A couple of updates/corrections

Rosanna sent in a comment helping me out with identifying places in my Monday post.  Poor thing did such a great job identifying everything we were looking at and I enjoyed it all immensely but I did not do a good job of retaining what she was telling me.  Should have had a stenographer along to take notes. :)

Anysay, I will repost one picture I was totally wrong about and another that I had the right idea but was not really clear about.

First is the coastal town of Camogli which is taken from "CAsa delle MOGLI", town of a thousand white sails and is what I called the "wives' town".  It is the wives' town but does have a proper name.

The second mistake was calling the picture below a rich family's palacio.  It is actually San Fruttuoso Abbey which is the burial place of the Doria family - one of the most important, if not the most, in Genoa.  And I apologize for that mistake.

Chris did some more of his research because upon seeing another picture from that fated Tuesday, he said he thought it was where the film "Enchanted April" (a film the kids and I love and have watched now and then when we want to feel good) was filmed.  Having a real senior moment and apparently thinking I was still in Spain, I responded "Oh, no it can't be Spain - they went to Italy!".  Got a note a while later saying that yes, it was where they filmed it, it was Castello Brown, and it was in Portofino.  And he was nice and didn't say anywhere "Mom, you're crazy".  And, of course after he said the name I remembered that, yes, we had seen Castello Brown.  So here is the picture again, with a proper identification.  Actually, it's not "the" picture because Chris sent along a better one that must have been on the site he Googled.

And the one below is the one I had taken which I hadn't even tried to identify.  

So I can only apologize for being such an inept blogger.  I can only come up with two defenses - one, I'm 6 years older than when I took my first solo trip (2009 to Italy) and, two, both Spain and Genoa were filled with wonderful sightseeing but a lot of it.  More than I could remember properly apparently.  Well, and, three - I have never done so much traveling and moving from here to there as I've done on this trip and I won't be doing that again.  I may go to more than one place on a trip but I've decided that I won't do more than one flight and one either bus or train in a single day.  It's just too much for me.

That said, I'm happy with this trip and hope to make more and I do love my Florence. :)

Tuesday in Genoa - a frightening beginning but a happy ending

But first, good old Chris - look what he found for me (and I didn't even ask him to):

Found this online:

In the 1800s, walls enclosed the city of Barcelona, and people who could not afford to live within the walled city set up home in Poble Sec.  Named Poble Sec­—dry village in Catalan—because the neighbourhood had no source of water until the late 19th century when a fountain was built, it holds an important place in the history of Catalunya.
It was here that American engineer Frederick Stark Pearson set up the Barcelona Traction Light and Power Company to administer the development and implementation of hydro-electric power originating from the Segre and Noguera Pallaresa rivers. Dubbed La Canadenca—the Canadian—by locals because it was incorporated in Toronto, Canada, the factory provided electricity to Catalunya and turned Poble Sec into the industrial capital of Barcelona. The factory brought with it many employees, who took up residence in the neighbourhood due to its low-cost housing and close proximity to the factory. 

(and here's the good part)...While the original plant is no longer operational (Red Eléctrica de España has stood in the same location since 1985), a nod to La Canadenca and the neighbourhood’s roots still exists in the form of the original smoke stacks, which tower over Poble Sec. - See more at: http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/living/el-poble-sec/#sthash.DetmwV1x.dpuf  

So there's the answer to those impressive stacks I was so curious about.  I thought about searching but had no idea what terms to use - putting in "three stacks in Barcelona" seemed like it might not work. 

