Day 9: Genoa

Ciao!!! We arrived in Genoa after a near 3 hour bus ride. It was nice to see the beauty that is the city, especially after being cooped up in a car all day. The scenery coming into the city was amazing and more beautiful than I could ever had imagined. We checked into our hostel which overlooks the EnTIRE city and has breathtaking views of the sea. So much so that it's impossible to know where the sea ends and sky begins.
We headed down to the city center and had some lunch at a pizzeria. I had a sandwich that is seriously my most favorite thing ever. I could eat it everyday for lunch and not get sick of it. After lunch we began our tour of Genoa. One of the most interesting things about this city is that when it was built, it was constructed so if enemies came in, they would be unable to know where every palace/important building was. Thus, the important buildings are all scattered throughout the city and blended in with other tall buildings that served as houses for other people. Very cool and creative and strategic. I'm actually surprised more cities didn't think to do that with their cities....it does make a lot of sense.
We saw a lot of the surroundings and walked by the sea for a bit too. One thing that really surprised me was the prevalence of prostitutes in the city. The women are always in certain parts of the city down allies waiting for someone to call upon them. We saw some around 6pm. It was very crazy. We went to eat dinner and had some great cheesy pizza and ravioli with red sauce. The food just kept on coming out, I didn't know what to do with it all but obviously eat it. :-). After we went to the train station to check out times for our trips this week and then we headed back up the hill to our hostel, where I write from now. I was actually kinda disappointed with Genoa mainly because it was a very dirty city with a lot of strange people living in it. Oh well, tomorrow most of the people in our group are going to a beach called Arenzano which is only 30 minute train ride there. Supposed to be nice weather so we should have a good time. :-)

Ciao!