Layover in Genoa: Tuesday

October 30, 2018

We got in a bit of biking today, so I guess I should blog it. First, we biked about a half mile from our apartment to the Torino train station, for the train to Genoa. Later in the day, we biked a mile and a half from the Genoa Brignole station to our new hotel, in Genoa. Neither of the rides was that noteworthy, really - flat, urban, mixed surface, the usual. Dry, which was especially nice. Not worth posting a map for, even. Still, a tidy two miles to add to the trip total.

So, that’s the ride. As long as you’re here anyway, you might as well hear how the rest of the day went and see a few pics.

The big story for the day was the weather. Last night an intense storm terrorized Italy from Rome north to the mountains, creating havoc everywhere. Venice had its worst ‘Aqua Alta’ event in a decade, and most of the city is under water this morning. Liguria, the coastal region that includes Genoa, experienced almost unheard of 110 mph winds. Several deaths from such incidents as fallen trees. Train lines temporarily closed due to wind damage. Crushed cars, swamped boats.

It had all blown over by the time we left the room, but one lingering effect was on the train schedule. Most of the arrivals were experiencing length delays, and some trains were cancelled. Ours was fortunately a go but we were held up by about a half hour for track repairs. We feel very lucky on the timing.

The Turino train station is a huge structure. The front two thirds of it is a large shopping mall.

Our departure to Genoa is scheduled to leave I’m 15 minutes, but the gate hasn’t posted yet. We’re hoping it won’t be delayed due to damage from last night’s storm, like nearly all of the arrivals have been.

It’s actually quite nice when we arrive in Genoa, and stays that way until late afternoon when the rains returned. Partly sunny, and nearly fifteen degrees warmer here at the coast than in the Piemonte. After stopping at a cafe for paninis, we checked in to our hotel in early afternoon. We’re staying in the very elegant (but surprisingly inexpensive - they have a special rate on) Bristol Palace, in a great location in the old city. It’s a nice, welcoming place that was very accommodating of our bikes. We wheeled them in to the front desk, and they carted them off to the storage room without question. A beautiful place, with the a impressive six story spiral staircase.

We arrive in Genoa only a half hour late, which is better than we had hoped for. Last night’s storm was severe, with wind gusts up to 110 mph near Genoa and disasters all across northern Italy. Here, we’re stopped at the cafe on the left for lunch on the way to our hotel.

In the lobby of our hotel, the elegant Bristol Palace.

It’s easy to believe that this was a palace, alright. Here we are at the top of the staircase, looking down to the lobby.

Immediately after checking in, we both went off to explore the city in our own way. Rachael is antsy for some real exercise - the two mile bike ride just didn’t cut it for her - so she went on an uphill hike at a good clip, logging seven miles and 1,400’ of elevation gain by the time she returned. I went sideways, into the old town, randomly poking around to see what popped up. A lot popped up, because Genoa is a phenomenal place. I’d like to have put in my own seven mile hike too, but my Panasonic kept insisting that I slow down and look around once or twice per block. It’s a much more interesting destination than I expected, really - I’ve got a much outdated image of it as a big, sprawling, dirty port town. And it is all of that, but much more. The city is really investing in cleaning up its act, and it has an amazing amount to show and tell you about.

Pretty tough city for bicycling in though, at least along the coastal strip. We’re still discussing whether to bike out of here when we leave on Friday or catch another train to get us past the sprawl.

And don’t ask me why I’m naming it Genoa here, rather than its Italian name, Génova. Why Turino, but not Génova? Who knows; but just so you know, I know the difference. My blog, my rules.

Our hotel is in one of the newer sections of the historic core. The streets here are covered, lined with old palaces, and beautifully tiled with a different patten on each block. This is Via XX Settembre , the main commercial avenue through this section of the city. Our room is about a block down the street in the other direction, near iconic Piazza de Ferrari.

I should have kept better notes, rather than just walking around and taking random photos. I don’t know what this is, or many other photos I took here. Oh, well. I like it anyway.

A curious way of walking, but pay no attention to the attention getter. The important feature is the XII century Porta Soprana at the far end of the street. It was the eastern gate in the series of walls (the Barbarossa Walls) hurriedly built around 1550 to defend the city against Barbarossa (HRE emperor Frederick I) and his expansionist interests.

In the old town, riddled with narrow lanes like this walled in by tall buildings. Some of them are pretty run down, just a bit spooky.

