Italy 2023, Day 9: Genoa (Day 1)

 We had heard that there was going to be a train strike in Milan, but that it wouldn't start until 9 am. So to be on the safe side, and not knowing how many people would flock to the early trains, we got up really early and took the subway to the Milano Centrale Railway Station. Unfortunately, Kathi wasn't feeling well so the early rise was particularly taxing. We got our tickets, but I was hungry like a bear, so I ducked into the train station cafe for a cappuccino and croissant. The Italian train station food options are superior to those in the US - clean, enticing, fast and efficient!

We got the train at 7:30, but our seats were not together. We slept intermittently and watched the countryside miles slide past our windows as we headed south.

After about 2 hours, we arrived in the port of Genoa,

and wandered a bit before finding our hotel for the next two days, the Hotel Le Nuvole Residenza d’Epoca. We were early so we couldn't check in just yet, but we did dump our backs and went for a short walk to find some food for Kathi. [Where we were] the streets were very narrow and without any familiar landmarks, were difficult to navigate. We did find a little square with a cafe and we got a little food to pass the time before checkin.

We continued to walk around. I past a camping store that had a wild boar pin so I had to add that to my collection - CHINGALE! I also found a shop that had a nice, deep coffee cup with the Genoa sityscape painted on it. Again, I couldn't resist. The souvenirs were pilling up!

We ended up in the Piazza San Lorenzo,

so we ducked into the cathedral for a looksee. It is, after all, the most important church in Genoa.

Located in the historic city center and built on the site of a pre-Christian burial ground, the cathedral was consecrated by Pope Gelasius in 1118 and was built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, funded by wealth generated from the ports of Genoa.

Looking back at the entrance, its massive doors, the stained glass window, frescos, and stripped marble.

Various altars and chapels were erected between the 14th and 15th centuries. The cathedral guards the ashes of the patron saint of the city San Giovanni Battista, brought to Genoa at the end of the First Crusade. Below is the Capella (chapel) di San Giovanni dedicated in his honor.

The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God complete with praying angels, symbols of hope, caution, charity and frescos of the Assumption, the Coronation of Mary, and other scenes depicting the veneration she inspires in Italy.

Back outside, we enjoyed all the activity in the Piazza. Here's Kathi getting into the act with one of the local performers.

Just a short distance further, along the Via San Lorenzo, we came to the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, where the bonfire to celebrate the feast of Saint John the Baptist was being assembled.

We made our way back to the Hotel Le Nuvole Residenza d’Epoca, tired from our early morning departure from Milan, and we both fell asleep in the lobby until our room was ready at 2pm. Not a bad place to kick back...

Once we checked in, we found we were in a separate building and our floor came with its own lobby and lounge areas. Here's just one of the small nooks.

But the best was a machine that made on-demand carbonated water. Oh, we hit that hard!

Kathis still wasn't feeling well so while she rested, I ventured out to tour more of Genoa. I retraced my steps back to the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti and entered into the Chiesa dei Santi Ambrogio e Andrea (the church of Jesus and Saints Ambrogio and Andrea).

It's been run by the Jesuits since the sixteenth century and its lavish interiors contain works by Rubens, Reni, and others from the Genovese Baroque period. The vaults are all exquisitely decorated - almost too much for the eye to take in...

In one of the chapels, under the table of the altar there is a crib scene, a birth of Christ masterpiece by the Genoese, Tommaso Orsolino.

Just one of the beautiful art pieces in the church.

Here is the third span vault.

Emerging back out into the light, I turned the corner and entered into the Piazza De Ferrari with ints centerpiece fountain. That's the circular Palazzo della Borsa Valori on the left. It houses Genoa's stock exchange.

My guidebook mentioned it was worth a stroll along the Via Giuseppe Garibaldi to look at the ornate villas lining the street, so I made my way there. Truth in advertising, entrances off the main street led to private inner courtyards that you could only get glimpses of.

These inner sanctums were guarded by huge metal doors - oh the stories they could tell!

