Day 62 - Genova - Citta' di de Paganini
Saturday, September 1st, 2018.
Today we wanted to take a boat to see a beautiful city like Porto Fino, Camogli or St Fruttuoso but we decided to stay in Genova and finish touring the city. Me, personally thought we were done with the Historic downtown and had no desired to visit the modern part but how mistaken I was. Wow, is all I have to say, today we discovered more and more palazzos, churches and beautiful corners with religious images and statues on the corner.
I have to say that I was very proud of Daniel for setting his alarm and getting up early to shower. I have been telling them that we need to create the habit of getting up early and get some homework done before we tour the city and even though today is Saturday he was the only one up and showered on time! We had a leisurely breakfast, and that's something different that we never did at home, not even on weekends. I don't think the family has noticed, but I have and it is very pleasant to start the day all together. We left the house around 11:00am and started by going to a taxi stop to ask the taxi drivers if they will be working tomorrow morning. I mean, everyone would say, of course, but our experience in Italy is that should always ask in person, especially if tomorrow is Domenica (Sunday). The taxi drivers assure me yes and gave me their card to call them and request a taxi but still, we don't trust them and we will walk tomorrow early morning with our suitcases.
After we got that done, a lady approached me and ask me in French for directions, I immediately told her to wait for my husband who spoke French and knew directions. I later explained to her that we were a tourist but that didn't know my way and she laughed and said that it was nice to hear that she wasn't the only one! I felt much better!
We started our tour in Via Garibaldi where most of the big fancy palazzos are located. This road was dedicated to Garibaldi and is also known as Via Nuova because it was the new part of town built by the new aristocrats who wanted to show their wealth and power through their mansions or palazzos. You can actually visit the interior of some of them, or at least their majestic entrance and back patios with fountains. One, in particular, Il Palazzo de la Campanella o di Baldassare had a store inside where you could see some of the rooms of the palazzo. Very impressive.
We kept walking for a while until it was time for lunch. No one wanted to see another palazzo more but to find a trattoria to eat a good dish of pasta with pesto which comes from Genova. We got out of Via Garibaldi and wow, we discovered a labyrinth of different streets that we hadn't see before. We found a cute restaurant in a small piazza in front of another church! While we waited for our food, I went to check the church which looked very plain and simple from the outside and what a surprise it was to discover the inside!
I walked out to find my yummy dish of pasta Portofino with fresh tomatoes on top. Simple and delicious meal. Except for the cigarette flavor that kept coming from the men behind us smoking. I had not forgotten how much Italians smoke even between dishes, argh!!!
After lunch, we went back to the church which name is Basilica of Santa Maria Delle Vigne. It has famous paintings and frescos by
When we finish visiting the church, we walked back home because the kids were tired. We first made a stop to the Gelateria in front of our house and had the best gelato from Genova.
We came home, took a nap, at least I did, who knows what the rest of the family did and by 6:30pm, Gregory and I left the house to walk the city again. We only did it for an hour because it started to rain. We ran to Carrefour City and got the ham and cheese for the lunches for tomorrow morning. Our discount card from Carrefour France is not valid in Italy, oh well!
We had a couscous salad with egg and cheese for dinner. The guilt of eating pasta and gelato, of course! After dinner, Gregory wanted to go downstairs, the cafe-bar for a drink. Luckily, Sunshine wanted to go with him and I stayed to do the lunches for tomorrow and finish packing. I told them that if I finished I would catch up with them but I didn't. They had a good time and everybody was happy. We went to bed at 11:00pm and set the alarm for 6:00am Yikes!
Today we wanted to take a boat to see a beautiful city like Porto Fino, Camogli or St Fruttuoso but we decided to stay in Genova and finish touring the city. Me, personally thought we were done with the Historic downtown and had no desired to visit the modern part but how mistaken I was. Wow, is all I have to say, today we discovered more and more palazzos, churches and beautiful corners with religious images and statues on the corner.
