Walking around Genova

I got to walk around Genova a bit by myself the first weekend here, though I mainly stayed around my apartment's vicinity and the city center. I live in a residential part of the city, which is nice since it isn't excessively busy or expensive. It is close enough to walk to the train station and get to places too. 

I am enjoying the weather here, it reminds me of California, especially because of the palm trees. I think it is interesting how Genova is moderately busy as a city but with a lot of architecture that looks like it has history behind it.

 Even where the shuttle to work picks me up, there is a giant arch in the middle of some greenery.

The Principe train station is the one closest to the city center. I was told that Columbus's house is close to the station but I haven't run into it while I'm wandering yet. There is a big statue of him though. I took the train over and made my way back to the apartment on foot through the city center.

I made sure to go through Via Garibaldi (formerly Strada Nuova), where some of the most historically important palaces/mansions were. From what I can remember from the signs, Strada Nuova was in its heyday during the late 1400's to maybe 1600's,  where the aristocratic erected these homes on this street. There were indeed impressive.

Wikipedia says that Charles Dickens once wrote this in his travolgue from Italy, which does it more justice than I can:

"When shall I forget the Streets of Palaces: the Strada Nuova and the Strada Balbi! or how the former looked one summer day, when I first saw it underneath the brightest and most intensely blue of summer skies: which its narrow perspective of immense mansions, reduced to a tapering and most precious strip of brightness, looking down upon the heavy shade below!"

I also made my way over to Porto Antico, near the aquarium (which is the largest aquarium in Europe but apparently still not as big as Long Beach). It was nice but very touristy. I did stop in a small seafood shop and buy some friend calamari with lemon and salt. They just scooped it into a small container, weighed itfor the price, and gave it to me. It was delicious.

I walked through a neighborhood with streets much more narrow than the one that I live one. This is what I imagined when I thought of Italy!!

I also cam across Piazza di Carignano., where you can see the church of S. Maria Assunta di Carignano. There is a bigger Cathedral towards the center of town that I apparently skipped over, but this one was cool too. You can see the bridge/street that leads up to it in this last picture of it here. 

Genova is also a very hilly city. There are many layers! Sometimes the streets are at the level of the tops of the other buildings.