Genoa and Portofino

We might as well lump these into one category.  Mom and I explored all there was to explore in Genoa.  Don't bother going to be honest.  It's pretty dirty and not much in the realm of good looks.  But hey when the ship docks you get off the boat right?  Well we did sneak back onto the boat this delicious bread.  Hardened on the outside and crumbly inside there were sweet with dried fruits and raisins.  Toasted with butter= delish!  I had yet to eat a cannoli in either Rome or Florence- so it was going to be now or never.  Good thing I chose now.  Now, I am a pretty big snob when it comes to cannoli, pizza and biscotti.  And tend to like these items more traditionally (no frou frou).  But this cannoli with a tiny chocolate dip and a candied orange got an A+ from me and Mom.

Sometimes it is best to know where you are going.  OR NOT.

As always street art meets my fancy.  And this hodge podge 3-D painting of the Titanic made me laugh so hard.  The artist was a character, missing a few screws...Aren't we all?  

Portofino!!! Okay.  So I must start by saying that we (Mom, Ryan, Suzanne and I) had tried to take a ferry boat here the first time we came to Genoa.  But the boat times were not working for us in conjunction with the cruise ship leaving and all.  So Ryan decided to do some transportation research on other ways to get there.  The second time around, a totally different crew, we lost and found a team member, an hour train ride, and 15 min ferry ride- We made it!!!  Whew!  Also note, I had no idea why we were trying so hard to get there.  Ryan had seen a PBS special and had this huge desire to go.  We had to make his dreams come true on his last cruise.

So we took a train from Genoa to Santa Margherita and then caught a ferry over.  The images above are from the ferry ride and pulling into port.  Gorgeous.  I also had to take video.  Okay Ryan, you win I like it here.  Super duper small.  Santa Margherita was also colorful and quaint and I am sure we would have been just as happy to hang out there.  Either were better options than Genoa.  

We walked up the hill to check out a park and some viewpoints.  But there was also a church with the most bizarre cemetery I have ever seen.  We really liked it!  It was so much more personal than your average graveyard.  And for spacial reasons there was upward stacking.  If any of you are interested there were open spaces :)  

Now to finish the adventure- some lunch.  I pigged out on an entire appetizer of steamed mussels followed by this amazing spinach gnocchi in a walnut cream sauce.  I can still taste it when I look at the photo!