Our final port of call before our cruise finished was on the north western coast of Italy, near the Italian Riviera. Genoa is Italy's largest and busiest port and sits in the shadow of snowy mountain peaks. And, on this day, might I suggest the wind was blowing directly from those peaks, along with the rain. We weren't too daunted by the weather and determined to investigate the old part of the city. After dodging the many street hawkers, trying to sell their (dodgy) umbrellas we made our way through some of the cobbled streets (or wind tunnels) until we reached Piazza de Ferrari, a big open square with a large fountain placed in front of Mr Ferrari's statue. Feeling cold and a little damp we found a quiet spot for our morning cappuccinos and some reprieve from the wind and rain.
We returned to the streets after consulting our map to make our way to the main piazza, San Lorenzo. To one side was a large cathedral and the square was filled with market stalls of local artisans selling an array of regional taste delights...cheese, pesto, pastries, breads, and ham (of all kinds). We continued down the hill to the port, passing beautifully decorated buildings and typically old Italian architecture, shops with tasty treats and huge wheels of cheese. We passed by the Aquarium (quite renowned throughout Italy - but not our thing), a lovely covered carousel, and a pirate ship - well some (Chris) might JUST call it a galleon but I reckon it's a perfect ship for pirates!
Enough exploring done and we traipsed back through the rain to our lovely dry and cosy ship for some lunch.
A quiet afternoon in our cabin to rest and repack our suitcases ready for disembarkation tomorrow.
With a slightly later departure from port than most of our cruise days, we watched the city lights come from our balcony as we sailed away from Genoa.
