Genova

Yesterday we went to Genova (aka Genoa). The drive there took forever. We left at 6:00 in the morning (and I couldn't sleep that night) and didn't arrive until 10:00 AM.

I realised a few things on the way. The Italian Autostrade (their equivalent of Interstate Highways) is actually privately owned. I found it pretty ironic that in a country that's pretty socialist the trains are owned by the public and the freeways are owned by the private sector. Anyway, every highway is a toll-road, and they all have signs that say "Autostrade S.p.A." (where S.p.A. is basically the Italian equivalent of Inc. - indicates a private company). While you're on the Autostrade there are very few exits and the only places you can get off for free are built into the freeway. These "Autogrille" stations have an Exxon (they call it Esso but its the same logo and stuff) and a building that stretches over the freeway that has restaurants and stuff inside.

So we arrived in Genova at 10am and went directly to the Art and Architecture central exhibit (which was the main reason we came.) There was a large gallery which held a lot of flat artwork and models, and then there were little sculptural/architectural projects all over the city.

One of many beautiful buildings in Genova.

The sign on the top reads "Region Ligura." This is the equivalent of the state capitol building.

After we went through the flat work we split off into smaller groups and went to explore the city. I ended up walking around with Daniel, Natalie, and Matt (from Kansas State). We ate lunch at a little cafe then went to a store called Zara which is kind of like the Gap of Italy. The store was a pretty awesome deal, I got a really nice dress shirt for 8 euro.

After shopping at Zara we went to the big church, the Chiesa San Lorenzo. The front altar at San Lorenzo was the most beautiful I've seen yet.

The front altar of Chiesa San Lorenzo was the most beautiful and ornate architecture I've ever seen.

In front of the Cheisa was one of the sculptural/architectural projects, which was titled, in Italian, "Less Architecture, More Adventure."

"Less Architecture, More Adventure."

From here we walked to the harbor where they have a park, aquarium, and ice-rink. On the way we passed a bunch of actors and some bands playing in the street, similar to but larger than what we saw in Firenze.

At the harbor there was an observation deck that you could go up in for 3 euro, but it was a very overcast and hazy day so we figured it would be better to just save our money. We walked along the side of the Mediteranean Sea for a while, and I was shocked by how clear and blue the water is. I've never seen water like that before, especially not in the US. There were a lot of animals out there, like these ducks...

The water in the Mediteranean Sea is as clear as any I've ever seen.

We also noticed that Genova was a really popular place for dogs. It seemed there were dogs everywhere, hardly any of them on leashes. There were even some huge dogs, like a German Shepard and a Grayhound which were not on leashes. The dogs are allowed everywhere, so we saw them inside the nice clothing stores and also inside the restaurants and cafes.

The view of Genova from the waterside park.

Another thing that's wierd about Italy is that all the bathrooms are Co-ed. Some of the guys have been saying that it doesn't bother them, but I think they are lying. All of the girls have complained about it. The bathrooms have signs on the front that just say "toilette" and then when you walk in there will be two sinks and two stall doors on opposite sides of the bathroom. One stall has a picture of a man and says "uomo" and the other has a picture of a woman and says "donna". That's the full extent of seperation in European bathrooms. McDonalds in Genova was the first place we've found that had a free bathroom, and one of the very very very few that had seperate rooms for men and women.

We left Genova at 6 pm and spent the next four hours driving back. We stopped at an Autogrille again (we had breakfast and dinner there) and I got a Rustichello, which was like a ham and cheese pita, and was actually pretty good. We found a brand of condoms called "jeans" on prominent display there which have very misleading packaging, and just in general the idea of one of the largest displays in the restaurant being condoms right next to the latests Rainbow Six book was rather odd.

From left to right, Daniel, Natalie, and Matt. We had a great time in Genova!

We got home and pretty much everyone crashed early, it was a long day, and then this morning we went to Carnivale! To hear about the coolest parade I've ever seen in my life, stay tuned for the next post!