"To offer you on your birthday what I deem the greatest gift, I promise to take you to Genoa next spring..."
Richard Wagner to Minna Wagner 1853
Those who have only spent a limited time in Genoa, could be forgiven for thinking that Mr. Wagner was perhaps angling for a divorce.
At first glance, there is nothing particularly beautiful about Genoa, especially in the winter months. It's grubby, dark, grim and functional with an ever present whiff of urine. However, if you linger just a little longer, you'll struggle not to be seduced.
The capital of Liguria, Genoa is situated in the North west of Italy. With the old port ( Porto Antico) at the base, it looks up into a maze of tall narrow buildings, painted in reds, oranges and yellows all adorned with green shutters. Competing for space are the ancient cathedrals, merchant palaces, church spires and crumbling remains of the towns old walls.
This is a town for the curious at heart. Step away from the safety of the port, with its more tourist friendly attractions, and allow yourself to be swallowed into the belly of its medieval old town, via the tangle of its caruggi ( genovese for alleyways) and you'll be won over. To get lost here is a forgone conclusion. Just go with it. Every alley explored, rewards you with a new discovery. Restaurants, coffee bars, ancient architecture, palaces, art, music, markets festivals, look up and you'll see tiny crumbling sculptures, on your explorations of this city you can even visit the childhood home of Christopher Columbus, surely one of the worlds greatest explorers, so apt that this was his birth place.
For me the food and the people here are what held the most appeal, and almost six months later the tastes of Genoa still linger.
To be continued
