Kathleen Berger, Opera Singer

Kathleen arrived on a train from Pisa yesterday ...

We introduced her to Genova and she, of course, fell in love with this exquisite Italian city.

Last night we had appertivo before eating the most fantastic pizza ... much wine and laughter.

Today it was Nervi before saying goodbye.  A lunch eaten at the edge of the Ligurian Sea ... pesto and gnocchi of course. 

And tomorrow?
Tomorrow we will race off to a place near Pisa to do this photo-shoot with the lovely opera singer we know.

A curious rock formation ...

There are so many things, here in Italy, that poke my curiousity something fierce ... this rock formation was surely one of them.

Is it volcanic?  And I liked the way the green and yellow plant kind of copies the chaos of the black and white rock spewing out of the hillside.

Here, I find I need both a geologist and a horticulturalist to walk with me.  There are plants I need to know the names of, and a pharmacist too, as I have had this explosive allergy/hayfever thing going on these last 24 hours.

Mr Squirrel and I

How could anyone resist this little bundle of fur and sweetness?

He ate one of the nuts the lovely couple in the park had shared with me and then gazed down from the branch, just out of reach ... his wee eyes filled with gratitude and love?  Or that's how I read it.

You know, the bus to Nervi and the place of the squirrels departs from the steps close by.  We can use our book of 1.10euro bus tickets to ride approximately half an hour before walking the most exquisite (no, I’m not exaggerating) coastal walkway the Pato rk of the Squirrels.  I do believe we shall be returning, with a bag of nuts and some time to stay awhile.

Clouds and Sunshine ... on a hill above the Ligurian Sea

I had this feeling that the clouds, the sea, and the coastline might be interesting if we were to wander out to the look-out on the hill at Boccadasse this morning.  And they were.

I love sitting here. It took us longer than planned to reach it, as Gert is all but crippled by back pain and so, we’re moving more slowly than usual. 

Meanwhile he has been threatening to write a book full of things that I say.  Sometimes he almost falls over laughing.  I have to admit, I’m more than happy he doesn’t blog me.

He is also talking of enforcing a 20 euro limit, per journey, on me and the beggars who spot the ‘I give money I don't have to beggars’ halo that shines over my head.

Last night it was the artist ... he was kind of dirty but it wasn’t just the grime and etc.  I was lost when he looked directly at me and I noticed his little broken glasses were hanging crookedly from his nose. 

Mmmm, and the day before, the African guys.  My natural curiousity gets me into trouble while wandering.  And Gert’s more than certain they have a far higher income than me at the moment.  Let me know if you have need of a little brown plastic turtle or elephant.  I have 4 ...

But perhaps I should get these guys to give workshops and help me work on my line out there in the begging world. 

7am and working ...

This morning, I was awake and working at 7am, here in Genoa.

Although I should admit that I enjoy working and to spend time working at this pretty little round table in Paola’s kitchen, with the window onto the street open so I hear life passing by, somehow makes the hours pass by in a sweeter way. 

Then again, I could be honest and tell you that it’s almost 8.30am and I feel like I have earned my onion focaccia breakfast and that the light is calling to me ...

Bulk of work done, I might just wander off with the camera.  There are so many new places to explore this time.

I took the following photograph yesterday, as we wandered between rain showers and thunder crashes.  It was 23 celsius at the time but damp, very damp.

A San Lorenzo Cathedral Lion, Genoa

I love the lions outside San Lorenzo’s cathedral here in the city of Genova ...

The lions rest on either side of the wide entrance stairway, fierce and somehow welcoming.  So much so, that you often see children sitting on their broad backs. 

I went out for focaccia this morning and was distracted by the exquisite light after rain.  Gert smsed an hour later, wondering where his breakfast might be, and I managed to leave the lions and San Lorenzo in peace.

Light, Genova

At some point, I fell in love with the idea of capturing light.  Perhaps it was the new camera, the Canon EOS 5D series II - a camera that has changed my life as a photographer.  Suddenly all those lessons made sense and the camera became more of an extension of myself, as opposed to being a technical beast that had buttons I was a little in awe of ...

