retiredmartin

February 2026. Genoa.

It was actually that first morning in Genoa, leaving the grandeur of Via Balbi and those World Heritage palaces and descending to the noise and colour of Via di Prè,

a half mile of multi-ethnic shops and barbers and even tinier lanes down to the sea,

that I suddenly realised why Genoa was such a wonderful city, as great as Manchester or Naples or Nuremberg,

and I wondered if there was any better way to spend a day than just aimlessly wandering and popping for an espresso, just as Davis Bowie had done around the time of Station to Station.

Genoa gets a lot of cruise ship business, we sailed from here ourselves to Ukraine years back, and it’s a fair bet the gentlefolk don’t spend a lot of time dressed like Bowie exploring the narrow alleys of the Old Town, but as this local confirms, you’re pretty safe in Genoa, as Via di Prè is flooded with the light of shops all night.

And even if you aren’t, live a little.

OK, perhaps avoid THIS street.

Actually, I recommend going up every street that looks inadvisable, some of the best little restaurants are in streets that look like the one housing This & That in Manchester.

As Via di Prè ends, you stumble through Porta dei Vacca and head purposefully onwards towards Genoa’s handpumps.

Honest.