29/7 Genoa

Sunday 29^th Genoa

Missed the 7am stretch but we caught the abs at 7.30 before brekky. No eggs Benedict but they did have salmon and spinach and you could make your own. We soaked in the spa, lay in the sun, won a quiz with a girl from Yorkshire, J went for her massage (scalp foot and ankle from the woman from Botswana as she tells the story) and then we had a very early lunch.

We chose to walk round the bay to the city centre, where we found a number of picturesque churches, fountains and other buildings. No internet shops or wifis. Columbus’ house was next to the gate in the city wall. We decided that we needed a Maccas for a wee stop and maybe even internet. We quickly spotted a sign, which again pointed to an address in Via 20 September. I commented that it must be an important date because it was the same one the other Maccas had been on.  Moments later, J realised that it is actually the same Maccas and that we were approaching from the opposite direction (port rather than rail station). We are back in Genoa 2 days after passing through on our way to Rome.

Great ship, was used in a Roman Polanski Pirate film

Cathedral

Old city gate

Quaint narrow alleys

Christopher Columbus' house

We made it back in time for the 4pm exercise class and stayed on for some machine time. We have accumulated a heap of laundry, which we washed during the boat drill for today’s new passengers. The Americans didn’t show up for dinner (they were trying to get into the second sitting) but we chatted with the other couple who had turned up later last night. They are from Honduras.

Dinner was very good. We had scallop risotto, cold strawberry soup, garlic tiger prawns, lamb shank in rosemary (very nicely done) and then desserts. The waiter brought plates of cheese, nuts, crackers and dried fruit (Tom eat your heart out) and then chocolate cake. The waiters paraded and then sang O Sole Mio and we had a long chat with ours about his career plans and his Italian girlfriend, who we are going to try to identify. He is Turkish and his name is Unar