As Genoa is still quite undiscovered by the tourism industry except for the italians coming from other parts of Italy, the ambience is still very authentic in its own way. Although it lacks the hustle and bustle of Venice, it has its own charming qualities. For a start, things are generally cheaper than the major cities. Then I also felt that the locals are friendlier. Lastly, there is just simply a good blend of nature and civilisation.
In Genoa, we received the warm hospitality of Maurizio and his girlfriend, Paola. Maurizio is Edmund's colleague and also Edmund's roommate when they were working in Dubai. Since the second largest emirate is just lots of sand and modern shopping malls that offer mostly high-end shopping, the two men kinda clicked together as they both have the same liking - Italian Cuisine.
Therefore, when we arrived in Genoa on Saturday evening, Maurizio and Paola picked us up from the railway station and brought us to a very fine restaurant by the harbour called "Porto Antico". We had a wonderful dinner of foccaccia and cheese, tortelli in walnut sauce and of course italian white wine.
After that, Maurizio took us to our hotel which was situated near a promenade. The hotel is very lovely and our window actually opened out to a luscious landscape. Being close to the promenade also meant that we could stroll along the promenade to enjoy the cool seabreeze and the picturesque scenery anytime.
The next day, Maurizio took us to visit his parents for an Easter tea. We were treated to a traditional Easter sweet eggbread topped with candied orange peels and almonds, a humungous and decadent chocolate egg and a 1997 year old Ferrari Brut Champagne.
When we had satisfied the sweet tooth, we met up with Paola at downtown for sightseeing. Although there are not as many big churches and museums in Genoa as in Italy, the old city oozes charm nonetheless. When we were there, there was a temporary market (something like "pasar malam") and there was a wide selection of cheeses, salami and other types of cured meat. Ingredients for making delicious italian food like fresh porcini mushrooms and local vegetables/fruits were also in abundance. I was very tempted to buy some of the fresh food back but I knew I couldn't because I still have a next stop, which was Rome.
Subsequently, dinner was at a cosy restaurant by the seaside. I wished I had taken a picture of the restaurant because it was a very cool place with glass walls and we were basically sitting above the sea. Contrary to popular belief, Copenhagen is not exactly a place where you can enjoy fresh seafood because the only thing fresh and easily available in the supermarket is probably only salmon and some fish fillets (no mussels or squids or prawns or crabs). So on that night, we had delicious Trofie with Pesto Sauce and a big fish baked with olives and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
After dinner, we had dessert in one of the cafes at Portofino, which was a small fishing village and tourist resort on the Italian Riveria. It stretched like an arch of the moon around a quiet basin and at a corner, it provided many sailboats a place to moor.
After dessert, we ended our holiday in Genoa as we had to head out to Rome early next morning. It was a short but certainly memorable visit.
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