Cristoforo Colombo set off from his home town of Genova (via Spain) to discover the New World. On a much more modest scale we set off to discover Genova.
It is Italy’s largest port and has a large industrial centre, but we weren’t interested in that, we headed off to the old part of town where the incredibly narrow streets (caruggi) are crammed with fascinating sights. Come for a walk through old Genova.
The first place we saw was this lovely old restaurant.
Clearly, Elvis had once eaten here.
There are dozens of elegant churches and grand buildings.
This lovely little church, which is stuffed full of marble, has a commercial side. The ground floor is full of shops. The builders wanted a return for their investment.
There are elaborate decorations on many corners. They actually served a purpose, they held torches and candles to light the way through the city at night.
Some of the streets are very narrow indeed.
But they are full of life, giving the city a jaunty feeling.
Many of the buildings are beautifully painted.
And there is a bit of modern art as well.
Washing hangs from the balconies.
From high above the city you can get an idea how huge it is.
We covered quite a lot in a couple of hours….there is much more to be found.