A Little Bit of La Dolce Vita, in Genova, Italy

I am learning that there's not much sweeter than spending time with good people in the quiet of the late evening ... talking while drinking a lovely red wine and sharing delicious food.

I'm learning the delights of Genova, that city small enough to bump into old friends, and new, most days I go out.

I already knew that I loved when someone chats to me on a bus.  There we were, two strangers ... her with her electronic Italian to English dictionary.  Me with my book.  We chatted, in English but with her introducing me to some new words.  We parted in the city but I think we will meet up again.  She extended a very kind invitation.

And so, of course, I attempted to describe my yesterday over on Facebook:  'I love Genova :-) I was heading for my favourite cafe when a woman called out to me. I couldn't remember who she was but she knew me ... It turned out that we'd never met, we have mutual friends on Facebook and she recognised me. But there was more than that, she was with another woman I had quietly wanted to meet for years ... and they invited me to join them, there at the cafe, with their lovely friend from the States. It was really really lovely and ... it turns out we're all friends with Silvia :-)

Temple replied in my comments section, with her take on our meeting: I was the woman who called out: saw a lanky blue-eyed blonde whose face I recognized from here sloping across a famous piazza and just said, You're Di Mackey aren't you? She was a bit startled to say the least, but it was indeed her and the rest is as recounted. Plus we 3 Yanks gave her a lesson in US political science she isn't likely to forget for a long time. Namaste, Di, great meeting you!

It was a truly good day because I met them, and because before meeting them, that woman traveling on the same bus into the city, had started chatting with me. 

And then I got to spend a couple of hours with Mau, cameras in hand I went city-wandering with that globe-trotting friend, last seen in 2014.  A big blister on the sole of my foot limited us some ... but the gelato, it helped in the 36 celsius heat.

Silvia invited me out to dinner last night.  She wanted to introduce me to the restaurant called Maniman.  It was divine and, as is always the case when I spend time with SIlvia, there was much laughter but balanced with more than a few serious moments.  She's a wise woman.

And then we ended up down in the city, living the paragraph that opens this post.  We started with an espresso but with a delicious red wine and good food soon followed.  Il Genovese remains my favourite restaurant here in the city.  It's a place you must eat when you come here. 

And then, as if all that wasn't enough ... I got a ride home on the back of motorbike because it was 2am by the time we had done with stories I'm still laughing over when I recall them.  I can't recount them here. but I laugh every time that I think of them. 

And I feel extremely fortunate to have had all of that in one day, and so very sad about the earthquake that happened, here in Italy yesterday.  We were far from it and I knew nothing until my sister emailed me, wondering if I was okay.

It's heartbreaking to realise how many have been lost in those small villages.  I think we just need to enjoy every single day, and as many moments as is possible because we just never know.  We never do.

Buongiorno from Genova, Italy, where I find photographs like this one, out there in the caruggi.

 

 

Remembering Good Food and Good Friends

Last week ... this was the dinner starter at Il Genovese

It's a little of this, a little of that, to be shared between five.  Outi, my Finnish friend living in Liguria.  Alessandra and Davide, lovely Italian friends from Genova.  And Gabrielle, my Australian client, the one who has become a lovely friend too.

The food was exquisite ... of course, and the company.

Today finds me at my desk and working, back here in Belgium, freezing.  I'm wearing Fiona's hand-knitted woolen rainbow socks and warm clothes.  It's grey, cold and raining, and I remembered this photograph.

Mmmhmmm, I just had peanut butter on toast and a coffee for lunch.

I miss Genovese food. 

Ravioli Fatti in Casa Al “Tuccu” Di Carne, at Il Genovese, Genova.

Il Genovese, located at Via Galata 35R here in Genova, serves a Ligurian meat sauce that I simply adore.

For me, Ravioli Fatti in Casa Al “Tuccu” Di Carne captures, or perhaps represents, some of the best of my food memories so far. 

There is the nostalgia for those stews my Nana used to slow- cook on her coal-fired stove in Invercargil, New Zealand - although her stews never tasted this good.  Never have I tasted a meat sauce like this one. 

Then there is the delicate pasta that hosts the exquisite filling I may have been known to rave about previously.  There is the meat sauce, the one that spends a day cooking ... until it is so tender it simply melts in your mouth. 

And that combination of ingredients I cannot name but that come together to create this dish I adore.

This was dinner tonight.  Grazie mille to Il Genovese!!

What I Love Best About Being Back in Genova ...

I so very much enjoy  the people I meet here in this ancient Italian city and then I love introducing visitors to all that I love about being Here.

