Steady yourself again, because it didn’t rain today! Jeremy and I wanted to visit the Parco delle Mura in Genova, and we knew that if it looked like rain, we would have to come up with alternate plans. The aquarium looked neat, but it was also very expensive. Our fingers were crossed that the weather would be nice. This morning, we woke up and realized that most of Jeremy’s clothes were still not dry from their wash yesterday. We decided to go to the market and pickup some bread for my lunch while we waited for the clothes to get a bit dryer on the radiator.
Even though it wasn’t raining out, it was cold and windy. We were both a little worried about our current plans, which involved hiking in the mountains overlooking Genoa. It was cold and it would be even colder up in the mountains. This didn’t stop us though. We made it to the funicular and rode it from Zecca to Righi. We had a nice brochure with a number of routes through the park, and one of them started in Righi. The Panarello biscuit factory is located in Righi, and as soon as we exited the cable car, we smelled this wonderful scent in the air. Sadly, we didn’t have time to find any restaurants that sold the biscuits. We were able to see some spectacular views of Genoa at this point.
The reason that we wanted to visit the park is that a number of old fortresses are located in these mountains! Nothing brings back childhood memories and feelings better than exploring a fortress. If you are reading this Uncle Jon, you should check out this site sometime. To our disappointment, the first 2 forts that we visited were closed off and locked. On our way to the last major fort, the Forte Diamante, we had to climb up a high mountain that was completely enclosed in clouds and covered in snow. This was a major change from the weather that we have grown used to. All of a sudden we were walking through 3 inches of snow.
But it was worth it. The hiking trail went straight through the fort, and we were actually able to explore some portions of it. The main tower was closed off, but it was neat to walk through the walls in this weather. On the other side of the fort, we were basically unable to see the trail that we were supposed to take. We gave ourselves 10 minutes to find the trail, and luckily we did. The trail was steep, wet, muddy, and slippery. At 12:50, we emerged from the park in Transasco. Our plan was to take the Genoa-Casella Mountain Railway to Casella. We would explore Casella and then return to Genoa. This plan failed.
We must have taken a wrong turn at some point, because we never found the railway. This wouldn’t seem like a big problem, but we were on a steep hillside and 20 minutes of downhill walking definitely reduces your desire to backtrack. We were both grumpy and losing sight of any sort of plan when we noticed a woman standing on the side of the road. We both hoped that she was waiting for a bus. And she was! She didn’t know any English, but we were able to figure out that the bus she was waiting for would take us to a station where we could link up to Genoa. She kindly gave us tickets and we boarded the bus (van) in route to our link to Genoa.
While waiting for the bus, and wondering how we would board without tickets, we discovered that we were in Staglieno. Know, it is important for you to understand two things. First, we were upset because our first plan to visit Casella was not going to happen. We were not near the railroad and we would not have time to make the trip and then return. Second, we had initially thought that a good second choice plan would be to visit a cemetery in Stalieno. So imagine my surprise when I read the sign at the bust stop and found out that luck was on our side!
We found out where the entrance was to the cemetery and then entered one of Italy’s most famous cemeteries. The reason that this sight is so well known is that it houses a number of beautiful works of art. I am not sure if I can name artists, but the sight was filled with different statues and lavishly decorated tombs. To give you an idea of how important the art here is, the office distributes 2 different books of art itineraries! We spent about 2 hours just exploring the different areas of the cemetery. What astonished me the most was how packed this place is. It seemed that every nook and cranny was filled with one type of tomb or another. They even started to build small plots on the top of the roof of the central structure that encircled the cemetery and contained most of the famous works of art.
On the way back to our B&B, we stopped by the train station and purchased our tickets to Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terra (thank you Pierce!). We also figured out how we could cheaply and comfortable make the trip to Venice after the Cinque Terra. Over the course of our trip, we have discovered that Regional Trains take longer, but they are a whole lot cheaper. For example, the inter city train from La Spezza or from Genoa would cost about 40 Euros per person. On the other hand, we can take a series of different Regional trains from La Spezza to Venice for only 20 Euros per person. These tickets are slightly more difficult to purchase from the ticket machines, because they are not automatically listed. But, we are starting to grok things better, and today we found the exact tickets that we wanted. We will have to leave Riomaggiore for La Spezza and then we will travel from La Spezza to Venice with only two changes. But we will save about 20 Euros each.
Tonight, we are going to relax to a movie and pizza. We still have clothes drying in the room, so it has developed a bit of a sauna like atmosphere. And we will have packing to do tomorrow morning. We also have to visit the market. But it is all going to work out just fine.
Update: I am writing this on the 16th, but I felt that it was necessary to say. Last night, we ordered two pizzas: the quarto stagione and the penne e salmone. The first was okay. It wasn’t the best pizza I have had, but it wasn’t the worst. The second was the worst. Salmon alone on a pizza isn’t terrible. In fact, I really didn’t mind it. But penne is, in my opinion, a terrible cheese for pizza. The cheese was kind of cold and creamy. I will no longer order penne on my pizza!
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