As I wandered, I ended up at the Piazza del Portello, a tunnel under this hilly section of the city. In the center of the photo below is the Torre detta del Minareto (the minaret tower)

I found the entrance to the Ascensore Castelletto Levante, one of a series of a dozen public lifts that take you up into the hilly sections of Genoa. Usually referred to only as Ascensore di Castelletto, it is the most famous of the Genoese lifts for tourists because it connects Piazza del Portello, in the center of Genoa, with the Luigi Montaldo Belvedere in Spianata Castelletto, one of the most famous panoramic points of the city.

Built in 1910, it is one of the first plants of this kind to be put into operation in Genoa. It covers a height difference of 57m; the entrance is inside a building, and consists of a long, finely decorated tunnel. The top station is built entirely on the outside in an art nouveau style with glass windows that allow you to enjoy the panorama of the city. It was completely refurbished in 2020; it was beautiful.

Extending beyond the lift station was a lovely linear park that provided trees with shade, benches to sit and chat, and sweeping views of the city and port below.

A map identified some of the major landmarks in the city and the harbor.

At the opposite end of the small park was a building that had been renovated and painted in a Trompe l'œil style.

Next door, was the other lift station, the Ascensore Castelletto Ovest.

Rather than take the lift down, I descended down the stairs in a narrow alley, the "Salita Alla Spianata di Castelletto" which translates to the "climb to the Spianata di Castelletto"

A decorated doorway...

Graffiti warning "danger of death"!

I ended up on the Via Cairoli, hung a left, and ended up back near the Via Garibaldi.

Doing an about face, I retraced my steps back to the Piazza Bianco.

More street scenes heading west on the Via Cairoli...

The City was celebrating an ocean boat race and this bookstore's window display matched the theme.

Here's a stationary store with a display of graphic novels.  It reminded me of Dana.

I took a left on the Largo della Zecca and ended up in the Piazza della Nunziata, where the Santissima Annunziata del Vastato had a commanding presence.

I continued down the Via delle Fontane, which brought me to the Porta dei Vacca and then to the harbor area here looking down the Via Antonio Gramsci.

I walked along the harbor and out on the piers that make up the Marina Porto Antico Genova. finding little boats, like my own, among the large commercial vessels.

Looking back toward the hills from whence I came with the tower from the D'Albertis Castle piercing up into the sky.

Quaint little restaurants tucked in along the pier - making a note for later.

The mobile pesto trailer.... Yes I do love you.

The Vascello Neptune, a replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon built for the 1985 film "Pirates"

I circled back now, near the train staiton where we arrived earlier in the morning, and found my way back to the hotel, stopping for a bite to eat at the Pesto Bene shop. They were advertising that they get their basil the same place featured in Stanley Tucci's "Finding Italy" series.
I would highly recommend the Piesta!

Finally back at the hotel, hot and sweaty, I took a shower and changed clothes in preparation for dinner with Kathi. We got a recommendation for a restaurant and found that they had tables set out in San Lorenzo Square.

Our alfresco dinner was lovely, washed down with refreshing sparkling water.

While we were eating dinner, a mini parade marched into the square with large hand-carried fish...

dragons...

accompanied by street performers, loud drums, and celebratory dancing!

It was all a precursor to the feast of Saint John the Baptist which would occur the next day. Tomorrow would be solemn and reverent; tonight it was a party!

After an eventful dinner, we returned to the hotel and we washed clothes and otherwise prepped for the next day. Kathi needed to rest to kick the bug that had gotten ahold of her, but eventually I ventured out to checkout the Saint John's Eve bonfire. I made my way back to the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti and got a front row place against the barricades encircling the bonfire.

In Genoa it is traditional to light bonfires on Saint John's Eve to remember the fires lit to celebrate the arrival of Saint John's relics to Genoa in 1098. I'm not exactly sure about the tradition, but spectators were handing the fire department personnel little notes that were placed in the bonfire. I imagined they were scribbled wishes, prayers, requests for forgiveness, all that would be granted or sins burned away by the raging inferno.

While we waited, more parades, more dragons, a concert and singing in the square, until finally, the bonfire is lit!

And the fire grows....

and grows...

until it reaches its climax, all the while people begging to have their little slips of paper added to the fire before it burns out.

After the fire burned itself down, the crowd began to disperse, and I too shuffled off to my bed in anticipation of the next day's adventures.