Another adventure exploring Genoa! Both Claire and I discovered that there are several funiculars (cable railways) and elevators around town to move people up the hillsides that rise behind the port and city. We used our newfound knowledge of the public transit system to take a bus to the base of one railway that ascends from the city through the Castelletto neighborhood and up to the Righi neighborhood where a huge park encompasses several wooded hills topped with old castle defenses. The Zecca-Righi Funicular is a regular commuter route, but we were there in the early afternoon so there were plenty of seats available.

The car ascends in a man made canyon and through a long tunnel with a few stops half way up.

At the top there is a great view looking back down to the city and the busy Port of Genoa, with a few ferries and (out of sight in this picture) a huge cruise ship! Turning around you are greeted with a view of the hills behind Genoa to the north, with communities filling in the valleys.

A couple of tourists!

We enjoyed a couple of beers and chips at the Astronomy Club bar a short walk from the station, but no walking the park paths today, way too hot! We caught a funicular ride back down, then a bus to the next train ride, the Ferrovia Genova-Casella narrow gauge railway that starts at Genoa Piazza Manin. This train is also known as“Ferrovia delle tre valli”, Railway of the Three Valleys, and takes passengers on an hour-long 25 km ride through the hills and valleys from Genoa to the small town of Casella (a municipality that is part of the Metropolitan City of Genoa). We got there all fired up for a ride and found out it was shut down for maintenance! Today only? Who knows! You can go on a virtual ride in this YouTube video. So we journeyed on to our next proposed ride on the “Funicular Railway Principe-Granarolo” on the other side of town. We got there and tried to figure out the schedule and where to board the train. We saw several people walking up and down the stairway beside the track and after about 15 minutes of internet research, we learned that the train is shut down for at least 2 years for upgrades! It looks like a steep ride in this YouTube video from 7 years ago! So far one for three, time to quit and get back to air-conditioning and rest up for another great dinner!

After a late dinner at a nearby restaurant we said our goodbyes because we had an early train to catch in the morning!

As we were leaving the ‘hotel’ Claire and Ed were staying in, I translated a poster board in the lobby and learned that the building was the Salvago Pinelli Palace from the 16th to the 18th centuries! After WW2, during which it was severely damaged, it was rebuilt and repurposed for offices and apartments.

It still retains some of the grandeur of a palace in the lobby and the entrance. Unfortunately, we never used this entrance, with the “marble portal consisting of 2 telamons (A figure of a man used as a supporting pillar) depicting two ‘wild’ men (in Genoese “sarveghi”) which allude to the owners of the house, the Salvago family.”

We caught the 10:30 train this cloudy morning for the one hour ride to Santa Margherita Ligure, a small town along the Ligurian coast north of the Cinque Terre. We then boarded the public bus to the even smaller town of Portofino, a 15 minute ride along the impossibly narrow winding road hugging the coast around tiny bays, with a mega yacht and small cruise ship anchored further out among motorboats and sailboats. A quick walk around the really tiny port and beach of Portofino (population of only 400), seeing the high end shops and the crowds of tourists, was enough in the heat of the day. It is a picturesque spot if you can see beyond the crowds.

The restaurants and cafes lining the waterfront were packed!

The park like setting rising up the hill opposite the beach looked inviting, but we didn’t know if it is private property or a public park!

Ed had read that recently the whole town of Portofino had been rented for a day by a rich family for a pre-wedding celebration!

We caught the little bus back to S. Margherita where we walked some of its waterfront and found a restaurant for lunch. There is more room to roam here and we leisurely walked back to the train station.

Another monument to Cristoforo Colombo!

Ahhh, truly living ‘La Dolce Vita’, the Sweet Life!

The Hop-On-Hop-Off bus ticket we got yesterday was a 24 hour ticket, so we had another half day to use it! We Hopped-On for a city tour this morning, passing by some highlights of the old town.

The fountain in Piazza De Ferrari, the main square of Genoa, surrounded by several palaces that were the seats of power, finance and influence throughout Genoa’s history.

A park with flower beds commemorating Genoa’s most famous son, Cristoforo Colombo and his 3 famous ships!

Unfortunately the bus wasn’t the best venue for picture taking, so after our ride we decided to do a walking tour.

Fairly close by our hotels we happened upon the largest and most important church in Genoa, Basilica de San Lorenzo. Being Sunday it seemed like every tourist in the city thought so too! The square was crowded and we opted to not follow the hordes into the church!