The last few days have been extraordinary and incredibly busy. Today, out with Gabriella all day, I took a series of photographs that made me smile.  This is one.

It's not so much about being great ... it's simply about sharing something found on one of those most excellent days.

There has been so much more.  Working with Anna and Valeria, meeting and working with Silvia too ... days spent with Maddalena, and Gabriella, and a superb night out with Alessandra, Davide, Federico, Grazia, Maddy and Isabella ...listening to Ghos T Notes perform out at Nervi.

Making plans to catch up with Leah and Outi.  Eating at Douce.  Surviving on 6 hours sleep.  Knowing Il Genovese is a plan for soon.

Back in Genova, Italy, and loving it.


It's Been A Day ...

One of those days when you really know that you are alive.

It began at 10am, with Shannon.  She's lovely.  From Oregon, from New Zealand, these last 4 years from Genova ... is how I would describe her because she doesn't really fit into any kind of everyday frame.  She's remarkable.

I interviewed her, we wandered, we ate at Il Genovese ... which is one of those things you should do if visiting Genova.  I continue to order their Ravioli fatti in casa al “tuccu” di carne because, to me, it is the most exquisite dish in the world.  It combines so many things that I love and somehow it calls to mind memories of childhood and food that makes a soul remember what it was to be safe and loved.

Seriously, you shouldn't laugh until you have tried it.  I keep meaning to photograph that particular dish but perhaps it will have to wait until next time.

Then we met with Arianna, the loveliest soul, and the student who saved me from incomprehension on a train to Arenzano, more than 2 visits ago.  I had some of that delicious, really thick, Italian hot chocolate that is being served up all over the city at the moment, and we 3 talked in a mix of Italian and English.

Okay ... I didn't actually speak in Italian.  It turns out that Shannon is almost fluent in Italian (she's modest) and that Arianna is almost fluent in English (she's also very modest).  Me ... I was kind of hopeless but I am used to this role when it comes to languages of the countries I live in and love.

Then it was home to unpack things gathered and get ready to meet with Anna from Beautiful Liguria.  She has a new website launching soon but for now she is here.  If you're coming to Liguria then Anna is the person to contact for advice on everything from accommodation to what to see and do. 

Then 6pm came round and I was off to meet Barbara for aperitivo but I also met Alessandra.  It's been a truly excellent day here in Genova.  11.22pm finds me back at the kitchen table by the window that looks out over the carruggi I live on while here. 

And photographs ... well, there was this one, found while Shannon was introducing me to some of her experience of the city.

Drawing a Breath

On Friday, I was 12 hours out in the city ... and for 10 of those hours I was carrying my 6kg+-heavy bag of camera gear.  And still, it was sublime.  It was one of those dizzying days where it feels like I flew with the eagles ... perhaps.

I set out with Shannon, an American living here, and we wandered and talked.  She knows this city, 2 years living here after some time spent in New Zealand.  That's how she found me and my blog.  She searched New Zealand and Genova.

We said goodbye only when it was time for me to meet my traveling companion off the train.  It was a brisk walk through the city to Brignole train station.  Home for 10 minutes, refreshed and I was off to a confectionery laboratory that has been in the hands of the same family since 1780.

A tour that astounded me was followed by an interview with the loveliest gentleman.  Hours later, Anna, from Beautiful Liguria, and I walked back through the city and I had just a few minutes to change, to finally drop off that camera gear, before heading out to dinner. 

What a dinner!  If you find yourself in Genoa, you must try Ristorante Il Genovese because there is nothing about the experience that can cause regret.  And if you do, and if you love meat and pasta, then the Ravioli fatti in casa al 'tuccu'di carne is the one that I fell entirely in love with.

The sauce is 5 hours in preparation and you can taste the time and the care taken.  But everything, from the gnocchi di patate fatti in casa al pesto,  the cima genovese ricetta antica con patate al forno, the brandacujun di stocca fissoe, and the latte dolice fritto, even the canestrelli ... all exquisite.  And that was only what we actually ordered.

I know I read like I'm exaggerating but I was there with a Flemish Belgian, famous for being a people of few words perhaps.  He loved it too.  I think the secret lies in the attention the Panizza brothers pay to the details.  Quality products and a love of food.  It's an absolute must when you're here but remember to book.

And just as I thought the day might ending I received an email from an art gallery in NYC.  They would like to represent my photography in their gallery. 

So sleeping was a bit of an issue that night but I had to ... I was exhausted by the week I had just experienced.  The rings under my eyes were black and maybe a container ship could park inside of them. 

This is Genova for me.  I go high, I go low ... but oh how I live when I am here.