In 1451...

...Columbus was born in Genova (Genoa - like the salami), Italy. While he may have not been an upstanding gentleman as a whole, he still discovered America and his hometown is beautiful. Two other girls and I were planning to visit the city on Saturday, but as of Friday night we still didn't know what we should do when we arrived. Fortunately, Nice had friends who were visiting for the night who happened to be from Genova. They told us everything we should do and everywhere we should go.

Some colors of the market

Farinata

Once our early morning train got in, we wandered around the city for a few hours. We visited the Church of San Giovanni, the Museo di Palazzo Reale (an old palace that's now a museum), and a food market full of delicious cheeses, salami, and pesto. We ate farinata (an unleavened pancake made of chickpea flour that's traditional of Genova) in Piazza de Ferrari. After asking several people for directions on how to get to bus #31 to take us to Bocca d'Asse, we finally navigated our way to the bus stop. My weekend trips are really teaching me to be less of a compulsive planner, which is something I need to keep learning.


I think contentment would be the one word I would use to describe my hour in Bocca d'Asse. I was sitting on the coast of the other side of the Atlantic, in 50 degree sunny weather (which is warm for me right now), having girl talk with my friends, and eating fragola (strawberry) and nocciola (hazelnut) gelato. It was such a relaxing day and I'm so glad I chose this trip over a cold and expensive weekend in Switzerland! God really does make all things work together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Sometimes that good is manifested in difficult situations that help us grow, but other times it can be found in a simple cone of your favorite gelato.

Bocca d'Asse from Corso Italia