Instead we got some iced coffees and Ed found some pesto focaccia, both products (pesto and focaccia) that Genoa is famous for! A short walk brought us back to Piazza De Ferrari and the fountain!

Images around the squares of old town Genoa.

Another short walk brought us to the site of Christopher Columbus’ house! Or a reconstructed facsimile, the original structure not surviving the many wars since the early 1500’s!

Ed+ Claire at the front door inquiring if Chris Columbus is home today! The back of the house is quite wild, although it is in close proximity to one of the gates in the medieval wall of the city. The columned cloister is also behind the house, rebuilt here in the 1920’s from a monastery, dating back to the year 1000, that was demolished in the early 1900’s to restructure the urban area and build the Bank of Italy.

We meandered through the labyrinthian stone alleyways back to our hotels to rest up for our busy late afternoon plans; a visit to the largest Aquarium in Europe, just steps away from our hotels!

The first exhibit we encountered is the seahorse room, so cute!

Mixed among fish exhibits, displayed by ecosystem rather than species, are several marine mammal and bird species, manatees, seals and penguins, again grouped by ecosystems.

The colorful tropical fish among the coral are always fascinating!

Moving through many more rooms, displaying sharks, tropical species by location, i.e. Asia, South America, a touch tank with rays and skates, a sturgeon tank and even amphibians and reptiles, we finally arrived at the dolphin pool. It was exciting watching them, but sad also that such intelligent animals are housed in such a barren tank!

One of the dolphins seemed fascinated by the little human, it stayed fixated on the kid the whole time he was in view!

In another area of the exhibit the walkway went under the tank and you looked up at the dolphins silhouetted against the blue sky! The dolphin was blowing bubble rings from it’s blowhole!

After several hours ooohing and aaahing over the displays and the size of the Aquarium, much bigger than it appears from the outside, we finally concluded our tour in time for dinner. We looked around and came to a restaurant that was opening in 10 minutes, off the main drag that garnered good reviews. As we perused the posted menu, in Italian of course, the chef came out and introduced himself and explained that he specialized in fish! From Aquarium to plate, it almost seemed morbid, but we’re in Genoa, on the Mediterranean!

The food was Delicious!

We boarded a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus today to visit nearby Boccadasse, a tiny fishermen’s village turned touristy beach enclave.

The village still has active fishermen who supply the local restaurants with the fresh catch of the day!

The pastel hued buildings encircling the tiny pebble beach create a typical Ligurian scene reminiscent of the Cinque Terre further south along the coast!

On the terrace from where these pictures were taken is the Church of Sant’ Antonio of Boccadasse, originally built as a chapel in the 1600’s by the local fishermen and enlarged over the ensuing centuries. It is decorated with model ships hanging in alcoves, and surprisingly modern stained glass windows.

Marine themes are depicted in the vibrantly colored stained glass!

After lunch by the small beach in Boccadasse where it was getting increasingly hot and humid, we returned to central Genoa to relax before dinner. I went on a quest to find an  open ATM machine to get some Euros, which was unsuccessful, but I happened on some beautiful scenes!

A beautifully decorated building with an elaborate shrine.

I wandered into a huge church at a busy intersection, Santissima Annunziata del Vastato, and marveled at the gilt decoration, the paintings and the sculpture!

This is actually a sculpture, so constructed as to look like a painting! It is lighted by a skylight hidden in the recess above the angels!

From the Venetian Lagoon at the tip of the Adriatic Sea to the Gulf of Genoa on the northern part of the Mediterranean Sea in about 5 hours by train! Both cities with long and influential histories mostly related to seafaring!

Goodbye Venice with your busy canals!

Hello Genoa with your busy port!

We disembarked at the main train station and walked the 20 minutes to our hotels, along the sunny waterfront street, then into the narrow stone streets into the labyrinth of passages! After we got situated and settled a little bit we went out to explore the surroundings. The waterfront is easy to get to and has several piers we walked out on.

This replica ship built for a movie I think, is a prominent tourist attraction.

The biosphere is filled with tropical plants and birds.

Along the street opposite the waterfront are older buildings, this one richly decorated.

We found a little restaurant/bar behind this building where we stopped for drinks and the Cicchetti (finger food snacks) kept coming! We had plate after plate of various sandwiches and focaccia, the herb and olive oil bread that Genoa is known for, so much that we decided that would be our dinner!