Allison's Wonderland

I decided to split up my Genova post, because it was a bit lengthy. I left out an extremely important detail about my trip on the first post, which is . . . drum roll please, the beach. Simona and I had a long talk one night about the pronunciation of this word. Italians say the word "beach" like Americans would say the word "bitch" and it makes me laugh whenever Mattia or Simona say it. Just thought I should add that tid bit of information in there.

The Bonavita's, Simona's parents, have a membership to the Dingy Snipe Club right on the water. After Simona and I's excursion in the morning we went with Mariella (Simona's Mom) and Mattia to the club. It was so cool because Mariella and I walked there and she started to pull out a key. She opens up this random door in a wall and it has a spiral staircase down into what looks like a dudgeon. It was pretty much a secret passageway under the road to the club. It was so cool. I knew if that was the way we had to get there, I was going to like this place. The club wasn't anything extravagant, but it was nice just the same. When you first walked in you were greeted with a wall of windows looking straight at the water. I loved it.

We walked down to the "beach" and watched the waves knock across the outer wall and the rocks. The coast here is very rocky and most of the buildings are 10 feet away from the water. I put parenthesis around the word "beach" because the beaches here are like nothing in the states. We would not consider these places beaches because its all made of large stones. Its super weird. The kids pull out their beach chairs in the summer and play in the rocks. Very different then what I'm used to but hey, that's okay. That's why I'm here. :) I'm pretty sure I will be wearing my flip flops at all times.

We hung out at the club for a little while and then Simona, Mattia, and I met up with her 94 year old grandmother, nicknamed "The Bis". At first I kept thinking that Simona was calling her "The Beast" which I thought wasn't that nice of a nickname, but then I got it striaght. She was so cute, and we rode in the Smart Car to meet her. First time in a Smart Car, and I don't know what's smart about it, other than being small. Perfect for Genova because of the street sizes and parking lots. Parkings lots don't really exist in Genova so its a "make your own spot" kind of a place. Like I said, perfect for Genova but not I-95. A semi-truck would eat you for lunch.

The next day, Simona took me to my absolute most favorite place so far. I looked it up in my Lonely Planet Italy Guide, and to my amazement, it wasn't even listed. CRAZY! The place I'm referring to is called Boccadasse. The neat thing about Genova is its a town of about 600,000 people but you go to places like Boccadasse and it feels like maybe there's a few hundred people around if that. It looks like a small fishing village from back in the day. A place you picture when you think of the Italian coast. I loved it there. I sat on the rocks and took pictures. Then Simona and I climbed the stairs and went to the little church at the top of the hill. I'm excited to go back during the summer time to see Boccadasse in full swing. It has a "beach" right by the water which is supposedly packed during the summer. I can't wait to find out for myself. It is just a five minute scooter ride from where the Bonavita's live.





Later that evening Ronaldo and I (Simona's Dad) went for an hour walk right on the seaside. It was nice, but super windy. It was one of those blustery days that you get by the sea, but it was beautiful just the same. He showed me the different summer homes done in an old Medieval style architecture, the monument for the sailing of Girabaldi where he launched his il Mille (the thousand) to settle Sicily. It was a great little walk and a wonderful visit. Hopefully we'll be returning again soon, but probably not until after the winter season. Till Springtime!