It was time for us to leave France and take the train to our next country, Italy. Our first stop was really an overnight to break up the trip to the Cinque Terre - Genoa.
I'd been once before briefly and although it seemed a pleasant place I wasn't overly impressed, so I was hoping to get something more from it this time. And Simon just wanted to satisfy his pasta craving that had been steadily growing for the past few days! Unfortunately we didn't get off to a good start - usually we have been good at booking places close to train stations and transport so we didn't have to carry the bags too far. However we'd managed to book this hotel on the complete other side of town, so after a 40-minute walk in the blazing sun we weren't feeling that charitable towards the city.
But after a freshen up we headed out without 14 kilos on our backs and enjoyed eating some eggplant/aubergine focaccia and checking out the lovely black-and-white stone striped cathedral and the narrow winding streets of the old town. The port area sounded promising, but was a bit disappointing - apart from an aquarium there wasn't too much there and no shade to protect from the sun. Genoa was a very important town historically, trading with the world and rivalling the Venetian empire in terms of economic and maritime power. I thought they could have made more of this with some information or displays down at the port but there wasn't much. In terms of sights, there are several old palaces that belonged to the city nobility that Lonely Planet assured us were worth going to, but most were closed or we judged them to be over-priced for what they were (we could be wrong, we'll never know!)
After fruitlessly following old-town signs promising restaurant districts that never materialised, we settled for dinner at a touristy place at the port, that did actually serve up some decent pasta, and retired, feeling that Genoa must have something to offer, but we'd apparently managed to miss it!
I'd been once before briefly and although it seemed a pleasant place I wasn't overly impressed, so I was hoping to get something more from it this time. And Simon just wanted to satisfy his pasta craving that had been steadily growing for the past few days! Unfortunately we didn't get off to a good start - usually we have been good at booking places close to train stations and transport so we didn't have to carry the bags too far. However we'd managed to book this hotel on the complete other side of town, so after a 40-minute walk in the blazing sun we weren't feeling that charitable towards the city.
But after a freshen up we headed out without 14 kilos on our backs and enjoyed eating some eggplant/aubergine focaccia and checking out the lovely black-and-white stone striped cathedral and the narrow winding streets of the old town. The port area sounded promising, but was a bit disappointing - apart from an aquarium there wasn't too much there and no shade to protect from the sun. Genoa was a very important town historically, trading with the world and rivalling the Venetian empire in terms of economic and maritime power. I thought they could have made more of this with some information or displays down at the port but there wasn't much. In terms of sights, there are several old palaces that belonged to the city nobility that Lonely Planet assured us were worth going to, but most were closed or we judged them to be over-priced for what they were (we could be wrong, we'll never know!)
After fruitlessly following old-town signs promising restaurant districts that never materialised, we settled for dinner at a touristy place at the port, that did actually serve up some decent pasta, and retired, feeling that Genoa must have something to offer, but we'd apparently managed to miss it!
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