Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
confetti and rice. September is usually the best month for
weddings,
but who
knows when the spirit of romance will blossom for Genoese lovers? Get here on
a Saturday morning in summer and you'll more than likely be part of the genial
crowd that wishes the bride and groom well.
Tipping the other end of the emotional scale is a visit to
Cimitero
Monumentale di Staglieno
555
(bus no. 31 from Stazione Brignole). The
Genoese have been burying their dead in this lush, parklike cemetery since 1844,
and it is both graveyard and museum, featuring the work of some of Italy's most
talented stonemasons (incomparably better than the city's truly dead masonry
museum, Museo di Sant'Agostino). Filled with mossy tombs and imploring
angels, grieving maidens and Gothic spires, it is a deeply moving and atmospheric
place, and it's still used daily by the Genoese who honor their dead.
If you're traveling on your own, or want the inside track on what's happening
in Genoa, you simply must stay as Loredana Galante's guest at her small
B&B
(
%
338-8834826; www.loredanagalante.it;
€
50 single,
€
90 double).
With an
infectious laugh and delightful sense of humor, 35-year-old Loredana is one of
Genoa's foremost artists (specializing in conceptual and performance art) and
meeting her is like finding your long-lost cousin in Italy. Loredana's stylishly ren-
ovated apartment is full of her quirky artwork, and she hosts regular themed par-
ties (a recent one had everyone arriving with a book, and reading passages aloud).
Time your visit to coincide with one of these
feste
and you'll get to know some of
Genoa's most interesting citizens. But don't expect to get to bed early.
If you're frustrated by how few Ligurians speak English (and you will be), it's
time to learn Italian. The focus of Genoa University's annual
summer school
(aimed predominantly at descendants of Ligurian emigrants) is designed to
improve spoken Italian, with grammar courses pitched at four different profi-
ciency levels. It is also a crash course on Italian culture and history, with guest
speakers from various faculties speaking on anything from Italian cinema and art
to contemporary politics (in Italian, of course). While there is an entry exam, it is
not necessary to be fluent in Italian (one woman I met could not speak a word
when she first arrived, and was receiving one-on-one tutorials as a result). The
course, which is usually scheduled for 2 weeks in September, is held at Villa
Durazzo in Santa Margherita Ligure and costs
500 (tuition and lunch included).
For an application form, write to
Segreteria del Centro Internazionale di Studi
Italiani dell'Università,
Via Balbi, 5, 16126 Genova; for more information on
the course, you can also contact Mrs. Burley, one of the language teachers, at
pburley@libero.it.
The city is not really a shopping destination, but it's still a great place to check
out
atmospheric
caruggi
—hardware shops, picture framers, and the like—which
cater primarily to residents rather than to tourists.
Of course,
Via Garibaldi 12
(see above), is a destination in its own right, and
just the place to pick up a Renzo Piano cutlery set. And do pop into
Upim,
a
department store, and the antiques shop
Galleria Imperiale,
both on the
Campetto,
a small square in the heart of the historical center; these two stores are
worth browsing just to look at the interiors.
Campetto leads into Via degli Orefici (Street of Goldsmiths) and Piazza
Soziglia, where you will find the sweet shop
Pietro Romanengo
(no. 71r).
Nothing has changed here since it first opened its doors in 1814, including the
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