San Donato Church. Originally XII century Romanesque, the church has been restored several times while retaining the original style.

I’d say Genoa is quite bike friendly, but not really bicycle friendly. We saw very few bicycles in town, but scenes like this were common.

Not that I’m all that crazy about motorcycles really, but I liked the pattern here.

While I was wandering around in the old city, Rachael hit the heights, hiked seven miles, and came back with some nice shots. I don’t know what this amazing place is, either.

The high point on Rachael’s hike (here, not way up there), about a thousand feet above town.

La Pietra is just my kind of place. A nice jazz track, classical LP’s for placemats, a decent menu.

Wow. Pieces of beef, with a chocolate walnut sauce.

The staircase in our hotel is even more impressive looking up from below.

Today's ride: 2 miles (3 km)
Total: 2,023 miles (3,256 km)

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Bill ShaneyfeltGood to know that you weathered the storm well. I was kind of wondering how it might have affected you.
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5 years ago

Carolyn van HoeveHi Scott, so this is where I've got to on this journal. Taking a bit longer than usual, but a lovely way to live vicariously while I'm sipping my morning coffee in cold and wet NZ winter! What an epic journey this is.

The list of places I would love to cycle to is getting longer and longer with each of your journals. My husband must be getting sick of me shoving my ipad with your photos under his nose constantly.

If you were willing to share the information, I would love to know what your daily average euro spend would have been on this tour. It would be great to figure out for our own planning. Our style of touring would be similar to yours with Airbnb's, B&B's, having one decent meal a day etc.

How is the mapping going for Andalucia? Would be great to have a look when you've finished. I changed our route from Baena to Cordoba after reading your entry. It sounded more interesting going through the parque sierra subbeticas via Cabra rather than over the top which was the way Komoot was taking us. So far I'm trusting Komoot to be picking out the best roads for bike touring, but won't know if this is the case until tested! This app is specifically for cycling and walking.

Another question I have is how safe it is to be locking up bikes when leaving them temporarily. Is there much in the way of bike theft? Do you use a very heavy duty bike lock?
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4 years ago

Rachael AndersonTo Carolyn van HoeveWe don’t keep track of expenses as well as we should, but I’d estimate that we spend about $200 eu/day on average, not including airfare. It varies greatly with country and season of course.

Yes, we’re well along in planning the route for this fall’s tour. I’ve got daily rides mapped for the entire three months, which we’ll follow unless something comes up to change our plans along the way, as of course it will. I imagine we’ll stay pretty close to it though.

Here’s a sketch of our route through Andalucia, although it isn’t accurate for the specific roads: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30583642.
I created it for you, and just connected the towns we’ll go through along the way so I’m sure it shows us following many more highways than we actually will.

One comment about your own plan, and Baena: I’d forgotten about Zuheros until I put up the journal of our first tour recently. Baena is nice, but nearby Zuheros is spectacular - and almost right on the via verde that skirts the western side of the Subbetica. We plan on staying in Zuheros this fall.

We may be picking your brain for ideas too, FYI. It’s looking like we’re coming back to NZ next winter, for the first time in almost 3 years.
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4 years ago

Carolyn van HoeveThanks Scott - that's helpful!

Your tour of Andalucia looks wonderful! I did want to stay in Zuheros particularly after what you wrote but I couldn't find any accommodation. We have compromised with plans to spend a good chunk of the afternoon in Zuheros including a long late lunch that will tide us over and then head to a promising looking airbnb in Baena for the night.

We were in Malaga early December last year (not cycling) and it was very mild. I didn't know what to expect thinking it was more of an English package holiday resort but the old town is really lovely. Seeing that part of Spain very briefly (only 3 days) is what started the idea of the cycling trip there. And I know we'll be wanting more than the week we only have. I envy the thought of your 3 months!

We were planning to pick up our bikes in Seville and take a train to Granada to begin the tour. I looked up the trains yesterday and discovered only the AVE trains do that run which don't take bikes. I've ended up booking the Alsa bus which requires a box or bag for the bikes. They sell bags at the ticket office, but I might just look for some kind of rain cover on Amazon. I think the main concern is dirty marks damaging suitcases.

Touring NZ next winter! Fabulous! I don't know if you've decided when but the best month would be March and a month either side of that. The weather is still too unpredictable and wet in December as you discovered last time! Our summers have been starting later and and going for much longer.
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4 years ago