Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Genova The amazing port town with too little to do.

Caio Amici,
This last weekend I and a group of friends went to Genova on the Ligurian coast. It was an interesting Journey and one in which Rick Steves yet again failed us. In our copy of Rick Steves Italy 2010 there is nary a paragraph about this port town just north of the Cinque Terre. But as we walked around the whole of the town because we got off at the wrong stop on the train I realized that aside from the requisite Duomos, Chiesas and Museums that there was little happening in this town. There was shopping which to those on a budget holds little interest. But as we got closer to the port and saw the extravagant Yachts and Cruise ship in the harbor I was Vaguely reminded of Bellingham crossed with the piers of Seattle. There was some modern Art scattered here and there and a little shopping/Cineplex center that had, Que the angelic chorus, A BREWERY. In Italy I know like a needle in a haystack.

The Brewery was called Bicu. Unfortunately, in Italian Style, it was not the quaint Bistro that I used to work at Boundary Bay, but a chic restaruant. they had a Ginormous menu that had everything Italian on it. Many Pizzas and Pastas, a boatload of traditional dishes fused wiht modern cuisine. I convinced everyone that the best thing that we could do was to order the Gran Misto(Pictured), a starter plate fit for a King and his Court with four Pork Shanks four half chickens, a sellection of sausages all piled atop a more than generous portion of French fried pah-taters. It was protein heaven in this world which prides itself on the mastery of the carb. And I have to say the beer was not Bad either. I had a German Style Double malt which was so nice I had to try it twice, though it was touted as having a strong Hop Character I figure they haven't been to the northwest, but a good beer anyway. Olesia had a really interesting Greek style beer which was light on the pallet and made with Basil called Akiropita al Basilico. Akiropita is greek for "Created By God", I have to believe it because Olesia actually had two of them and it was a light beer I could see myself drinking on a hot day, which unfortunately it was not.

Filled with food and a beer or two we set out for the only other thing that caught our interest the Genova Aquarium. We are told that it is the largest aquarium in Europe and if this is true I am truly disappointed. I am a sucker for aquariums and I had a really great time walking around the different exhibits. The had sharks and seals and dolphins. There were Piranha, and a few display about the fish of the Mediterranean. The Billboards that explained the histories of the fish and urging the public to be more conscientious about our oceans and their creatures. Touch-tanks and weirder still and exhibit on reptiles and amphibians from the Amazon. I have been to many aquariums in my life and this one ranked about a 4 on a scale to ten but my favorite part of all was the Manatee they had a pair of them imported from Florida. God bless those little sea-cows they were asleep and they still fascinate me. My inner marine biologist satisfied we headed for the train station and back to our sleepy little town of Costigliole.

Sorry the internet in this town SUCKS!!! will upload photos ASAP

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