Genoa is situated on multiple levels.

The higher you go the more modern the buildings are.

Old & new

Balcony-bridge between houses

The city has elevators which are free to use. One of them surprised me. I once had a dream where I was in an elevator that suddenly went sideways. Well, this dream came true in Genoa. I used this elevator, which at first travelled vertically, but then suddenly got on rails and went horizontally. A relevant quote from Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino:

With cities, it is as with dreams: everything imaginable can be dreamed, but even the most unexpected dream is a rebus that conceals a desire or, its reverse, a fear. Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.

their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else

I have never been to Buenos Aires, but the architecture in Genoa reminds me of it. By the way, Christopher Columbus was from Genoa.

Genoa Brignole railway station

As a big fan of flags, I would rather see a real wavy chunky juicy flag made out of fabric than a flag displayed on a big screen. That’s the flag of Genoa, by the way. It’s the cross of St. George, just like the English flag, or the flag of Milan, Bologna, Padua and other Italian cities. Though Genoa had this flag first. Some historians believe England adopted its flag from Genoa.

Everyday we stray further from God

Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato

Porticoes

Monument

Bright houses

Flags of: Liguria, Italy, the EU, Genoa. It wasn’t windy enough for them to unleash their full glory. Digital flags don’t have this problem.

Palazzo Doria Spinola

The oldest part of the city is the old town with narrow streets, like in Naples.

Crowds

Narrow streets

Plants

Some people may say that Genoa is dirty. Uhmm, look at this.

Cleaning

Little shops in Genoa.

Tourist stuff

Bar/corner store

Newsagent

Fruits and vegetables

Who buys this stuff?

The seafront where the port has an ugly highway above it.

Highway

Old crane

Palm trees

The beautiful beaches begin a bit East from the city center. The Boccadesse neighbourhood is an iconic place in Genoa with its coloruful houses extending right to the sea.

Boccadasse

I wonder how it looks when there’s a storm.

Boccadasse beach

Another beach

Scooters are popular in Genoa like in cities of Southern Italy.

Riding bikes and swimming in the sea

I visited a sandwich shop with a storefront mentioning a range of 150 types of panini. When I went inside, I encountered an intimidating range of cheese & deli meat. I pointed at some ingredients that seemed nice, but that didn’t work: the seller immediately realized that I didn’t know anything about cheese or ham and was very upset about my careless approach towards food. So he let me try different options, which allowed me to make a better decision.

Sandwich shop

In the evening I went a bit higher to see how the Sun meets the sea.

Port

Sunset

Tunnel