The light in Italy never fails to stun me ... then again, Istanbul, Cairo and Spain offered up their own magical lights but this image was taken one evening in Genova. I looked up from working at the kitchen table and had to dig out my beloved camera.

Righicam - webcams over Genoa

I can no longer remember how I discovered Stefano’s Righicam but I remember my delight and the regular ‘visits’ I made to Genova via his webcams throughout the long grey Belgian winter.

We exchanged email periodically after my initial approach asking if he would me linking to his site on my womanwandering blog.  Spring came eventually and I made plans to return to Genova.

Stefano offered to meet with me, inviting me to ask if I required any information about Genova. It turned out that he and his wife had previously spent a few weeks in New Zealand and they had enjoyed their time there. 

What neither of us realised was that Stefano thought that I was a man.  I saw the surprise on his face when we met in Piazza de Ferrari and laughed when he explained.

We wandered off to lunch and Stefano more than met the challenge of finding a restaurant that served good Genovese food.

Over lunch, we talked of Genova and of his passion for New York city; a city he and his wife had just returned from, the city he had lived in for a time when he was younger.  I confessed that I felt much the same way about Genova – a kind of passion for this Northern Italian city. 

Spending time talking reminded that when I travel, it’s not about museums and shopping, it’s about people and photography, about conversations and slices of life as it is lived by people in countries not my own. 

Stefano explained much that I either didn’t know about Genova or simply had failed to understand.  This is exactly what I want wandering to be about.

As for the food, I highly recommend Ristorante Europa in Galleria Mazzini, 53R.
I slipped back there before leaving, unable to resist one more meal and enjoyed a delicious troffie and pesto.

Although there is a series of courses that can be ordered according to the menu, I tend to just select one, often from the primi piatti and follow with a small black coffee, it’s a way to avoid sleeping the afternoon away.

Grazie Stefano. 
And if you want to check in on Genova, click on Genova Righi webcam.

Bar Boomerang, Genoa

One of my favourite places, here in the city of Genova, is Bar Boomerang. 

Initially it was the name that I noticed.  Then the fantastic, never-tasted-better cappuccino drew me back again and again.  On this, my second visit to the city, I discovered that their aperitivo is the nicest aperitivo I’ve had so far.

The staff are friendly, clients are important to them and their passion for the work comes through in all that they do.  If you are in Genova, I recommend you find your way to this cafe and decide for yourself.

In a small interview with Simona, the patient barista (patient in working with my New Zealand English), I asked a few questions about the cafe. 

She explained that the name had orginated from a visit that Marta, the owner, had made to Australia.  Marta and her husband enjoyed the trip so much that they named their Genovese cafe Bar Boomerang.  I need to explain that what we would call a cafe in New Zealand is a bar here in Italy, although alcohol is served so perhaps it becomes something of a hybrid.

Open five years, the bar is located on via Porta Soprana, 41-43,  not far from the ancient Genovese gate known as Porta Soprana. The gate, built in 1155, was originally intended as a defense rampart, with access for commercial traffic arriving via the interior, and acted as a barrier to would-be conquerors like Barbarossa and others.  Today it stands permanently open, welcoming foreign creatures like me inside this ancient part of the city.

As a tourist, a sometimes shy tourist without l’taliano, I was a little intimidated about just how to order my coffee. Of course, it’s quite simple. You wander into the cafe, order your coffee, select something to eat if needed and take it yourself.  In most bars, you can either pay a little extra and take a seat or stand at the bar and drink without sitting.

You pay as you leave.

At Bar Boomerang, their work is a passion and I’m sure that is what makes everything taste so good.  Simona took me through the four steps required to make good coffee.  Obviously you begin with good coffee, then you make sure your machines are clean.  The third step involves making a good press and the fourth, well that surprised me, it’s about noting the humidity and any changes in the humidity.  If it changes, the settings on the coffee machine need to change too.

The coffee is so very good.  It’s one of the things I missed for weeks after leaving last time and I expect it will be the same this time.

