0km of 3281 so far…

I slept well, had the basic breakfast of the hostel and took the bus downhill for the center of Genova. As I was cycling into it, I hated it a little bit, because of the heavy traffic, the endless construction sites and then the massive hills. But as I spend a whole day in it, I realized it’s a city full of nice corners and full of history.

I started the day in the port, which is big and densely build with even an overhead big road running across it. The port it self hosts an aquarium along with a biosphere, some modern constructions from the celebrations of the 500 years of the discovery of America and an old ship. Genova proud to be the birth place of Cristoforo Colombo.

Apparently Genova has the biggest old city in Europe and it feels to be. It is full of small alleys, the tightest I’ve seen so far and every now and then there will be a small square with a cafe or two, or a church. The alleys apart from apartments, are packed with cafe, restaurants and shop, keeping the whole area alive. I also like the fact that most of the shops are specialized to one thing like the old days. I saw one for keys, one for soaps and candles, one with a frame maker, one with a shoe maker and so on.

After going around the city for a few hours, I visited the Garibaldi street, which is since 2006 is protected by UNESCO. It was build around 1500-1600 and at its entire length has palaces both sides, that were used by the families as luxurious hotels to host big names, politicians and popes.

I had some pasta with pesto for lunch, I bought some supplies for the night and made my way to the hills for an restful afternoon. Tomorrow I’ll have to cross the mountains to make it to the norther parts of Italy.