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But now on to Genoa with Rosanna.  Rosanna works half a day on Tuesdays so the plan was for me to go to the aquarium in the morning and she would meet me there around 1:30 (after she called or texted me to let me know she was leaving work) with her son, Mateo (a very pleasant young man) and we'd have lunch at a restaurant that serves traditional Genovese dishes.  And the plan worked but not without a glitch.  We had discussed the night before how to get there, me saying "draw me a map", Rosanna and Mateo offering different options.  One way was to take a bus from very near her apartment to its final stop, get off there and walk the rest of the way (a relatively short distance).  That one appealed to me because there were no transfers from train to bus or bus to bus, etc.  She had even shown me the bus stop when we went to the market and I kind of kept track of how we got back to her apartment from there.  Well, in the morning off I went (without a map but with confidence) and immediately ran into trouble.  I DID finally get to the aquarium but only after many requests for help, the first one of which grew until it involved 4 people all debating in Italian what I should do.  Fortunately one of them was getting on the bus Rosanna had said I had to take so I got on with her and hoped for the best.

Got to the aquarium which is right down at the harbor, and I forget why I went to look up something on my phone, but I discovered it was dead.  That pretty much did it for me.  I did go in the aquarium and I did find the three babies that have recently been born that Rosanna had told me about, but the whole time I had moments of being close to tears as I contemplated the fact that we were going to have to try to meet up with no phone contact.  I figured when she couldn't get me, she would sort of panic too and I hated knowing that and I also figured if we didn't just luck out and see each other I had no idea what I would do.  I didn't know her address so I couldn't get back to the apartment, I didn't have her phone number (except in my phone) so I couldn't use a pay phone, I was just really beside myself.  She had said meet at the front entrance which as far as I could tell was the ticket window tucked away back from the street behind a building that looked like it sold tickets but didn't.  So I went out early and wandered around that for a bit but realized I wouldn't be seen from any direction she might approach so if I wasn't actually at the main entrance, she would head somewhere else and miss me.  So then I went out into a large open area with benches and figured I was more visible there.  Finally when it got to about 1:20 I decided to go even further to the front and did that.  All the while I was thinking if we don't see each other, this is a disaster.  I had decided I would try to find the police and see what they could do to get me back to her house if worse came to worst.  Around 1:35 or 1:40, I decided okay - this is not working.  I will head back to what I THINK is maybe the main entrance and pray.  I turned around and started walking back there and there she was running towards me and I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life!

So, we went for lunch and that was very good and I warmed up, then we went to a little tiny chocolate shop tucked away with no sign or anything on a little tiny street and bought some delicious chocolates.  Mateo parted ways with us at that point and Rosanna showed me around till it was time to go home.  The first place she took me was a beautiful shop - their inventory was fun - pretty much all very nice things for your home - kitchen, bedroom, and so on but what made it a beautiful shop was the fact that it was in an old building that had been some very rich family's home and it went from gorgeous room to gorgeous room - frescoes everywhere, beautiful parquet floors, frescoed ceilings too - and very high.  Huge windows with heavy draperies.  Just wonderful.  However, no picture taking is allowed inside so you'll just have to take my word for it.

But I DO have pictures starting with a few sort of pitiful ones from the aquarium and the first one which was of I think the sort of main Genoa cathedral - it's one of those black and white banded ones that I've seen in a number of Italian cities/towns.  And now I will quit with all the words and let you see some pictures.

I posted this really awful picture for my daughter January because it is seahorses and there was a very large tank with who knows how many of the little creatures swimming around and I'm pretty sure a few of them were pregnant.  Big round tummies on them.  Her dad once made a comment that God had a good sense of humor because really, who needs seahorses actually?  Those are probably not the exact words, but she wrote it in a very nice poem she gave to him one Father's Day and I've always loved it.

And the penguins of course were adorable.  Some smaller kind...

And this alligator sure knew how to hide - are you seeing him?

This is what looks like a very old ship (too old to be believed really) but Rosanna told me when I asked about it that it was built for some Roman Polanske film.  I remember reading in something about Genoa how this ship had a figurehead of Neptune very white and very naked and when they brought it to display here, they added some "tasteful" drapery over the appropriate parts. :)  I didn't take a picture of all that because the the statue was huge and very white and kind of dumb.  

 This is one of Rosanna's favorite churches because of the octagonal tower she told me.  And it is about 1000 years old.  That's old.