Most people know Italians take their coffee very seriously.  I asked Simona about the ‘rules’ and she explained that a typical Italian customer might have cappuccino or latte in the morning. Milk coffee is only for mornings and laughing she said, not before or after lunch or dinner.  This is more of a tourist thing or maybe in winter, on a really cold day.  Expresso is for all the time, after lunch or dinner particularly, as its role is to aid in digestion.  You could typically follow the expresso with a liquer of some kind like limoncello, grappa or jagermeister.

I feel more relaxed when I wander into the bars here now, still imperfect and prone to crave cappuccino at inappropriate times but less worried.

Bar Boomerang is open from 7am until 9pm,  6 days a week – closed Sunday.  They also serve lunches but that’s another post over on the blog.

Pizzeria Ravecca da Pino, Genoa

I ate more pizza than I should have in Genova but eating becomes very much something I can’t be bothered doing when I’m out wandering ... cooking is even less likely to happen and so the pizzeria across the alley became a second home, specially while Pippa was staying. 

One night, I popped into the kitchen and took a series of photographs at Pizzeria Ravecca.
I liked this one.

Pizzeria Ravecca da Pino, Via Ravecca, 23r - 16128 Genova.

Cibi e Libri - a vegetarian cafe, Genoa

A vegetarian cafe, with a small library and a free-wifi spot, a place where friends meet to talk, eat and take vegetarian cooking classes – Cibi e libri fulfils a number of roles, more than you might imagine when you first pass by the small cafe on via Ravecca, 48R in Genova.

It’s more than a cafe, I noticed this thing about it in the hours I spent there – friends called by, strangers wanted to chat, and Lorenzo makes time for them all.

Lorenzo, the owner of Cibi e libri, took some time to explain how his cafe came into being ...

He started out as a philosophy student then worked as a journalist in television for fifteen years.  He didn’t enjoy the competitive state of mind that existed within that world and began cooking as a way to recover from a stress-filled day.  He also developed a curiousity about the inter-relationship of all things and this led into the art and history of food, including the positive aspects of vegetarianism.

Time passed and he decided, over a period of five years, to give birth to Cibi e libri ... his fourth child, the other three children being his actual flesh and blood.

I was invited to return for the weekly vegetarian course one evening and took photographs as Lorenzo went through the introduction, first the theory and then the cooking.  Students tasted all that was cooked but also made their own attempts, with plenty of space left for discussion and questions.

Cibi e libri also stands out as an ideal cafe for the traveller, offering a vegetarian menu, friendly English-speaking staff and free wifi.  Make sure you check it out if you find yourself in Genova, most especially if you’re vegetarian. Lorenzo is also able to recommend other Italian vegetarian cafes throughout Italy.

For more information you can phone: (+39) 010 24 67 050 email info@cibielibri.it

Alex Roe and Pavia, Italy

Sunday was one of those long enjoyable days spent wandering under this very very warm Italian sun ... and at the end of it, the only thing that could have improved the cold shower I took on arriving back at the apartment would have been remembering to take my 1.5l bottle of sparkling water into the shower with me.

Sunday in Genova began with Yoda, my phone alarm, waking me at 7am.  I was on the road by 8am and heading for Pavia, a small city somewhere between Genova and Milan.

10.25am and I finally met the man who has been a source of website inspiration to me for more that a few years.  I first ‘met’ Alex when he was a blogger and then watched as he made the leap into something bigger and more complex over time, developing  into something more than he began with, something excellent.

And so, with our much-loved Canon EOS digital cameras in hand, we wandered, chatting as we attempted to capture something of the architecture and alleyways in Pavia.

Alex is no slouch when it comes to wide-ranging conversation either and we covered much ground over hours ... hours broken up with coffees, a lunch in a beautiful piazza, gelato, and a cold drink at the train station while we waited for our respective trains to arrive.

12 hours later, one long hot train ride stuck next to a lanky youth who wanted his space, and I staggered in the door, heading straight for the shower, desperate to wash the heat of the day and the ache of endless walking out of me.  I’m happy to note that, as usual, the weight is dropping off me out here in the world and yesterday’s long walk surely melted some more of me.

I’ll let the photographs give you a taste of the day admitting, a little shamefacedly, that I went there knowing nothing about Pavia.  But really ... it was more about finally meeting Alex and taking photographs than it was about place.

