It was still dark when we pulled into Genoa on the morning of February the6th. Mal and I looked out of our porthole and were greeted by a beautifulcrescent of dazzling lights. The city rises up out of the Mediterranean Seaand is guarded by a semicircular ridge of mountains which sweep down to thesea on either side. Development is limited to a crescent on the foothills.The original port is nestled to the east of the bay, close to the center oftown. Eventually Genoa needed a larger port to accommodate commercialshipping. They expanded in the only direction that they could, into the bay.The new port is built on reclaimed land and land fill and sits to the westof the original port. The Jakarta was quietly coasting into the bay towardthe commercial port.
Never let it be said that Mal or I ever our confused our priorities. We hada limited amount of time to shop in Antwerp before boarding the ship and soour liquor supply consisted of a bottle of brandy, a bottle of whiskey and afew bottles of wine. The house wines on the boat are Inglenook and GreatWall of China whites and reds. The Inglenooks leave a lot to be desiredand, in all honesty, we didn't even try the Chinese wine. Our first orderof business was to hail a taxi and request that he take us to the nearestliquor store. As we approached the center of town I realized why the carsare so small. All the streets are narrow and cobbled and follow no geometricpattern. Most of them are two way because to try to impose one way systemswould be very difficult. None of the streets run parallel, wonderful toshop in, difficult to negotiate by car. Fortunately none of the oldbuildings have been razed to make room for modern high rises and so itremains charming. The people we met were equally charming.
We brought Paul, a fellow traveling companion, with us. By the time wefinished our shopping we had purchased 53 bottles and Paul had purchased 36.It is a long way to Jakarta, our next stop. Our cabin is 6 levels up fromthe main deck, which, in turn, is a long gangway climb from the dock. Thereis no elevator so getting our wine to our cabin was quite a challenge!Needless to say we are enjoying every hard earned drop.
We left Genoa in the evening and were rewarded with the same dazzlingdisplay of lights. I would love to return when we have more time to explorethe city.
Never let it be said that Mal or I ever our confused our priorities. We hada limited amount of time to shop in Antwerp before boarding the ship and soour liquor supply consisted of a bottle of brandy, a bottle of whiskey and afew bottles of wine. The house wines on the boat are Inglenook and GreatWall of China whites and reds. The Inglenooks leave a lot to be desiredand, in all honesty, we didn't even try the Chinese wine. Our first orderof business was to hail a taxi and request that he take us to the nearestliquor store. As we approached the center of town I realized why the carsare so small. All the streets are narrow and cobbled and follow no geometricpattern. Most of them are two way because to try to impose one way systemswould be very difficult. None of the streets run parallel, wonderful toshop in, difficult to negotiate by car. Fortunately none of the oldbuildings have been razed to make room for modern high rises and so itremains charming. The people we met were equally charming.
We brought Paul, a fellow traveling companion, with us. By the time wefinished our shopping we had purchased 53 bottles and Paul had purchased 36.It is a long way to Jakarta, our next stop. Our cabin is 6 levels up fromthe main deck, which, in turn, is a long gangway climb from the dock. Thereis no elevator so getting our wine to our cabin was quite a challenge!Needless to say we are enjoying every hard earned drop.
We left Genoa in the evening and were rewarded with the same dazzlingdisplay of lights. I would love to return when we have more time to explorethe city.
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