retiredmartin

February 2026. Genoa.

The best way to get a sense of Genoa Old Town is from the Spianata Castelletto,

reached by an attractive Art Nouveau lift,

or by persuading Mrs RM to take an exhausting half hour zig zag of a walk from Via Balbi.

You can see the giant cruise ships from that viewpoint, and back down via the escalator we took a walk through the alleys to the sea.

There’s three main routes into central Genoa; through the high palaces of Via Balbi,

along the ethnic life of Via di Prè,

or by the coast.

I’m fairly sure most folk on cruises walk past the boats, pop in the Aquarium,

and search out the fried calamari.

I mean, that’s all we did on our first trip here.

You’ll notice my obssession with squid, and I’d noted on here before that the only place to eat a tray of calamari is from a little kiosk on Genoa seafront.

Only Mrs RM will be able to testify to the joy on my face with this 12 euro bundle of chewy wonder in my hand (NCSS5). She dropped a piece, I didn’t pick it up.

And that should have been the perfect end to our four days in Genoa.

But perhaps, one more beer.