[33] Genoa is a Jewel

Chris Columbus is a "home boy"
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Genoa (Genova in Italian) is really a jewel of a place. We both agree that we’d go back anytime. It’s the kind of place that it takes time to explore. It’s built on steep hills, and for us each one has to be climbed s-l-o-w-l-y. REB thinks it would make a great place for a murder or spy novel with all the narrow streets and long stairways that lead from one level of streets to another.

But as we said goodby to Germany, we had to say goodby to Italy. It’s probably my fault, I got worn down by the food and wanted something other than pasta and pizza. And I got worn down by the dirt. Jackie told us before we left that we should stay away from Naples as it was so dirty. Well, Naples is not alone. There is a level of uncleanliness that is acceptable in Italy.

Beautiful mansions line the street. They were built to try to "outdo the neighbors"
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We have some lovely pictures of this old town (Christopher Columbus’ hometown), but not nearly enough to do it justice. REB had the beginnings of a cold here and it rained for half the time we were there, so we don’t have as many pictures as we’d like. It is a beautiful city and, as we said, we’d be happy to go back. Maybe to research that book.

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