Genova

[fumobici]

I arrived in Genova late in the afternoon, the train from Pisa had been running two hours late. I found my nice little hotel, Hotel Ricci, on Piazza Colombo, got settled in and took a stroll. I'm calling the city Genova rather than the Anglicized Genoa, although the locals barely get their teeth on their lower lips to sound the "v" so Genoa is actually really close to the correct local pronunciation. On Italian TV, the announcers pronounce the "v".

The late afternoon light plays on some of the beautiful buildings in the centro.











Locals just hanging out on the steps of the duomo.











Piazza de Ferrari, an important Genovese landmark-







The city has hung brightly colored umbrellas above some of the streets of the center. It's fun and quite pretty.















I follow them in the general direction of my room. The last photo is just a block or so from my hotel. I found two very nice restaurants on that little street.

It's time to eat, shower and get some sleep. I've got three nights here and I want to explore this quite magical city beginning early(ish).

[fumobici]

The first thing in the morning that gets my camera out from my pocket is the Chiostro di Sant'Andrea, a 12th century cloisters and a pretty little park adjacent to both the imposing twin-towered Porta Soprana and Chris Colombus' old digs.





Genova has easily the largest medieval center in all of Europe, a fascinating huge maze of narrow ways among centuries old buidings.







The next one is just for bixa



No, I didn't try it. Mexican in Europe just doesn't seem to translate. And it wasn't open anyway.









We'll be back to explore the old city, but gravity has pulled me down to the old port.





The modern working port has largely migrated to the East but much of the bones of the old port are still in place, although today it's dominated by restaurants, bars, and shops.










I'm not sure what this large sculpture is meant to convey and why it's situated at the port but it's hard to ignore walking by.

[bixaorellana]

Judging by your pictures here and in earlier reports, Italy seems to have the corner on mellow golden afternoon light!

Naturally I'm admiring the glorious old buildings and the whimsy of the suspended umbrellas, but I'm hung up on the Picasso banner in the first photo. Ooooo ~ what's the exhibition and I assume you'll be seeing it, yes?

Thanks for the lucha libre beefcake, but also thanks for that wonderful picture right after it, with the old arches peeking through the plaster. I note there is a very Fumobici door in it, too.

Lovely shots of the port, nicely showing the city spread over the gentle hills beyond. The port seems to be more of a yacht harbor now, from what I can see, although I think I also spy fire boats and tugs there.

Looking forward to more of this!

[kerouac2]

It is clear that all of the different areas can provide visitors with a variety of different experiences and yet Genoa barely makes the top ten of the most visited cities in Italy, which is a shame. These photos have certainly piqued my interest in seeing the city for myself.

[fumobici]

Bixa, I was there late last month. I am writing the patter in the present tense for narrative immediacy I'm just getting to making this report now because I've been so busy since I got back.

I *almost* got sucked into the Picasso show as I am a great fan of the artist but the show is loan material from the Paris museum, which isn't renowned for its quality or depth. But I mostly didn't because the weather was so glorious. If a rain shower had hit, I'd have been in there, however, like a shot.

K2, Genova, to me at least, is one of the great cities in Europe to visit, the location is stunning, the history is deep and fascinating, the architecture as a port of great wealth for centuries and even the seat of a major trading empire is everything you might expect or even hope for, the people are warm and charming and the food is sublime and distinct. It's also not terribly touristy— it's a real working city, and the locals vastly outnumber the tourists seemingly almost everywhere. As an added bonus, it's not an expensive city to be a visitor to. My hotel in a perfect location near Brignole station was around 60 Euro per night and although the room was small, it was spotless, the staff were wonderful and the included breakfast was way above average. They would even make you a proper cappuccio or coffee from a proper Italian espresso maker. There are lots and lots of seriously good restaurants at affordable price points too. The level of sophistication and obsessive focus on quality ingredients seems to extend right down even to the cheap focaccia, farinata, and pizza joints. Even a two Euro onion or basil focaccia slice will almost certainly be excellent. You'd have to be quite unlucky or have seriously lacking in instincts I think to find a bad meal.

