, we stopped off at a gelateria and I saw a light purple gelato - something I'd never seen before. It was called "Viola". I got a small sample - it tasted exactly like I wanted to it to taste. Mike and I have been trying to figure out what that taste is, but the best we can do is that its sort of like candy with a really subtle grape-ish taste. I asked what the flavor is, and essentially they take the essence from Violet flowers. It was a hit!
We took the train back to Sestri Levante and got there just in time to catch the sunset at the beach. Where we also found another gold-mine of sea glass. I think we picked up two pounds of sea glass tonight...
We sat down for dinner at 7 PM. There was a train back to Vernazza at 8 PM and then next one wasn't until 9:15 PM - and the nearby gelateria closed at 8 PM. Since we didn't want to have to kill an hour, we had a marathon dinner and raced over to what turned out to be the best gelato place ever - free upgrades to waffle cones, free whipped cream, a free Nutella topping, and a mini piece of waffle cone for decoration - and two flavors for just 1.50 euros. And the icing on top - they had the Viola flaver I had discovered earlier in the day. Mike and I both got the new flavor, and high-tailed it to the train station, five minutes to spare.
We walked back through Vernazza to our room, took some last pictures of Cinque Terre, and called it a day.
Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:
Mike - Amarena e Stracciatelle and Viola e Cioccolato Bianco
Aviva - Viola and Viola e Cioccolato
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