"An all too brief visit" a Genoa Travel Page by oneonta_ni

A few months previous to this trip my better half and I were looking for an autumn break and considering Italy and Crete. We couldn't decide where we wanted to go until my niece told us about her trip to Genoa and the Cinque Terre. She didn't say we should go, she said we had to go. Knowing her uncle's love of seafood, she knew we would really love Liguria. She wasn't wrong.

When I started looking for information on Genoa itself, it reminded me of when I was trying to find information on Naples. If you are going to Venice, Florence or Rome, you can find endless amounts of information but finding information on the lesser visited cities can be a bit of a task. Any information I did find seemed to be vague and to indicate that there was not much to see in Genoa, apart from the aquarium. I was beginning to wonder just how much time I wanted to spend there. And then I had a look at Paolo's page on his home city. Mention Slow Food, 'temple of eating' and Italy all in one sentance and you will get my attention. Suddenly, I didn't care what the guidebooks said. Good food, nice people - what more could you ask for on a holiday? Good weather of course, and we got that in huge amounts.

Genoa has a few other similarities with Naples. It is a port town, it has a funiculare and it is close enough to more popular places to visit that it gets overlooked. The guidebooks basically say there is not much to see and that they are dirty, noisy cities. I was happy about that - fewer tourists, fewer crowds, restaurants with menus only in Italian serving local specialities. We would have the opportunity to discover for ourselves what there was to see in the city and not have it thrust at us.

Most of what we saw and did in Genoa was due to the very generous and gracious hospitality of Paolo and Chiara. They made sure we found the best bits of Genoa, from the best farinata to the best sandwich shop near the waterfront; from the city's oldest pastry shop to the little dog carved into the cathedral. From 44 Gatti to Fabrizio de Andre. We felt our visit was greatly enriched by being able to meet these two - and Barbara, Eddie Izzard's biggest fan.:o)

For us, Genoa is the type of city that is a living place, not a museum where people come to see one or two things in particular and tick them off their list. This is a place for settling in and absorbing more than skimming the surface and rushing off to the next site. Nearly everything is off the beaten path and most people may view the place without actually seeing it.

The only thing I would suggest is that you visit in 2004 or thereafter. Genoa is the European City of Culture for 2004 and many of the main buildings are completely covered in scaffolding and it is difficult to get an idea of just how grand they are. This didn't detract from our visit; I think it added an air of excitement, the promise of something big happening soon. Perhaps I felt this because Belfast lost it's bid for City of Culture in 2010 and I was disappointed that we will not get to experience this for years to come. At any rate, many parts of the city have been dug up and it can be a little awkward getting around. Accept it and enjoy the city.