Piazza delle Erbe, Genoa

PasseXout internet cafe is one of the places I haunt while staying in Genova, is the internet cafe down in Piazza delle Erbe.  It opens at 10am Monday to Saturday, closed Sundays ... understandably closed, as they stay open until midnight or later.

The staff are friendly, they speak English and will sign you into their system as long as you can provide them with ID.  When I returned after almost 9 months away, I still had .80 cents in time sitting there in my account.

They don’t offer a wifi service but you can print A4 and A3 papers there.
Internet time costs 3 euro per hour.  Free wifi is restricted to a few cafes, 2 more since I was here last year but forget about Sundays, I haven’t located a Sunday internet source yet, and I have never seen more than 2 secured wifi signals floating loose here in the old part of the city.

No, my hands aren’t shaking ...

Anyway, PasseXout is located at Piazza delle Erbe 12R, and if you want to know more, you can mail them at ellepiemmesas@libero.it.

Bottega degli Aromi is just next door at 16R Piazza delle Erbe and I was so very glad I wandered in this time, as the mosquitoes decided to feast on me.  Initially, I did the usual and saw the pharmacist who gave me cream with hydrocortisone in it.  I resisted smearing it all over my bites not liking the idea of the cortisone.

Bottega deglia Aromi was an impulse followed.  I popped in to see if they had anything homeopathic and they did.  Crema cinque Fiori is the cream version of Rescue Remedy and my bites were much happier after it was applied.  In English the cream is called Five Flower Cream and comes from Healing Herbs.

You will also find Mario Rivaro and his exquisite gelato on Vico delle Erbe, 15/17R.  My favourite flavour is the cherry gelato, the piccolo version in a cone is more than enough to satisfy on a hot day.  However, that said, every choice offers new delights ... the lemon meringue gelato is stunning, as are the chocolate varities.  Tasting them all is too much to ask.

Piazza delle Erbe is one of many excellent places if you are looking for lunch or an aperitivo in the evenings.  A popular local haunt, you can order from various bars.  It reminds me a little of Campo dei Fiori in Rome but unlike Rome, locals outnumber the tourists

Ciao from Genova.

Lorenzo Fantini, Cibi e Libri, Genoa

There is something truly delicious about attending an evening vegetarian cooking class here in the old section of the city of Genova ...

It’s about listening to the Italian language flow around me, enjoying the fact that I was there as a photographer and simply allowed to observed ... only surprised into laughter when the teacher, Lorenzo Fantini, informed me that I would receive free food if I asked in Italian.

I knew nothing vegetarian in the language and had to whisper to a course member while Lorenzo’s back was turned however, Lorenzo has children and of course he overheard as I was told ‘riso’ for rice and then realised that ‘curry’ sounded fairly similar, if not the same.

I was given a plate of delicious tasting curry-flavoured rice, with zucchini and other things I didn’t recognise.

Being out in the world, a world where I don’t know the language, is always a challenge for me however it is one that I seem determined to seek out.  With this wandering comes so many highs and lows but Thursday evening was surely one of the highs.

Lorenzo began with an introduction to the vegetarian world and then started in on a simple but tasty tortilla chip recipe.  The class made their own batch after watching and tasting his work.

He followed this with a stirfry, inviting pupils to smell ingredients ... the ginger root, spices and soy then to see how he handled the vegetables.  A bottle of organic wine was opened and people sat down to eat and talk until Lorenzo set to work on another dish, using the wok once again to create a new dish using leftovers.

Much approval from everyone convinced me the night’s course had been a success and I slipped away, taking myself hot and sweaty self back to the apartment to recover.  They were 3 of the nicest hours I’ve spent here in Genova.

If curious about attending one of Lorenzo’s courses, you can contact him at Cibielibri – a Genova la gastronomia vegetariana at via Ravecca 48, telephone 010 246 7050 or email him at info@cibielibri.it

Genoa Righi Webcam

If curious, you can visit the Italian city of Genova via Genova Righi webcam up on a hill that offers a stunning overview of the city.

The first time I checked in this morning, the temperature was reading 31 celsius but as I write this, I see it’s a much calmer 26 now ... humidity 74%.
A quiet day today I think.