Genova!

Our first cruise stop was the lovely port city of Genova (the Italians add a "v" just to confound us).

The ship docked around 9am so we had a quick breakfast (seems like everybody had the same plan) and walked into the port area.

This city has a whole different feel than Rome. Built on the side of a hill and centered around the port, the old buildings and streets look like a painting staring down on you from above.

Tiny walkways and passages go up the hill, through the old buildings, with a bar (they all sell coffee and food as well as alcohol, and most are open all day), a gift shop, a farmacia or a fruitstand everywhere you go.

We checked out the aquarium, with a pirate ship replica in front,

and McDonald's with a very different menu.

Then we made our way up some of those streets towards the less touristy sections. GPS wasn't very helpful due to the tall buildings but we found the center of town, with very old municipal buildings, fountains,

statues (this guy's all broken up about something)

and a LOT of motorcycles (there's a Genova motorcycle cavalcade coming June 1).

Along the way we walked through the oldest street in town, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, with some of the palazzi dating from 1530! One had a workman doing restoration, and he invited us in to see his work. He was working on a marble bench made in 1588, and very proud of it.

We found an interesting and unusual covered street

and had a lovely lunch of "typical cuisine" of the Liguria region (one of the original 7 city states that were united into Italy). Pasta with mussels and eggplant,

ravioli with parmesan cream sauce, and zucchini with oil and garlic were all delicious. We know it was authentic because there were no translations on the menu, unlike this one

We meandered back down the hill to the old port area and walked out a pier into what seemed like the middle of the harbor, where we could see our ship waaaay across the water.

Then it was time to get back so we didn't get left behind, although that wouldn't have been the worst thing!

We took a little rest on the boat and then it was time for departure. Some more great views of the harbor and boats and ships gave us a better idea of how big a city Genova is. We had only seen a tiny bit of it, after a whole day's exploring.

Dinner in the Red Velvet dining room was much better tonight. Prime rib!, grilled salmon, prosciutto wrapped melon, and a nice chocolate layered cake were much more fulfilling.

The nightly entertainment (different theme, same performers) was a Flemenco show. The mostly Spanish and Italian audience ate it up, and we appreciated the color and spectacle of it.