Genova with Andrea, Silvia, and baby Anna

8/19 - Return to beloved Italy and Genova

I almost missed my flight to Milano, making it to the check-in desk 90 seconds before it closed. Since I have not lost the precious skill of falling asleep before the plane takes off and only waking up after the doors are opened, I missed seeing the French countryside and the Alps from above. Oh well.

As opposed to my first time landing in Italy one month ago, this time I knew my way around, and felt like a local. I bought my bus ticket, boarded soon after, and made it to the train station in an hour. There I found out that I had 10 minutes to catch the train to Genova, so I had to run once more to catch the train.

After arriving in Genova, I learned that I had 5 minutes to catch the local train to Genova Nervi, and so I had to run and catch that one as well. Catching my breath on the train, I remembered why I liked walking so much...

Silvia, my hostess for the next two days, was there at the station with her friend and her darling daughter, nine-month old Anna. I figured we would get into a car to head to their home, but instead we walked just a few enjoyable minutes along the sea.

When we arrived at Nervi, the part of Genova where I would stay for this leg of my journey, I was pleasantly surprised at how picturesque and inviting it was. It really is one of the more pleasant spots that I have encountered along this stretch of coast, and when Silvia pointed out the room on the top floor of the monastery/dormitory where I would be staying, I was thrilled. For those who want to blow up the picture, my room is on the top right next to the bell tower. Below are the nighttime and daytime views from that window.

After putting down the backpack and taking a quick shower, I headed over to Andrea and Silvia's house, where Silvia prepared a local meal, and the the three of us, me, Silvia, and her friend (Andrea, a children's emergency room doctor, was on call that night) chatted until around midnight.

Since I had been away from the computer for so long, most of the next day was spent uploading photos on the computer. However, I did have the opportunity to meet and speak quite a bit with Andrea, who was miraculously still awake and lucid even after having worked all night.

Silvia arrived some time in the afternoon, and after a stroll around Nervi with Anna, the four of us (me, Silvia, Andrea, and Anna) had a delicious local dinner of ravioli stuffed with local herbs and vegetables and covered with a garlic/nut/cream sauce that was absolutely delicious and fit the locale perfectly.

It was absolutely delightful speaking with Andrea and Silvia, who besides being extremely intelligent, well-traveled, and cultured, also had a lighthearted sense of humor. We spoke a lot about cultural differences we had observed between the US and Italy, focusing especially on health care and education. Silvia, a pediatrician and anaesthesiologist, had studied medicine at UCSD, living there for 5 years, and Andrea had recently had the opportunity to shadow the renowned Dr. Peterson at Childrens Hospital in San Diego. As a result, both of them were able to make astute observations about the subtle (as well as the not so subtle) differences between the American and Italian health care systems.

After they suggested some magical spots they had visited in Sicily, I left them in peace and went back to my room to catch up on some sleep.

Thursday was a day for a few more chores, as well as exploring Genova. After a couple hours updating the blog and hanging my laundry to dry (hooray! a laundry machine!), I took the bus to Genova's center, where I walked around the city for a few hours.

I was taken aback by Genova's beauty, and must say that it seemed cleaner than the last time I visited in 2003. Besides being a vibrant port town and tourist destination, the city has an extremely rich architectural history, with fascinating houses, government buildings, and churches.

After a few telephone calls home and another two hours held prisoner in an internet cafe (gotta get the virus out of my system while I have the chance), Andrea, Silvia, and Anna picked me up and took me to a hidden local restaurant in the hills above Genova (which, by the way, are infinitely more negotiable by car than by foot). We had some local delicacies, including an octopus carpaccio that was out of this world and a delicious white wine from Le Marche, a region in the center-east part of Italy. After dinner, they took me to a hopping local gelateria where I had the local flavor, a semisoft ice cream with subtle hints of coffee and nuts.

I could not have asked for a better reintroduction to Italy after my trip to Paris, and could not have imagined better people to help me experience it. They made me feel like part of the family from the very beginning, and I was sad to leave them.

I had particularly grown attached to Anna, their beautiful baby girl; if it is possible that men also have biological clocks, then mine was ticking audibly. Don't worry guys, I am not planning on making babies any time soon, but it was wonderful to play Uncle Pat for a few precious moments.

Packing up my things and burning into my memory one last time that marvelous view, I took the bus to where I had left off, and continued down the road.

My last stop in Genova was at the GASLINI Hospital, where Silvia and Andrea both work. Feeling too invasive and bashful to ask for a peek at the hospital, they must have sensed my curiosity, and graciously invited me to join them for a tour of the facilities. I ravenously sprang upon this unique opportunity, and enjoyed every minute of the experience, from chatting with the nurses to sporting some fancy green scrubs.

My last memories of Genova were passing through Nervi, and then it was back on the ol' dusty trail.