Downsides might be the hilliness, which if you aren't in good shape, or if you have mobility limitations could really restrict your visit, and some would I'm certain be put off by the grittiness of the old town. There are some colorful characters, some serious funk in places, a lot of recent immigrants, and some evidence of some social problems. I found none of this offputting in any way, but someone that was very sensitive might. I certainly never felt unsafe and there are a lot fewer beggars than in, for instance Venice. The grittiness for me just accentuated by contrast the beauty and sometimes-faded past glories evident at every turn. Immigrants from Africa, Southern Asia, and even South America have appropriated parts of the large old town and made very distinctive neighborhoods within it.

Next up, which will probably be tomorrow, I will show you a glimpse of the famous UNESCO-listed Via Garibaldi and we'll climb a very steep hill up to the Spianata di Castelleto with sweeping views of the lower part of the city below.

[bixaorellana]

Oh, glorious, Fumobici -- your pictures of course, but also your very evocative description of the city.

And yeah, the last time I saw a Picasso exhibit I was forced to admit that every single thing he did was not marvelous, even if he was Picasso.

But back to Genova. Your depiction of the "grittiness" makes it all the more appealing, as it is after all an ancient port city. I didn't know about the enclaves of immigrants, but how appropriate considering the history of the city. Of course hearing about the affordability, the excellent food, and the fact that it's a real place for the real inhabitants makes it sound irresistible.

Thanks for this & looking forward to more.

[fumobici]

So here we are on Via Garibaldi the ex Strada Nuova, a wonder no doubt but one I never really came to terms with photographing, it being too narrow, too tall, and too full of detail to fit in a camera frame.







The next two are the town hall, where taxes are paid, marriage licenses granted and such.





My next goal was to get to the lookout park high above the street, the Spianata or Belvedere di Castelleto. My map showed a mysterious passage of some sort from Via Garibaldi to the base of an old elevator to the viewpoint so I tried to find it. Below is what I found, a kind of creepy dimly-lit tunnel that ended in the middle of a larger tunnel with zooming traffic and a door that promised the elevator on the other side.



After risking life and limb to cross the tunnel the door had a notice tacked up explaining that the elevator was under renovation and closed for use. Oh well, there's always the hard way. Me being me, I didn't take the main path up but found a little-used abominally steep path up among the apartment buildings covering the slope.



The blooming wisteria buoyed my spirits marching up the ramps, but the view overlooking the city at the top did better.







This is one of the more "main" paths for climbers, looking rather more elegant.







Coming down yet another path (they call them 'salita's here; climbs more or less) and overheard the guy on the left telling the guy on the right how his beard made him look ten years older. I told him "Wait until yours is getting grey like mine!" as I passed by.



Once back at the bottom, I dove into the old town working towards the waterfront. I've got no idea what this church is called but it looked very old.



And thence in and through the impressive Palazzo Ducale.





This is how you knocked on the Duke's door.



Then back to the waterfront.





After getting a nice meal, I headed back towards the barn. This church cropped up in my meandering and as the door was wide open a popped in for a quick look.









I took a photo of the sign inside so I'd remember where I'd been



A couple of "wow I gotta snap that" photos along the way.





And finally for day two, as I was getting close to my room i was going behind the theater/opera house and saw this truck full of orchestral gear see-sawing up to the loading dock to disgorge its contents for a show.




Then back for a shower, rest a bit and dinner at the fabulous "Il Genovese" just a half-block from the hotel and then a nice long walk through the neighborhood afterwards in the dark sans camera.

Tomorrow will be my last full day here and I plan to see as much as I can before returning to Nice via train for my flight to London.

[bixaorellana]

Rather gorgeous!!!

I'm really enjoying your lovely Genoese interlude and can't wait for what else you have to show. Was this your first visit there? If you have the time & the inclination, I'd love to know what you'd suggest as an itinerary for a first-time visitor to mainland Italy.

[bjd]

These photos are wonderful and it's so surprising that Genoa is not better known. Then again, perhaps that's what makes it pleasant!

We took the ferry from Genoa to Sardinia many years ago, but I admit I don't remember much about the place. Just remember orange trees growing along some roads (and with ripe oranges on them, it was Easter) and wandering around small streets of the old town. We also visited the cemetery, and that was my introduction to over-the-top Italian cemeteries.

