Genova

Sorry for such a long delay in my blogging. When we got back from Genova, I came home to a broken computer, and then before I knew it my computer was fixed and we were in Rome. Since then I've been busy and the internet in our apartment has gone down the drain to being anything decent. But I'm back and have lots of catching up to do! A few weekends ago my roommates and myself ventured North in Italy to the city of Genova. We didn't know a whole lot about Genova, but a few of our friends went the weekend before and told us they had a blast, so we went! Genova is the largest port city in Italy and is pretty much what the city is built around. If the weather was a little warmer, we might have ventured out onto the water, but unfortunately it was a bit chilly. We had quite a time getting to our bed and breakfast. There are evidently two train stations in Genova and we got off too early. Finding the correct bus to take and then where to get off was a hassle, but we made it. The Blue B&B was located a street over from the harbor and was a perfect location.

After getting settled into our place, we spent the remainder of the day at the aquarium, which we heard was one of the best in Europe. The aquarium is built over one of the piers in the harbor which was pretty neat. We had a blast! They had all kinds of animals including sharks, penguins, dolphins, turtles and so much more. Because it was Friday, we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. Here is a picture of part of the front of the building and also my favorite fish!

After all the activities of the day, we were dog tired and decided to grab something to eat then hit the sack. We tried some new pizza, which ended up having french fries on it! Surprisingly, it was pretty good. I would eat it again!

The next day, we weren't exactly sure what to do or what to see, so we kind of wandered with some direction. We first arrived at the Museo di Palazzo Reale, which was formally the home to the wealthy family that ruled the city of Genova (kind of like the Medici and Florence). We had a personal tour from a younger guy who was more interested in the famous people from the US then telling us about the house. He would speak to us in English and Italian, so we decifered some of what he was saying. Mostly we got very pretty in Italian to almost everything! The rest of the day involved wandering in and out of churches and shops around the city. The prices of things in Genova were quite cheaper than that of Florence, which made us kinda upset!! Especially the clothing! But believe it or not, we were good and didn't make any new purchases. We did end up resting in one church for a while. As we were sitting there a Renaissance-like band/choir was practicing. It echoed beautifully throughout the church and reminded me of the Madrigal that used to go on at church.

Christopher Columbus lived in Genova until he was 7, so we decided it would be important for us to tour his home. It took us a while to find it because it was more like a shack. There were 4 very tiny rooms and a closet with a hole in the bottom as a toilet that dumped into the stream underground. Kind of a dissapointment, but oh well!

We also had some of the best gellatto thus far! I cannot remember the name of the place, but I believe it is a chain in Italy. The products they use are organic and all of the paper products are biodegradable. The ice cream was soooooo good!!