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Europe » Italy » Liguria » Genoa
June 16th 2011
Published: June 17th 2011
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Today was a pretty exciting day because Catherine joined our tour party for the next seven days. We had arranged to meet her flight from London had Genoa Airport early afternoon. So we had a few hours to fill in while we waited.
Our hotel accommodation the night before was in a hillside commune of Cogoleto. We enjoyed the garden setting of the hotel, especially the perfect hydrangea blooms in their beautiful blue, pink and purple shades. After a rearranging the luggage in the car to make room for our passenger we headed down to the coast. What a pleasant surprise. It was market day so we stopped and had a browse. This seemed to be the normal Thursday market for the locals and a great chance to socialise over the business of deciding on purchases. All the usual fruit and vegetables were displayed resulting in a kaleidoscope of colour. The bright red, yellow and green capsicums from Sicily were huge and made a great photo. New season’s New Zealand grown zespris were on sale for 3.50€ per kilo. Along with the produce were many types of clothing stalls. It was fun to browse and make one or two useful purchases.
The drive to the airport took us through busy commercial areas in the outskirts of Genoa. It was great fun trying to compete for road space with the hordes of motor scooters. Genoa airport is quiet for an international terminal so parking was easy, almost by the door of the arrivals hall. Eventually our guest appeared through the doors having successfully cleared Immigration and Customs. It was a happy welcome and the talk-fest began. Catherine’s journey started in Manchester at 5:00pm the day before when she travelled by bus first to London then to Stanstead Airport, arriving about midnight. After sleeping on the terminal floor she boarded her Ryanair flight for Genoa at about 10:00am. We admit she looked surprisingly fresh after having made such a journey.
From Genoa we headed south for a quick visit to Portofino. It was a very hot afternoon and every student who has access to a scooter must have been on the road heading for the beaches. Arriving at Portofino it was obvious the town was designed for the tourists. Parking was at a premium and you paid dearly for the chance of parking in the building. Named shops were in plentiful supply and the restaurants were doing a roaring trade. The water looked beautiful and anchored in the bay was a cruise ship with several masts and sails, obviously designed with energy conservation in mind.
Our accommodation for the next two nights is at a camping village at Deiva Marina, a short way north of the Cinque Terre coast. All going well we will have completed the walk tomorrow afternoon.


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