Revisiting

Today was my second visit to Genoa, as the cruise ship returns to its home port to offload one lot of awful eurobogans and take on a fresh batch. Some passengers, including me and the Admiral, are doing back-to-back cruises so it was just an ordinary shore day, apart from the presence of newbies wandering dazedly around the buffet.


Genoa is, so far, my favourite city on this tour. It has the charming cobbled streets, the walkable scale, the excellent food, the restrained demeanor, the glorious architecture, the snappy Italian fashion and the slightly bohemian air that has been erased from bigger and more popular cities. I could spend hours just wandering its ridiculously narrow streets looking in the shops and buying caffe macchiato and crème brioche in the cafes. But with only limited time, I decided to do at least one proper cultural activity.


And so I found myself at Museo Palazzo Rosso, an art museum containing more than its fair share of Albrecht Durers and Jan Wildens. The subject range was a little on the limited side – let’s just say that the Holy Family don’t need any new pics for their Christmas card this year – but it was a beautiful selection of 16th and 17th century art. Including this one, my favourite, which I’ve entitled “Here Comes Fun!”





But the Palazzo Rosso had more to offer than mere priceless artworks. We were taken up onto the roof by a friendly attendant, where there’s a tiny platform from which one has a panoramic view over Genoa’s chaotic, ramshackle rooftops. From this vantage point, we could see beautiful domed cathedrals alongside clusters of TV antennas and some guy barbecuing his lunch.











The museum also had a model on display of itself and its neighbours in the Renaissance era which was a) unattended, b) not kept behind glass and c) Ackbar scaled. And so obviously this happened:

















Genoa also proved a good opportunity for the Admiral to get out on his new scooter to experience la dolce vita and pick up loose women. Sadly the loose women of Genoa were washing their hair today, but he enjoyed himself nonetheless. And he blended in well with the local scooterati.