20100114 – A Rollercoaster in Genoa

Steady yourself faithful readers, because today was a series of ups and downs that definitely tried my emotions. In sum, it was a tough day.

Everything started out okay. We woke up and ate our breakfast. Once again, it seems that a little bit of Africa has found its way to Italy with this B&B. For example: the promised “wi-fi” is merely a netbook in the common room with a SIM card modem. The breakfast isn’t bad, but I would so love a bowl of simple cereal instead of these second rate pastries. We ate and then made our way to the market down the street. This market was not as lively or as packed as the Sicilian markets we grew to love, but it did have the staples: bread, fruit, meat, cheese, and pastries. We decided to try a fruit pastry and another treat that looked like it contained the cannoli filling. It did not. The pastry was dry and way too buttery and the filling was hard and not scrumptious like a cannoli.

With that out of the way, we took the metro to the center of the historical center. We stopped at an information center and picked up a number of very helpful brochures and maps. Our goal was to explore the historical center and to see the many beautiful churches and palaces in the area. But, we also wanted to see the Oriental Market. This market turned out to be similar to the first market. And it was definitely not an Oriental market. It did not contain any Chinese food. But, the selection of breads and dried fruits was unsurpassed. We also saw a great number of pastas, meats, and cheeses. We purchased a piece of this beautiful bread that swirled in the center and also tried a pastry. Again, the pastry disappointed, but the bread did not. Bread never disappoints! Well, that is not true. The greasy bread the Jeremy purchased the other night got many things inside of my bookbag very yucky. That disappointed.

So, we were in the market. And that was a good thing, because it was raining outside. It was cold and wet. I remember back in Africa when Jeremy was looking for new shoes. I told him about my awesome gore-tex shoes. I said that they were leak proof and were great in the rain. I was wrong. They are terrible. They have started to soak up water like jogging shoes. I am going to start carrying plastic bags with me to wrap my feet in when it rains.

Even though it was raining, we still wanted to see the district. We made a bee-line to our first destination, the Church di Saint Lorenzo and then walked down the via Garibaldi to see the many palaces. However, we were reluctant to pay to get into the palaces (as we are completely desensitized by beautiful works of art), and thus we really didn’t get to see how beautiful they really were. The rain dampened our enjoyment of the outside and our wallets dampened our enjoyment of the interior.

After stopping for a 1 Euro cappuccino at a nice café, we decided to head back to our room, do some laundry, and relax before going to the Castello D’ Albetris (the Museum of World Cultures). There is a washing machine at our B&B, but no dryer. We figured that we could lay our clothes on the radiators and crank them to full blast. Thus, tomorrow we would have dry clothes. But this plan of action was stopped when the owner of the B&B came and said that we couldn’t do that because other guests would be there. I really doubt that they would have minded, but we had to take the clothes and pile them in our room. We ended up cranking up the radiator in our room, turning it into a sauna, and laying the rest of the clothes on the empty bed frame in our room. We turned a previously clean and orderly room into a very messy room.

Along with the markets, the other highlight of the day was the museum of world cultures. This museum contains the collection of Captain Enrico Alberto D’Albertis. He travelled the world collecting odds and ends for his cabinet of curiosities. He had items from China, Japan, Sudan, the Americas, and basically anywhere else you could think of. He had tons of different weapons, guns, a stuffed platypus, sand from the beach where Columbus landed in America, dried fruits, and so many other interesting items. He even had a ship’s captains quarters built into his castle! He must have led an extraordinary life, just travelling around and collecting different objects.

After leaving the museum, we went back to our room, relaxed for a bit, and then went out for dinner at “Pino’s Tratteria.” I would not recommend this restaurant. We were first attracted to the place by the 8 Euro price tag for a 2 course meal. We were further drawn in by the extreme friendliness of the owner. And the first course was good. The pasta was cooked well and the pesto sauce was great. The bread was also free and plentiful. But the second course, described as sausage and beans was terrible. The sausage was about 50% fat, didn’t look like sausage, and had the consistency of something that was in the microwave. And the beans were French fries. I was very disappointed. We did learn that you cannot expect a great 2 or 3 course meal for 8 Euros.

Back at the room, we had another load of laundry to do. This load would contain our essential clothes, the ones off of our backs. We had to do the load and then place it on our radiator to dry over night. I will leave it at that. If it works, tomorrow will at least start off dry. If not, then we will likely start wet and then stay wet.