Day 22: Genova (date of visit: 6/25/2011)

Today, I traveled to Genova, home of the second largest aquarium in the world! Getting to Genova from Manerbio is no easy feat. There were buses and trains, and long waits, and more trains and then more waits and trains. When all was said and done I got to Genova around 2PM after leaving Manerbio around 6:40AM. While I was waiting in Milan I sat in a bookstore reading a kids book in Italian with a children’s dictionary in my lap trying to translate it. It was a good way to pass the time.

When I finally got to Genova, I headed straight towards the aquarium. Genova is a port city (and a very stinky one at that) with all kinds of museums and things to do around the harbor. The coolest thing I saw right off the bat was the giant ship.

It was very impressive to see. I continued past the ship and to the aquarium. It was expensive (18€) but totally worth it—mostly because of the dolphins. There were so many different sea critters. Dolphins and sharks and turtles and seals. I even got to pet a sting ray! They’re slimy, but it was cool. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I have tons more pictures that will eventually be posted on facebook. I headed into the actual town after I finished at the aquarium. I walked into a couple of pretty churches and wandered into a palazzo where a lovely concert was going on. It was a symphonic band and I got very nostalgic for high school and our concerts. (Top picture is a church and the bottom is the outside of the Palazzo Ducale.)

There’s a really pretty fountain in the Piazza de Ferari, which is where the Palazzo Ducale is and one of the main squares in Genova. 

I continued to wander and in my attempt to find one place, found another that I was looking for. It’s a pretty famous arch with two tours on the sides. Legend has it that Christopher Columbus’s dad used to stand guard at this archway. 

It was getting close to time to meet Christine at the train station so I headed in that direction. We met up and headed to the hostel to drop off our things before dinner. We’re staying in Genova tonight because we’re hiking Cinque Terre tomorrow. We found a nice little restaurant for dinner on a little side street. The food was delicious and there was a nice American couple sitting next to us that we talked to throughout dinner. We had an appetizer of some sort of cheese filled bread pillow that was amazing and then a main dish of pasta with pesto, mmmmmmmmmmmm yummy! I do love the food here. Unfortunately, I eventually realized (too late) that I had left my sunglasses on the table. I’ll have to get back there later to pick them up.

We walked around the town a bit before heading back to the hostel. I got a pretty nice picture in front of the lovely fountain. 

We were pretty beat by this point so we went back to the hostel (on an extremely crowded bus). The other girls in the room were very nice; all from California. Tomorrow we’ll be hiking the trail at Cinque Terre. I’m super excited because it’s supposed to be beautiful!!!