Le Avventure di Emily e Andrew (Parte Seconda)

Ciao,

I'm continuing the story in our second stop, Genova (As with Padova, I'm going to use the Italian spelling rather than the English "Genoa"). Genova is a seaside town on the Italian Riviera, and so it's really different from the fine city lines of Torino. On the other hand, it can be kind of earthy and rough around the edges in places. It just looks older and more elemental. There are palm trees and buildings with chipped plaster coated in communist graffiti. There are more elegant parts of the city, and this eastern neighborhood slopes down to the water. There, you can find the aquarium and the port designed by Renzo Piano. There's a crane thing that lifts you up for a great view of the city and a greenhouse nature center inside a glass bubble. On the western end of the port there is a lighthouse which has become one of the symbols of Genova.

We arrived around 11 in the morning, and brought our bags with us to avoid a bag deposit fee in the train station. We ended up walking around for a bit (down Via Balbi and along the eastern port, which is actually a little sketchy in places) before stopping for lunch in a nice cafe. Emily ordered the focaccia panino, a specialty of Liguria. After eating we were ready to walk for a bit before checking into our hostel, which we couldn't do until after 2:30. So we started down the Via Garibaldi (most cities have one, haha) and arrived at the three palazzi, Bianco, Rosso and Tursi (White, Red and Tursi). A nice woman inside told us we could keep our bags locked up there while we toured the museums, which had many collections of art as well as a cafe where we could get something good to eat. We'd already eaten, I said, but she said, but what if you get hungry again? Good point I guess.

We stored our bags in a crate with a lock on it, and went to the bookstore to get our tickets. I spoke in Italian to the young woman at the desk, asking for the student reduced price. That's only for Genova students, she said, but I'll let you both have it because I'm a student too and I know what it's like to be one. And she was a literature student! Although Italian, not English lit. But I used the "tu" form because she was young enough and was being nice to us... deciding when to use "tu" and the more formal "lei" will always be an issue. But anyway, we got the discounted tickets.

Before I talk about the Palazzi Bianco, Rosso and Tursi, I should say that we always spoke English together (I mean, seriously, why would I only speak Italian to her since she has never studied it?) and in some important cases, like hostel check-ins and information points. It's just easier that way. But if the person didn't speak English I was forced to translate, which was never a problem. And if I had questions in a museum (Palazzo Rosso, for example) I would always ask in Italian first, and then I'd tell some interesting info to Emily. I hope my use of the Italian language turned out as a benefit to Emily and not as a nuisance, that is, I'm trying to get as much as I can out of my time in Italy and my friend keeps thinking he's in Italian class.

So anyway, these three palazzi were incredible. All distinct, and built for the most wealthy and influential families of Genova during the Renaissance. The Palazzo Rosso is so called for its red facade, the Palazzo Bianco because... well, it's actually yellow, but it's lighter in color and the inside has white and black stones making up the floors. The Rosso also has incredible frescoes in the piano nobile, that is, the noble floor. And we met a really nice man who worked for the museum who took us up to the roof of the Palazzo Rosso for an incredible view of the city. I'm leaving out descriptions of the Renaissance art that could stand alone as an incredible thing in itself.

The Palazzo Bianco, right across the street, was just magical to me because of its garden, off the right side. My favorite residential garden in Italy, I know it. A round little foutain of a faun in the middle, herbs and bushes cropped into neat little shapes, just what you'd expect, with white stone pebble walkways. The docent told me that there are frequently evening events there sponsored by local companies or organizations. Wow that would be amazing to be all dressed up and enjoying a night of music and company in that garden!

The Palazzo Tursi had a beautiful interior courtyard. The art inside was also quite notable, most of all for a sculpture by the famous Antonio Canova, "Maddalena Penitente." There is also a violin known as the "Cannone" which belonged to the virtuoso violinist Paganini. It took a few hours to get through these three museums, each distinct from the other. I have favorite parts of each: the view from the Rosso, the garden of the Bianco, the masterpieces of the Tursi.

After seeing the museums, Emily and I walked into the heart of modern Genova, Piazza de Ferrari. There's a circular fountain there, and there is also the operahouse. The architecture here is more modern, more characteristic of what you may find in Torino, or Rome. We walked down toward the waterfront, passing the Cattedrale San Lorenzo, but not going in, and then we came upon the Aquario and some of the other more touristy things at the piers. There is a huge waterfront center, like something from San Francisco or maybe Boston, but you actually can't see too much water because so many piers have been built up. That's something I didn't like as much. But the weather! I was just wearing short sleeves the whole day. It was so warm, 25 degrees celsius I believe.

Our hostel was located at the very top of a hill overlooking the Mare Ligure. It was so beautiful from up there (only 30 mins by city bus) - you could see a few of the more prominent landmarks such as the lighthouse (la lanterna). My room, which had maybe 20 beds in it, was on the corner and had a great view of the city. It was also really cool to ride up there to see how Genovans live, stacked up on the hills like that with really steep stairs in between. We had to kind of zigzag up the hills like the reverse of that little kid's game where the ball goes back and forth down to the bottom. The service at the hostel was nice enough, not as personal as at Torino, but I liked the place in general.

Emily and I ate dinner at a place really close to the cathedral. The food was really good -- I ordered the pasta al pesto, which is a traditional dish of Genova. We sat outside, and just chatted about Italy and our friends and life, you know, stuff like that. And lots of rose vendors came up, trying to sell Emily a rose, but she didn't want one, even if that is her middle name. After a nice stroll (which would have been better if we could have found some gelato) we went back to our hostel, where I now had a beautiful night-sky view of the city, the lighthouse flashing.

In the morning, we visited two main things. First was la Casa di Cristoforo Columbo (Christopher Columbus' house), near Piazza de Ferrari on a plot of land that was many times threatened by modern building. It was a really small place, tight corners, hallways and ceilings. Inside there was a kind of mishmash of all the Christopher Columbus stuff they could find, I guess, and these included examples of the clothing Italians wore back then, famous documents that tell us information about Columbus' life, and a painting by an artist who was really fond of Columbus. Oh, and an Italian flag dedicated to the house by the City of Genova. Interestingly, the restoration of the house was funded in part by an organization from the United States.

After Columbus’ house we walked to the nearby Cattedrale di San Lorenzo. This cathedral is really old – I can’t remember which century but it has elements of Romanesque and pre-gothic styles. Interestingly it has two main colors of stones, black and white, which make it appear really distinct. It was destroyed in part a few times, like just about every church in Italy, but one of the most interesting facts about it is that the Pope placed special importance on San Lorenzo during wars against the Lungobards. It was kind of a home base, I guess. I read out to Emily some of the placards inside so we could learn a little about the cathedral’s art. For example, on the back of the church’s wall there’s a representation of the Last Judgment, which often appeared here to warn people to avoid sin as they exit the cathedral. The main fresco on the ceiling of the cathedral was of San Lorenzo’s martyrdom – I forget where or when, but he’s depicted being burned on an iron apparatus. Whoaa.

We got lunch at this cute little restaurant and ordered the cima, a specialty of Genova. At this point I was starting to suffer from the effects of the cold that I’d just caught… whether I got it from Emily or not is an open question, but I’m hesitant to put the blame on just her. But I felt pretty weak and was sniffling up and down. And yet we had to go two and a half hours by train to Pisa. The train ride was actually amazing, though – we had beautiful weather again and we got to see the coast (Cinqueterre, for example) out the window with rolling hills on the other (eastern) side. So beautiful.

I’ll get more to you guys on Pisa and Roma the next time.

Andrew