12-13 mars 2011
On Saturday I was grateful for the alarm sounding at 5:30 a.m. because the night had been fitful, with dreams and frequent checks of the clock. The night before I had set aside the things that I was going to wear and to pack for the trip to Genoa. I had to keep moving in order to leave the house by 6:35. Rosa wanted to meet at the station by 6:50. I told Michele not to get up for my sake, so I downed a bowl of granola cereal, then left for my first trip into Italy.
Rosa had said that she had wanted to get a cup of coffee at the station, so I looked for her there first. Because I did not find her, I waited in the station near the gate until she came at 7:05. She had not found her coffee, but I did find that the tabac stand open, so I purchased some credits for my phone.
The train was on time and we were off on our adventure. It was not raining, but the sky looked quite heavy. Inside the train it did not matter, of course. At Ventimiglia we changed trains. The train we moved to looked older and less well-kept than what we had been used to in France. The seats were assigned; they were near the window (land side). The cabin was comfortable and clean.
It took quite a while to get to Genoa. Along the way we say many small towns and some flower and vegetable fields, but much of the time is spent in tunnels. Only one other woman joined us in the cabin before we reached Genoa.
Genoa is a huge, modern city. The seaport there is what made it famous, since the time of the Middle Ages. We arrived just after 11 a.m. The station is near the port and the old town. Our first task was to buy our tickets for the return trip. The second task was to get a room for the night. After purchasing the rail tickets, we walked outside to find a large monument to Christopher Columbus that greeted us. This is the city of his birth.
We started walking down the street, looking for hotel signs and assessing whether or not we even wanted to walk into them. We soon realized that since the station, a man was following us. So we scooted into the next hotel entrance.
To actually get into Hotel Vittoria that is built on two levels of the hillside there is an elevator. The lobby was small, but quaint. There were two gentlemen, one older, one younger, who greeted us. Rosa asked to see the room before we took it, so the young man took us upstairs, across another lobby, to an elevator, to the fifth floor. It had two twin beds and a little balcony. Most importantly, it was clean. I liked it immediately. Rosa was unsure, but I liked the hotel’s location just across the street from the train station and that it was well kept. Breakfast was included, too, and the price was just 35 Euros each. Rosa’s only reservation was regarding an escape route if there was an emergency. But for one night, it was OK. I was glad to have made a quick decision so that we could get about seeing Genoa.
Next we had lunch at a little restaurant across the street from the hotel. From there we walked toward the old town. There are a number of palazzi that were built by the rich families of Genoa in the 16th and 17th centuries. They are AMAZING structures now used for universities, museums and public offices. One can walk into the courtyards if the doors are open. Because of the hill that we were walking along, there were staircases that lead up to the garden, then at least two levels of building surrounding that.
We walked toward the home of Christopher Columbus, a narrow structure with three floors. His parents sold cloth. It is amazing to think that a family could live and work in that space.
Nearby were two towers that were part of the walls that protected the old town. With our entrance fee to Columbus’ house we also took this site. One could climb the tower stairs to take a panoramic view of the city. By the time we reached the second level, we were already happy with the view, and it was raining. It was interesting to reflect on how impressive a structure this is today even amongst all the other buildings. What must it have meant to the people of Genoa when it was built?
The many churches show evidence of years of remodeling and renovation. We went into San Lorenzo Cathedral built in the early Middle Ages. Today they have a statue of Pope John Paul II, an unexploded bomb that hit the church in WWII, and beautiful altars in front and along the sides. I have a few pictures, but they only give a glimpse of the majesty of the building.
We found a coffee shop in order to rest our feet, and then we purchased some meat, cheese, bread, wine, and fruit to eat a the hotel later. As we continued back towards the hotel, we found the church of Saint Filippi – the Filippian fathers. Next door was a beautiful room, the Oratory of St. Filippi Neri. I realized much later that this was the spot where oratorios began (!), the birth of opera. It was being set up for a concert in the evening, two women’s choruses. We decided to come back for it at 9 p.m. When the church bells started to ring, we went to the mass in the church.
It seems the Filippian Fathers have a school for abandoned children. The children, who seemed to be from ages 4 to 17, were all in attendance at the 6:00 p.m. liturgy. The liturgy was a bit of a throwback to another time: the vestments were of a pre-Vatican II style, and that the priest had his back to the people for the Eucharistic Prayer. There was no music at this liturgy either. Other than that, it was as we know it. How strange to hear Italian and not French this time.
After Mass we returned to the hotel, had our Italian evening meal, and returned to the Oratory for the concert. Two women’s groups were performing. It seems that it was a collaborative effort. The first group was generally an older group of women, but their voices were like those of girls. The second group was younger women but had somewhat rounder tones. I recorded one piece done by the first group and several from the second group so that you can hear them, too. At the end of the concert, gifts were exchanged between the two groups. We did not stay to mingle. The crowd was quite happy with the concert and their singers. We got back to the hotel about 10:45 p.m. I was very glad to go to bed.
At 5:30 a.m., wouldn’t you know, my alarm went off! I shut it off right away, but it had woken up Rosa. She got up at 6:00 to prepare for the day thinking that I wanted to get up at that time, because the alarm had gone off. Not at all! I did get up at 7:30. By 8:40 we headed down to breakfast that was quite lovely – yogurt, cereals, juices, coffee(s), pastries, cold meats. At 10:00 we checked out, leaving our baggage at the hotel until we were ready to meet our train at 5:00 p.m.
It was pouring rain today – not the heaviest possible, but enough to make us quite wet. We walked down to the port to the Galata Museo del Mare. This museum takes one from the earliest days of Genoa seafaring to modern times. There were many scale models of ships, including those used by Columbus for his famous trip to the Americas. But there were also two full-size ships that were built into the museum. The top floor was dedicated to the plight of the Italian emigrants heading to America. All was well presented; the children had many hands-on activities.
We left the museum at 2:30 p.m. looking for food. We stopped at a little café full of people that featured Genovese cuisine. We enjoyed this much – I had pasta with pesto, cooked beans/carrots, and sausage (nicely spiced). The server who could speak to us in English guessed that I was from Iowa. He had spent three months working in New York several years ago.
This was the close of our time in Genoa. We purchased one sweet thing from a pastisserie before heading back to the hotel, picking up our things, and then getting to the train.
The Genoa train station is nothing fancy, but has 19-20 tracks. We waited until 15 minutes to departure time to go to the platform. It pulled in shortly afterwards. Our compartment was nearly full, but relatively quiet. We arrived in Ventimiglia about 7:20. From here any train heading east is OK to board, so we were able to hop on one heading out at 7:25. We arrived in Nice just after 8:00 with only a few stops along the way. I made it home by 8:15 p.m.
It’s good to be back in Nice. Vacation is hard work, but well worth it. Michele is telling me that the news from Japan is not good. I need to catch up with the world now.
Have a good week, Dear Reader. Take care.
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