Genoa Highlights

Although not as famous as other tourist cities in Italy like Rome or Venice, Genoa is a beautiful ancient port which still owns the old alleyways, pastel colored terra cotta roofed houses, seaside villas and old churches.


When we get to Genoa, Italy, we will be treated to a wide array of museums and historical sites. Among these are the Sea and Naval Museums, the Museum of Modern Art, the Ethnographicla Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, the Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art, which houses the largest oriental art collection in Europe; the Doria Museum of Natural History, the Cathedral Museum and the Ligurian Archaeological Museum.

We might just take a taxi to the Old Town and then wander a bit.


We could stop by the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. Or we could wander through some of Genoa's fabulous markets where they not only sell everything from soup to nuts, but clothing, appliances and home decor, too.

Or we might decide to visit one of the world's best aqauriums.

Then there's food. We could just go from trattoria to trattoria and eat and drink our way through the city.


Despite its location on the sea, seafood has not been the most important food enjoyed by the Genoese. While the sea has been the primary means for their livelihood, the Genoese, like all the Mediterranean people have always loved their small sunny vegetable gardens, the fields of grain, the olive trees, and the most varied and perfumed aromatic plants of thyme, basil, sage, mint, and marjoram more than anything else.


Genoa specialties are the simple and delicious foods like the traditional breads -- Focaccia and the Farinata. Focaccia, a delicious flatbread is often stuffed with cheese or topped with an array of available vegetables and herbs then drizzled with the pure olive oil they produce and baked to golden goodness. It is popular throughout the day with meals and in between as a quick bite.


Farinata, a lightly fried specialty made from chickpea flour, is often stuffed with spinach and ricotta and served plain or topped with a walnut sauce.


Yet another traditional bread is the Pissalandrea, named after Admiral Andrea Doria. A pizza type bread, it replaces the traditional tomatoes with chopped onions herbs and capers.


And always there is pesto! Pesto sauce originates from the city of Genoa. It is used in many dishes, including pastas and pizzas. This favorite basil sauce made with a mixture of basil, pecorino and Parmigiano cheese, garlic, olive oil and pine nuts, is ladled over pasta, tossed into salads and mixed into soups.