Genoa
More than just salami
21.11.2008
Friday morning we headed to the excellent breakfast buffet where we heard via public address announcement that our first port of Portofino was going to be skipped in favor of Genoa. In Portofino the ship would have dropped anchor in the bay and we needed to take tender boats to the pier. Apparently the captain felt the water was too rough, so he opted for the Genoa where the ship could dock. That change, of course, resulted in our Portofino tour to the Cinque Terra area being canceled.
Genoa itself was not really a tourist city. That was a good thing in that the prices of everything there were not jacked up to gouge the visitors. At one point we stopped in a café to have a beverage and got Viv her cappuccino and me two mineral waters for a less than $2, That same snack in Rome was easily 3-4 times as much.
Viv did her part to contribute to the Genovese economy, buying a red boiled wool handbag from a fancy shop we found on a side street.
There was a combination museum ticket but no one could seem to tell us how big the museums were to determine if it was worth the price of admission. Instead, we continued to wander around, visiting a number of churches and government buildings, marveling in the architecture of both.
This city was not immune to rain, so at one point we stopped under an overhang to escape the weather and to photograph a building across the plaza. We started talking to a couple from the ship, Cynthia and Tony. We spent the rest of the day in Genoa walking around together to see the sights. That included a visit to Christopher Columbus’ house. We found a sandwich stand recommended highly in our guidebook but there were no seats available and every other surface was exposed to the rain, so we continued meandering down the street until we found a snack bar to get a toasted Panini.
As we walked back to the ship Cynthia spotted a fish market selling fried calamari so I took a look and saw they had fried anchovies as well. That sounded just odd enough that I had to try it, and despite everyone’s misgivings about eating the small fish whole, they didn’t last very long as they were delicious.
