Today, as they say, was a new day. It was bright and sunny, a good start. On reflection we think yesterday was an aberration. We imagined the port area would be like Marseilles, which it definitely isn't.
On our way to get the hop-on hop-off bus this morning we passed a woman struggling with a man in a wheelchair, a backpack and 2 suitcases. We find she is Bulgarian and she and her husband are off to the cruise terminal to board a cruise ship. We carried her bags for her and had pieces of conversation in broken English. She seemed to know where she was going and it proved to be so.
Having done our good deed for the day we boarded the bus and found Genoa much more appealing than yesterday. We did a full lap of the tour and made some mental notes about where to get off. The city is full of beautiful buildings and has lots of Piazzas. Walked around the beach area - there is an exhibition centre under construction but not much else. However, the view out over the Ligurian Sea is beautiful. The water seems to be a deeper blue than we get in oz. Walked back towards the Pizza de Ferrari and admired the buildings that surround the square. Had lunch at a cafe in the square and boarded our bus again.
This afternoon we took a ride on the Funicolare Zeccha Righi. It is a funicular railway that opened in 1895 that rises 279 metres over a 1428metre track length. 279m doesn't sound much, but it was incredibly steep. It is more of a residential area than tourist, but the views are spectacular. There are 3 old forts up here but they are not within walking distance. The road is narrow, and at a tunnel entrance there were quite a few wreaths laid out. We're not surprised.
We stop off at a bar on our way back to the hotel. The waiter laughed when he served Col's cocktail and we soon understood why. Rocket fuel - so it's just the one.
Tonight we went to a party night on the 7th floor of our hotel. There is a dj playing music and for a cover charge we have a buffet dinner and our first drink. To call it a buffet dinner is being kind, but we had a good night anyway
