Trips We Remember: Genoa 2008

Rosemary's Travel Diary

Today is a holiday (May 1, International Workers Day). There was hardly any traffic in Milan. It was an amazing sight, and very welcome as it made it easy to get out of town. The scenery along the road to Genoa was lovely: flat, green farmland much of the way, then beautiful hills and valleys. We arrived a little before lunch time to find the weather warm and sunny, with a pleasantly cool breeze from the sea.

Of course, most people had the day off today, and they flocked to the aquarium, which was also our destination. The area is like a circus sideshow, with food and souvenir vendors, street performers, and a larger than usual collection of characters selling counterfeit designer goods. We got pizza from a vendor and then went into the aquarium. Despite a crowd control system that issues tickets for specific times, the place was densely packed with people. It was often difficult to move through the hallways, and, of course, it was hot and humid inside. It's a huge place with a lot to see. There are large and small exhibits reproducing the environments of different ocean areas. Very popular are the big tanks for dolphins, sharks, seals and penguins (where the air conditioning actually works if you know where to stand). There is also a "hummingbird forest", a special area where visitors can get very close to free-flying hummingbirds. And there is the "biosphere", a glass dome featuring tropical plants, birds and butterflies.

Our hotel is right on the water, just a short walk from the aquarium. Steve had to spend some time online dealing with business matters. The wireless reception in our room wasn't very good, so he went down to the lobby. In the evening we walked a little bit around the Porto Antico area. It's very lively, with a children's playground, street musicians (most of them not very good), vendors, and people just sightseeing and socializing. We had dinner at an excellent restaurant on the waterfront.