[kerouac2]

The view from the top of the city was most definitely worth the climb.

[mossie]

A real tour de force, this is a remarkable set of shots.

[fumobici]

May 30, 2018 23:17:09 GMT bixaorellana said:

Rather gorgeous!!!

I'm really enjoying your lovely Genoese interlude and can't wait for what else you have to show. Was this your first visit there? If you have the time & the inclination, I'd love to know what you'd suggest as an itinerary for a first-time visitor to mainland Italy.

Thanks. Yes, my first visit to Genova. The itinerary would, for me, be hugely influenced by firstly where I were entering/leaving Italy, and secondly, whether I had a car to use or would be using only public transport. And also the time of year. Some of my favorite places will be too touristy to visit in the summer but are fine any other time.

[lagatta]

I was only there briefly; it certainly hadn't become a museum as Venice has. Evidently there are funiculars, for people who would have a hard time making the climb. Ligurian farinata is called faina in Buenos Aires; there are a lot of words from Genovese dialect in Lunfardo, the old Rioplatense slang. I would like to stay there for longer.

bixa, my main advice for Italy is that nobody should try to see it all in one visit. Italy became a unified state much later than many other European countries, and while Rome is of course the political (and ecclesiastic) capital and Milan the economic one, there are many cities that each have a history as the centre of a region or national state. "Centocittà"...

[fumobici]

OK, last full day. My plan is to really give the old city a good reconnoiter, hitting the areas I'd missed and then either taking the funicular up to the very top of the city or the bus out to the rather famously over-the-top Staglieno cemetery.



The next photo is looking down on Via XX Settembre which looks quite placid here, but what you can't see from above are the press of people in the arcaded sidewalks. The street is in the ZTL (limited traffic zone), so there isn't much vehicular traffic but it is a main drag, lined with shops and mobbed with people from early to past dark.



Now I climb the only significant hill in the old city to the out-of-the-way Carignano neighborhood with its imposing Santa Maria Assunta church at its center.







Just across from the church I saw an unpresuming little focaccia shop with locals lined up out the door. I was getting a bit hungry, so I joined the back of the queue. When I got to the counter, I ordered two big focaccia slices, one onion and another pesto, and a large iced tea. I was astonished when, handing over a ten euro note to pay, I got six euro and change back! This was a lot to eat! No wonder they were lined up. There was nowhere inside the little shop open to sit down and eat so I took my little feast over to the church steps to enjoy a meal with a beautiful view. The focaccia was sublime!

After further wanderings, the next place that brought me to halt was at an archaeological site attached to a architecture school. The dig was quite informal in appearance and was run by the students of the school. It obviously also served as a little garden-recreational spot for them as well.









Also on the site is the ruins of a church, Santa Maria in Passione, that was damaged by allied bombing in WWII and collapsed in a storm a few years later before the structure could be repaired.









Next we'll wander through the old city one last time (lots of doors!), and get a view of the city from the very top of its hills.

[fumobici]

The words on the plywood covering the typically Italian little corner shrine: "SENSITIVE CONTENTS HIDDEN". I almost died laughing.











Russian shop window in the old town. There were signs of Russian expats around, but not as many as in Nice. I can see why Russians would like the Liguria/Côte d'Azur area. Particularly in the winter.

[fumobici]

Next, we'll take the funicular up to the Righi station at the very, very top of the city and admire more views.

Righi Station at the top-



A little astronomical observatory-













The Righi station inside



And (with any luck), a little video I made coming down on the funicular-

[bjd]

Wow! Great pictures -- I like your door pics. Maybe I should plan a trip back there?

Is it still called a funicular when there is only one wagon and not one with a counterweight car crossing partway along the slope?

[mossie]

Some wonderful decoration on some of the old buildings. The archaelogical students have a superb place for their studies, and I notice Kerouac's scruffy old cat has intruded.

[fumobici]

If the stops and pauses on the funicular the car makes seem odd, it's because there is another car coming up at the same time and they are both tethered to the other as counterweights so when where one stops, the both must. There is only one track for both cars— except for the middlemost station where there is a brief run of double track so the cars can pass there.

