So after an intensive day of travelling, which involved flying Zagreb-Cologne, waiting, flying Cologne-Milan, waiting, catching a bus to Milan Centrale, waiting and finally catching a 2 hour train to Genova we met Zoe, my Italian friend from Paris, who was waiting at the station at 1am in her Fiat to pick us up!
We were exhausted (as always) and managed to sleep in very late the next day. Zoe lives in Bogliasco, a beautiful suburb at the edge of Genova. When we finally got mobilised she gave us a tour of her area, which is right on the coast and filled with typical Italian houses. We also stopped for some delicious coffee (the only country so far that seems to get it right) and focaccia, which is originally from Genova and is too good!
In the afternoon we went to fetch another Australian friend from the station (Isabelle) and then Zoe gave us a tour of the city centre, including the port, the building of the first bank in Europe and the tiny narrow streets called ‘vicoli’.
In the late afternoon we headed over to a bar perched on the rocks, which is quite difficult to get to but worth the trek and we tried some ‘Spritz’. I also love the fact that they give you free food with all drinks!
For dinner Zoe drove us all up into the mountains to a beautiful Italian restaurant where we tried incredible antipasto, pesto pasta and ‘pansoti al sugo di noce’ which is like ravioli with a creamy walnut sauce. And then for dessert there was chocolate torte with zabaglione. I nearly rolled down the hill (past the boars).
The next day we went to a beautiful beach called Camogli, to work on our European tans and try some fresh peach and almond granita (I think I would become obese if I lived in this country!)
It was a very hot day though, so in the afternoon we decided to go for a drive over the hill to Portofino to watch the rich (and famous?) dock their enormous boats. I couldn’t believe how small it was, but the streets are filled with shops like Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
We walked up the hill to a cute little church and admired some more boats before heading over to Santa Margherita for a drink.
It was an excellent few days of fun, sun and food and to finish it off we all went to get one last gelato. Alessandro, Zoe’s boyfriend came to meet us and gave me a ride to the gelataria on his scooter! I was so excited, driving along the Italian coast on the back of a scooter, my dream came true!
The next day we said goodbye to Molly (who is going home to Adelaide) and Belle (who I will see again in Venice) and Zoe and I started another long journey to Berlin. So now off to explore another beautiful city! Ciao ciao
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