 We had seen a fantastic two-story grafitti on a wall fairly close to this but Rosanna and Mateo said this was a legal painting advertising something.  Fantastic isn't it?  I wish I had taken a picture of the other one - it was fantastic too and wasn't legal. :)

 And this, all you Americans out there is the childhood home of Christopher Columbus.  There were I believe Rosanna said 7 children and the father and mother living here in what basically looks big enough for a room on the ground floor and a room up above.  No wonder he took to the high seas!

This is for my stock-guru sister.  It's Genoa's old stock exchange building - huge and quite beautiful.

 In the rotunda part of the building is this skylight, unfortunately kind of ruined by the network of whatever they are but you can still get the idea.

 And one side of the rotunda...

 This picture didn't turn out at all well and I had to edit it way too much to get it to even show but Rosanna is the one who pointed it out and said I should take it for Chris which I thought was very nice of her.

 And if she reads this post, she'll kill me when she sees this picture because it is not flattering to her - she is a lovely woman.  But it's not flattering to me either and I don't care - at least it proves I'm not sitting somewhere crying with Rosanna frantically trying to find me! :)

Part of the reason I took it was because we were inside this real honest-to-goodness old-time elevator that we ran ourselves.  This was how you got up to the delightful shop.  Actually, now I say that, I'm not sure.  Good grief this is pathetic.

The last place we went was to what Rosanna says the city residents call the "lift to heaven".  It's an elevator that takes you up to a different level of a hill and when you get off, there is a viewing deck still inside and protected from wind and rain and such and the views are absolutely wonderful.  The rest of the photos are from when we were up there.  It was a cold, kind of wet, windy evening but it still was beautiful.

And that's basically all there is to report.  I think I must have reported on our dinner on Monday's post because I remember talking about the cod and how it was cooked.  I had pretty much packed up that morning before I went out on my quest so we got to the train station in plenty of time.  Rosanna stayed with me until I was on the train, probably worried that if she left I'd decide to go to a different platform or something, bless her heart.  This may make her decide she won't have guests over 65 years of age in the future!

Monday - first day in Genoa

Okay - as reported in Saturday's post, Sunday was nothing to report - packing and travel for both Heather and myself while Chris stayed in Barcelona for the rest of Sunday and all of Monday, flying home on Tuesday.  Poor guy had rain all day Sunday apparently but soldiered on and then he had a flight delay on his connection in Rome.  But all ended well and he checked in early late last night (Tuesday) to say he was home and going to bed).

Rosanna is just a delightful lady - full of enthusiasm, very easy to have conversations with, knows everything there is to know about Genoa, has a beautiful home - just a delight and I'm so happy to got to meet and get to know her better.  Sunday night after my kind of harrowing day and evening (buses, planes, trains, etc. and nothing going quite as it should), she took me to her home where a pot of delicious pumpkins soup was waiting with toasted croutons, bread with all sorts of honeys and jams, a glass of a Genovese (is that right, Rosanna or is it Genoese?) sparking white wine which was very good and then a nice hot cup of tea.  Just what I was needing and I slept like a little lamb that night.

Monday she had the day off and we went to so many different places on Genoa's coast that I couldn't keep track of where we were.  I remember we were in Portofino and Santa Margarita and another one that I can't remember the name of - may have started with a P, but of course, being on the water and with the hills rising up behind them, it was all beautiful.  We did a boat trip that went past numerous villages and ended up (I think) at the end of the route at a place where we could walk to Portofino (through Santa Margarita?) and it's all just lovely.  A fair amount of up and down and Rosanna is in way better shape than I am (about 20-some years younger too) and it must have been hard for her to hold back for my sake.  Anyway, we also stopped here and there to sample some of the local foods - a really interesting pastry type thing where they roll the dough out in very thin sheets (like puff pastry) that are big enough for really large cookie pans.  They lay one down and put blobs of some kind of cheese on it and then lay another one over that (oh, and they've oiled the sheet with olive oil).  Then they bake it and then you roll it up and eat it.  So simple (except for all the technique involved) and yet so delicious.

