Tunnel to a wonderful view and other Genoa, Italy Things to Do Tips

So there I was, after a day of drinking of wandering I was pretty buzzed and looking to get back to my hotel. My hotel - from it you can see the west end of a tunnel. There I was looking at the same soot covered tunnel but this was the east end. Genoa is a hilly city, so navigating is a bit of fun and something of an adventure. I was in the Plaza del Portello and people walked into a tunnel that was on north side of the tunnel entrance. Being buzzed and curiuos I followed them down the tunnel to find an elevator. I got in. The elevator went up, up and up. When it stopped the doors opened and I found myself high above the city of Genoa. I was looking down on areas of the city that you can't see when in a narrow alley.

I was on the Portello-Castelletto lift.

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Directions: The entrance is on the North end of the street tunnel from Plazza del Portello.

After a time of roaming around Genova I found myself passing by the same places over and over. So that's when I went to a place I knew I had only been once (and thus, twice) and then kept walking in an unfamiliar direction. I have a theory that when wandering aimlessly in a hilly city our legs tend to want to go downhill so we keep ending up in a lower and familiar part of the area.

From the Piazza de Ferrari walk southwest down some of the small alley's and find yourself in one of the oldest and quietest parts of Genoa. Find yourself on the hill, the "Castello," what was the fortified heart of Genova.

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Directions: About 200 meters southwest of the Piazza de Ferrari

At one time I can picture this man staring out over the sea and the boundless adventures it could have brought. I suppose now this statue has his gaze fixed on the relatively modern invention of the highway and the automoblie.

It was here that the first monument to Cristopher Columbus was created in the 16th century in the form of fresco.

It is also believed that here is where Marco Polo gave his account of his voayge "Il Milione," to Pisa while incarcarated in the old customs house here.

It doesn't matter if you are in the dark, narrow alley or in the wide open of the Palazzo San Giorgio; the history just seeps out of every crack.

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Address: Porto Antico - Centre/sea
Directions: Walk towards the Porto Antico - in other words, down.
Website: http://www.portoantico.it