It was a bit overcast this morning which made us grateful we’d taken our Cinque Terre trip yesterday in the sunshine. Our pack-up and departure from Sestri Levante went smoothly and we got away by about 10 am and our plan was to stop at Portofino for brunch on the way to Genoa. You know what they say about best laid plans though! The drive in to Portofino, from the turn off near Rapallo, was bad enough and reminded us of the scary road trip along the Amalfi Coast. The whole trip was made worse when we were ushered into a car park and had to navigate the very tight space and tunnels to climb 4 levels only to find there were no free spots as it is mostly residential parking. Mark was not impressed and refused to stay in the area a minute longer, so, back along the scary road we drove.

We were all bit hungry though so we stopped off at Santa Margherita on the way out to try and find a cafe serving brunch. We had thought this upscale region might run to such a place but, no, like most areas we have been, once you pass 11.30 am there are generally only restaurants serving full lunch meals with entree main and dessert formulas being preferred. The ‘all-day breakfast’ option, that we find so prevalent back home in Australia, does not seem to have made it here.

It was another hour of driving until we reached Genoa and our hotel for the one night, Hotel Palazzo Grillo. This was a 16th century private mansion that had only recently been converted into a 4* hotel. Finding the hotel proved to be quite a challenge and, after driving around in some rather tight circles, Tom and I went on foot of the hotel. When we eventually found the hotel, after winding along some very narrow lanes of about 1 m width, I noticed a tuk-tuk in front of the hotel emblazoned with the hotel logo. Clearly this was a means to collect passengers and their luggage and I wondered why this wasn’t communicated to me during my email correspondence about parking our car? It was all sorted in the end when I went off in the tuk-tuk and the driver in search of Mark and our car. I left Mark with a detailed hotel map of where to take the car and I went back in the tuk-tuk to the hotel with our luggage.

The hotel was a most grand old building and the inside was absolutely beautiful. Our room was huge and well appointed, with a big bathroom and the all-important kettle, but maybe not the best layout for the 3 of us, with our master bed in the loft and Tom’s bed and the bathroom downstairs, but it would do for just the one night. We actually decided to swap levels so that we could be downstairs. This worked out well as the pull-out bed was a king size and had a proper inner-sprung mattress.

We headed out to explore Genoa and one of the first striking buildings we came to was Cathedral of San Lorenzo which was in the style with black and white marble stripes that we have seen in other parts of Italy. I hope this is a positive omen for our Collingwood family supporters back home. We spent the next hour or so exploring Genoa with the use of another Voice Map audio-guide and this one was focused on the Finance and Nobility of Genoa through history. The tour was only just ok as the lady narrating had a heavy accent and was a bit hard for the three of us to understand and she spoke too quickly. However we did get us walking around parts of the Old Town and through various churches that we might not have seen without her help. The main item of interest that I picked up from this tour was how soccer / football was brought to this part of Italy by English engineers and merchants who were here temporarily helping the Italians develop their railroad and other infrastructure during the late 1800s. The first Italian soccer team was here in Genoa, The Genoa Cricket & Football Club (1893), and players were not allowed to be professional which is a far cry from the league today. We were checking this claim when back at the hotel and Mark read online that Genoa is the oldest continuously inhabited city in all of Italy! So there’s that too!

It was about 5 pm when we got back to the hotel and Tom was very keen to play pool with Mark as he’d seen advertised that there was a billiards table on level three. Sadly, this was not a full table but, rather, a practice one with no pockets so that left the two of them a bit deflated. We just lazed around in our room for a while after that until we ventured back out for an aperitif and dinner. The concierge at our hotel had recommended Osteria Le Colonne and so I had reserved this for 7.15 pm and it was located in the square of the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. We found a popular craft beer bar on the way to the restaurant but they only had time for one beer unfortunately. There was a beer festival at the end of this month apparently so keep that in mind if any beer fans are in the area near then. We got to the square with the Cathedral and found all the tables, set up by our restaurant for evening dining, were beautifully appointed but just missing patrons. Tom also noticed there was a distinct gradient meaning that anyone who chose to have pasta may have to chase their food across the plate so we decided we would go and dine inside. This was a much better option as at it was quite an atmospheric and cozy setting and more appropriate for our last night together. Our  meals, and the long considered chosen wine, were all delicious which just added to the evening.

There was a bit of electrical storm activity for our walk home so we hoped this will pass before the morning and our trip with Tom to the train station. The streets were fairly quiet except we noted the craft beer place was packed and doing great trade. I’m now wondering if Mark wished we had another night here