Genoa - We Thought We Knew What Focaccia Was
Genoa was our first port of call after boarding the ship. We chose not to book an excursion through MSC. Instead we opted to walk around on our own. Like so many Mediterranean towns, Genoa sits on a cliff which means a lot of up and down walking. We found a few cathedrals, a pretty park, ate some local food, and walked our little tootsies off.
We left the port on foot and followed signs for town. However we were following signs for cars, not for pedestrians, and we ended up walking a half mile in the wrong direction. I love when that happens. We finally made it into town and decided it would be an aimless wandering kind of a day and whatever we came across is what we’d see and do. We ended up stumbling upon a pretty garden with a large waterfall and grotto that offered a great view of the city.
We found a cathedral that I can’t even remember the name of, but we got to see them restoring the old frescos and even re-creating some frescos that had faded completely. I’m fascinated by seeing how hundreds of years of dirt, smoke, and grime can be washed away from paint without ruining it. The larger and more striking Cathedral San Lorenzo was also impressive. We really loved the gothic architecture mixing the black and white marble.
Palazzo Reale Museum was the next stop we happened to find. It’s an old mansion that used to house dignitaries, and you can view the bedrooms, sitting rooms, and dining rooms as they were used in the 1700s. We admired the frescos and the antique furniture and mirrors.
After having traversed about 21,000 steps and 72 flights of stairs, our dogs were barking as Ashley likes to say. It was time for a break and of course some food. Genoa is known for their focaccia and their pesto. I got a focaccia pizza and expected a thick piece of bread covered in toppings. What I got was a pile of thin flimsy bread drizzled with béchamel sauce along with the toppings. It was a strange plate, and not at all what I’ve become accustomed to as focaccia, but the flavors were good. Ashley tried the pesto pasta, and it came with potatoes and green beans, an odd combination we thought. After peeking at a few other menus and restaurants we realized that pesto with potatoes and green beens is a common thing, and that there are two types of focaccia; the thick variety and the thin type that I got. We never did figure out how they designate the difference between them since they were both just called focaccia.
Sometimes having no plan can result in a wonderful day full of unexpected surprises, other times it can be a disaster (stay tuned for the Barcelona blog). In this case, we had a fun day wandering around Genoa with no expectations and being pleasantly surprised.