GENOA, ITALY (TRIP: PART 3)

An alleyway to the old city near our hotel.

I swear, as soon as we crossed the border from France into Italy, I felt so happy (not that I didn't love France...)!  Maybe I was Italian in a past life?  :)  Italian people...smiling and laughing, and gesturing wildly with their hands as they speak to one another!  I am officially in love with that country.  It is beautiful, it has so much history, the language is lovely (and it was fun to listen to Raf speak!), and the food....oh my goodness, the food...First of all, I should say that the train ride from Nice to Genoa was incredibly stunning.  We hugged the Mediterranean coast (along the Ligurian Sea) most of the way.  The sun was glimmering on the water, there was a lot of greenery (the plants reminded me a lot of Berkeley), the architecture was pretty and there were splashes of bright color everywhere.  Once we arrived in Genoa, we walked to our hotel--Hotel Agnello D'oro (only a 5 minute walk) and we were pleasantly surprised by the location and helpfulness of the staff.  We were so centrally located-- near the harbor, steps away from the old city, the university, and everything else we wanted to see.  Walking around was really, really easy.  Back to the food...Genoa is known for its pesto.  It is amazing.  We ate it on fresh pasta and pizza and fresh pasta again.  :)  We ate pizza a few times, and I am pretty much forever ruined for pizza from anywhere else again.  It was so. good.  And did I mention I had some of the best coffee I have ever had in my life?  Forget about it.  Ridiculous.  And wine.  And chocolate, and gelato.  Sigh...  Anyway, we are so glad we made it there and stayed there (we were originally planning to move along to another city before heading back to the states).  Genoa is my new favorite place.  I can't wait to see more of Italy in the future!

So much color!

A courtyard within one of the beautiful buildings of the university.

A lecture hall at the university...say what?!?

A tall ship docked in the harbor....look at that water!

The sculptures on the front of the ship.

The whole thing.  Can you tell we were excited about this boat?

Super Raf near the shipping yard.

Lots of cruise ships dock here.

Old city.  hungry guy.

Old city.  cool picture.

Beautiful salad we had at a really yummy vegetarian restaurant: La Cucina di Giuditta.

Handmade seitan and mushrooms at the same restaurant...SO yum!

We LOVED the architecture in the city.

Arch of the Ponte Monumentale bridge and a dippy face :)

A platform between the streets and an amazing bridge, Ponte Monumentale.

View from the bridge!

Mercato Orientale!  One of my favorite parts of the city!  An amazing market for fresh produce, cheese, meat, spices...

The best smoked cheese I have ever had!

Fresh pasta!  Basta!

Soft cheese was presented so beautifully, like cakes!

A view from VERY high up in the city.  we took a lift to the top and walked around.  It was the best.

More views.