We arrived in Genova on Tuesday night after connecting three times from Saint Raphael to get there (Nice, Monaco, Ventimiglia). We managed to navigate our way with ease to the B&B we had booked into and were so content with the place. Met by the lovely owner Carlo, he showed us to our room which was huge! We had a big bathroom and great views overlooking the city’s various roof tops and buildings.
We went for dinner at a restaurant on our street which is situated on one of the city’s many roof top terraces and seriously enjoyed the first decent plate of pasta since Valencia (which my lovely Raffa had made for us!).
Day 2 in Genova we decided to check out the city seeing as it’s apparently the largest historical centre in Europe. When we left our place the sun was shining and we were in a great mood; however after a meal at a nearby café we felt reasonably bummed. It had started raining and a middle aged guy and his friend had offered to share their table with us whilst we finished chowing down. They spent the next 45 mins talking at us about how if we want the beach we should go here, there, there, not here, Genova is ugly if you don’t know it, everywhere closes early, you should go to this place it’s full of rich people etc etc. We felt as if they were trying to put us off our choice of destination, so we paid the bill and proceeded to walk around the back streets taking snaps whilst feeling pretty lost.
The city itself is very beautiful, in a gritty kind of way. It's a style that I really like, where buildings are so close to one another you'd have thought the architect in charge was blind. Really enjoyed walking around the back streets of the city but it really was a shame the sky was overcast as I can imagine Genova in the sunshine is a completely different place.
Whilst walking around we had seen that there was a big stage and small bars being set up in one of the big piazza’s and understood correctly that there would be some sort of concert and party in the evening. So after dinner at around 11.30pm we headed down to the square, where we found the celebrations had come and gone. What was left? A hundred free-loving hippies or so, playing bongos and purchasing extremely overpriced beer. We decided to bail on the hippy fun and after walking around the quiet streets of Genova, we found a small bar serving house wine at €2 a glass. We spent the next hour there trying to put together a foam jigsaw square which we eventually concluded was a dud.
I’m glad I visited Genova as the people there were a breath of fresh air and really made the trip worthwhile, regardless of the lowkey party scene. Also, everyone has so far understood my Italian, apart from a few tosser’s who have completely dismissed my efforts, interrupting me before I can even begin to finish a sentence, and ask if I can speak English instead.
As I’m writing this M and I are sitting on a train on our way to Pisa where we’ve booked what looks to be a great place to stay for a couple of nights. We’re staying right in the centre, near the leaning tower and right by the university area. The only thing pissing us off is a group of irritating Italian girls who’ve befriended an annoying American who are now participating in a full on karaoke session. They have the cat wailing down to a T.
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