I'll quit talking for a while and post some pictures.  I wish I could remember more about what and where they are but I couldn't visit with Rosanna, look at the views, take pictures and take notes! :)

 I included this because as we waited for our train, Rosanna told me about how during WWII these train tunnels were used as bomb shelters.

She pointed out this building as a good example of the frequent use of troupe l'oiel(?) - the green shutters are real, all the trim around the windows is painted.

And this I absolutely loved!  Rosanna explained that being a poor city (in more recent times - centuries ago, they were one of Europe's richest cities), this was a common way to decorate pavements or make a special commemorative-type "mosaic".  These are rocks from the beach (which are rock beaches - black, grey, white, black with white stripes, etc.).  They're very smooth of course and she said that they are pushed into a wet sand base - no concrete is used - and they stay there.  And I have to say, they certainly looked and felt like nothing was going to move them.  I saw these in numerous places - some just designs some a bit more dramatic, like this one.  Really appealing I think.

Again, Rosanna explained that up until 30 years or so ago, the waters along the coastline had become polluted and very "muddy".  The government made this entire coastline into a national park, with very strong restrictions on boating in the area.  There are lanes marked out with buoys and, for instance, our tour boat took a path that allowed 3 approaches to the beach - one from where we left, one that I'm not real sure why they stop, and the last one to drop us off.  The rest of the time he was the prescribed distance from the coast.  And folks who live there and have boats have to use a rowboat or dinghy to get to the main boat because they, too, are not allowed within a certain distance of the coast.  And now the waters are beautiful - a lovely blue-green color and clear, clear, clear.

I think this is the one that Rosanna said was a family church!  There was another family in the area who had their own church and so this family felt the need to make one for themselves that was bigger and better than the other family's.  Are people strange or what?!

 I think this might be the area that Rosanna said came to be called the "wives' houses" because the wives of the men going out to sea lived in these and the men could pick out their house from the water because of the different colors.

 Another very rich family's palacio back in the day.

And two goats who could care less about money and had gorgeous sets of horns.

 Another one hiding.

 This is an old grape vine which I really liked.  Rosanna spotted one forgotten cluster of grapes that looked like it must have been hanging there for several years - really shriveled up.

 A pretty, simple church.  We agreed that this appealed to us much more than the grandiose, gilt-encrusted churches.  Those are fantastic to see because they're kind of unbelievable, but for a quiet spot for reflection, this fills the bill.

 It sure was a beautiful day for seeing such beautiful scenery.

This is a communal cauldron (with the fire heating it down below) where ashes and something else got boiled together and were used in washing clothes.  Rosanna said the white fabrics came out gleaming white.

I feel pretty certain that at least some of that is Portofino.  But don't hold me to it.

 Walking to where we would wait for our bus, we saw these purple flowers.  I tried to get really close but my macro didn't seem to work for me.  But the purple is little fuzzy bits sort of like small pussy willow thingies and then they sprout little white rods out of each purple thing.  They were delightful.  As were the flowers below which I think I've seen in the states.  They start out that solid pinkish red color and as they age, the get the yellow and orange-isn going and by the end, they're pretty much all yellow.  Very decorative.

 And that's about it.  I got to go to the grocery store with Rosanna because once again she prepared a delicious dinner and had to buy some fish.  This meal was cod that she cut into good-sized chunks and cooked in a broth of white wine, olive oil and I think water with garlic.  Then sprinkled chopped up parsley and pine nuts on it before serving.  She also served a pasta that I had never seen before with a delicious walnut cream sauce.  And, oh, yes, there was a bowl of potatoes also dressed with olive oil and parsley.  I certainly didn't go hungry while I was there!  She is a very energetic hostess and never seems to tire.

And now I have Tuesday's post left to do for Genoa and today (Wednesday) I did what I said I would so won't have lots of pictures to deal with for Wednesday's post, so I'm getting there.