I have to say that I was very proud of Daniel for setting his alarm and getting up early to shower. I have been telling them that we need to create the habit of getting up early and get some homework done before we tour the city and even though today is Saturday he was the only one up and showered on time! We had a leisurely breakfast, and that's something different that we never did at home, not even on weekends. I don't think the family has noticed, but I have and it is very pleasant to start the day all together. We left the house around 11:00am and started by going to a taxi stop to ask the taxi drivers if they will be working tomorrow morning. I mean, everyone would say, of course, but our experience in Italy is that should always ask in person, especially if tomorrow is Domenica (Sunday). The taxi drivers assure me yes and gave me their card to call them and request a taxi but still, we don't trust them and we will walk tomorrow early morning with our suitcases.
After we got that done, a lady approached me and ask me in French for directions, I immediately told her to wait for my husband who spoke French and knew directions. I later explained to her that we were a tourist but that didn't know my way and she laughed and said that it was nice to hear that she wasn't the only one! I felt much better!
We started our tour in Via Garibaldi where most of the big fancy palazzos are located. This road was dedicated to Garibaldi and is also known as Via Nuova because it was the new part of town built by the new aristocrats who wanted to show their wealth and power through their mansions or palazzos. You can actually visit the interior of some of them, or at least their majestic entrance and back patios with fountains. One, in particular, Il Palazzo de la Campanella o di Baldassare had a store inside where you could see some of the rooms of the palazzo. Very impressive.
We kept walking for a while until it was time for lunch. No one wanted to see another palazzo more but to find a trattoria to eat a good dish of pasta with pesto which comes from Genova. We got out of Via Garibaldi and wow, we discovered a labyrinth of different streets that we hadn't see before. We found a cute restaurant in a small piazza in front of another church! While we waited for our food, I went to check the church which looked very plain and simple from the outside and what a surprise it was to discover the inside!
I walked out to find my yummy dish of pasta Portofino with fresh tomatoes on top. Simple and delicious meal. Except for the cigarette flavor that kept coming from the men behind us smoking. I had not forgotten how much Italians smoke even between dishes, argh!!!
After lunch, we went back to the church which name is Basilica of Santa Maria Delle Vigne. It has famous paintings and frescos by
When we finish visiting the church, we walked back home because the kids were tired. We first made a stop to the Gelateria in front of our house and had the best gelato from Genova.
We came home, took a nap, at least I did, who knows what the rest of the family did and by 6:30pm, Gregory and I left the house to walk the city again. We only did it for an hour because it started to rain. We ran to Carrefour City and got the ham and cheese for the lunches for tomorrow morning. Our discount card from Carrefour France is not valid in Italy, oh well!
We had a couscous salad with egg and cheese for dinner. The guilt of eating pasta and gelato, of course! After dinner, Gregory wanted to go downstairs, the cafe-bar for a drink. Luckily, Sunshine wanted to go with him and I stayed to do the lunches for tomorrow and finish packing. I told them that if I finished I would catch up with them but I didn't. They had a good time and everybody was happy. We went to bed at 11:00pm and set the alarm for 6:00am Yikes!
 |
| La Via Garibaldi is full of palazzos |
 |
| The palazzos were built by the new wealthy merchants |
 |
| The courtyard of one of the palazzos which now some of them are turned into apartments. |
 |
| Beautiful detail of one of the ceilings |
 |
| Store inside in some of the rooms of the Palazzo. Other floors were apartments. |
 |
| Interior of one the palazzos |
 |
| Do you want to buy a Hermes set of China? |
 |
| Palazzo used as Municipal Offices |
 |
| Municipal offices |
 |
| Basilica of Santa Maria Delle Vigne built around the year 1000! |
 |
| Maddona con il bambino. There were blue and pink bibs all around the image! |
 |
| The bell tower of the Basilica of Santa Maria Delle Vigne built in the XII century |
 |
| One of the many beautiful streets in Genova |
 |
| Door detail in one of the many houses in the Centro Historico |
 |
| Palazzo behind. Rainy Saturday |
 |
| Knife shop |
 |
| The detail on top of the knife shop. L' adorazione del magi |
 |
| Plaque on side of the store explaining the detail on top of the knife shop. Not all the historic buildings had one. |
Comments
Post a Comment