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After getting a bit more caught up on all the newly released seasons of shows we’re watching on Netflix, we had to admit it was time to venture out and see what else was shaking in Genoa. While we weren’t overly impressed with the part of town where we’re staying (close to the Piazza Principe), there is clearly more to the city than that. We decided that the best way to find this out for ourselves was to set a not-entirely-arbitrary destination in a generally desirable direction. We were going to find the Mercato Orientale, as it is as close to a traditional multi-function Italian food market one can hope to stumble upon in Genoa.

We easily found the market as it’s along Genoa’s equivalent to Champs Elysees, Via XX Settembre and while it was rather decently assorted, it did highlight one flaw in our overall Italy plan – food is just way cheaper in  the south with fish and vegetables in Sicily in particular. That, coupled with the fact that the Canadian dollar has taken a tumble against the Euro so that all posted prices now have a 55% premium compared to home made almost drop to my knees and be thankful for knowing how to cook vegetarian. Suffice to say, we left without buying the 45 Euro/kg swordfish that in Catania we would have bought for a third of that for a cheap lunch back at out place.

Genoa, by virtue of its respectable elevation differential throughout town, has a fairly interesting addition to its transit system: the funicolare. The barely safe-looking rail cars that somehow grind their way to the top of select hills while creaking and groaning to the point you almost feel bad that you’re making it do it. If you manage to put the feelings of these rail cars aside, you’ll be rewarded, especially at the Righi on the Righi – Zecca line, which fortuitously has its lower terminus not far from where we’re staying. The urban views from the top were well worth it. Not surprisingly, taking the reverse route down the hill was a lot easier for our little engine that could. Gravity did most of the work and the exuberance of the rail car was felt at each stop as we swayed on the line as if on a ferris wheel.

 

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Looking down the tracks of the Funicolare from the top, i.e. the Righi station

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