Let's wrap this dog and pony show! I passed through the Piazza de Ferrari (nothing to do with cars, it's an old noble genovese family)-



The light was nice.







And lastly, a few hasty snaps from inside the rather formidable Mercato Orientale (Eastern Market) just a half block from my room.













This market doesn't just have the usual market things—although those are wonderful and it has those too, but it has all sorts of unusual, strange and wonderful, and often very ligurian things as well.

What else? I don't really know how much English is spoken in Genova, as I've slowly become more conversant in Italian I pretty much only use that now. It's easier for me to think in one language than to switch back and forth. I'm sure it wouldn't be a huge problem, some of the people just looking at me tried some English!

I found a very nice pizza/focaccia/farinata place (plug here for pizzeria Zeno e Zueno) with outdoor tables and had a nice Napoli pie and a half liter of their excellent house plonk in the still warm evening air. In the morning I had a train to catch for the very pretty ride back to Nice.

[fumobici]

May 31, 2018 18:28:17 GMT bjd said:

Wow! Great pictures -- I like your door pics. Maybe I should plan a trip back there?

Is it still called a funicular when there is only one wagon and not one with a counterweight car crossing partway along the slope?

It looks like I (obliquely, at least) unknowingly addressed your point as I was slapping together the post above.   

[bixaorellana]

Huh! I wish my threads looked that "slapped together"! This is a triumph of a report, Fumobici -- informative and beautiful throughout.

One thing I really enjoy are all the unexpected angles you incorporate into your pictures, giving the viewer a strong feeling of being there. So your stomach didn't do flip-flops on that descent? Even the video scared me. Working backward: exquisite produce which somehow manages to look more "northern" than what I saw in Sicily; a very regal manhole cover; wonderful views over the city; doors, glorious doors and each seems to have its fancy doo-dad over the lintel; wish I could read the whitewashed portion of the message from the residents to the druggies; so much mellow oldness so beautifully captured by you.

Indeed, no touristy vibe comes through in this report, only what Bjd noted: a great place to visit. Thank you!

[kerouac2]

Genoa is looking more and more delightful, but I also see the contrast between northern Italy and southern Italy. I know that the Milanese and other northerners have been known to say unkindly "Africa begins in Rome." Foreigners sometimes tend to forget that northern Italy has a lot more in common with Switzerland and France than with some of the southern regions. I remember reading that pizza did not arrive in northern Italy until 1960 even though it had already become popular in Marseille and New York in the 1930's due to the Sicilian diaspora.

No wonder the country is ungovernable! But it makes for great photos and fabulous diversity in the architecture. Thank you for this report, fumobici!

[fumobici]

May 31, 2018 21:33:58 GMT bixaorellana said:

 wish I could read the whitewashed portion of the message from the residents to the druggies;

It's sarcastic in tone, but "to the toxic ladies and gentlemen who come to use drugs here" then the 'no syringes' symbol, "the residents" 

[bixaorellana]

Thanks. I did get that part, but am wondering what it was that gli abitanti later decided to paint out.

[fumobici]

Oh I see. It looks like to me: "Diciamo basta! Non sopportiamo piu che nascondiate e spacciate la vostra droga..." and I can't read the last line.

You probably don't require a translation of that, but in any case, "We say: enough! We will no longer tolerate you hiding and selling your drugs..."

[bixaorellana]

One neighbor must have written it in high dudgeon and another came along to edit it, correctly supposing that the toxic ladies & gentlemen weren't going to bother reading the whole thing.

[lagatta]

Google says it is Zeno e Zeno... who knows. Weirder still is that just below it, I get a trip advisor thing on "Manitoba Pizza, Genova".

[fumobici]

Jun 2, 2018 0:34:37 GMT lagatta said:

Google says it is Zeno e Zeno... who knows. Weirder still is that just below it, I get a trip advisor thing on "Manitoba Pizza, Genova".

That made me double check. It's Zena Zuena. Sorry for mistranscription!

[amboseli]

Your pictures are stunning. So many people think that Genova isn't worth visiting. Your pictures prove it is!
We have been in 2000, the year Genova was European Cultural Capital and back then I really liked this city.