Genial Genoa

Ah Genoa, our last stop on our Mediterranean cruise! (If you're just tuning in, catch up starting with our first day's voyage - Amersterdamin'.) By this point, Hubs and I were averaging 10 miles a day on foot. We'd celebrated with bottle of wine (or beer) in each port, of course! And you know what, I'm going to be honest with you... I'd planned so much for each city thus far that by the time we got to Genoa, I told hubs we'd just wing it.

I was up early enough to catch this beautiful sunrise over Genoa's hillside!

As per usual, we were up and 'atem early - soaking up the sunshine and coffee before we made our way down to disembark from the ship. Since we had no real plan, we just sort of meandered towards the "Old Port" (or Porto Antico) and inadvertently made our way through the open air flea market. Definitely a unique experience where you can find almost anything you'd desire. We kept on along our way until we found the port. There was a ton of restaurants and even a ride called the "Bigo" which is an "elevated lift" where you get get great panoramic views of Genoa. Near the Bigo, there's an open courtyard with tons of restaurants and coffee shops. People had their dogs off leash running around before it filled with pedestrians. It really was idyllic sitting on a bench next to the Mediterranean, drinking coffee and  watching locals get ready for their day. I kept thinking, maybe I'm meant to live near the water. Hey, a girl can dream!

This building caught my eye

You have to keep your eyes open, it's like a treasure hunt! 

Beautiful views in Porto Antico

Here's one from the Port looking back at the city. The sphere is part of the aquarium.

More cool architecture!

Who doesn't want to go for a ride on that bad boy?

Porto Antico was very beautiful

Even though the views were incredible, we decided it was time to move on. We backtracked a bit towards the boat before turning inland to find Genoa's Cathedral. It was incredibly beautiful from the outside and the brief moment I spent inside. One thing to know if you plan on visiting cathedrals - you can't wear shorts, it's considered disrespectful. Silly me had forgotten this while I was getting dressed for our adventure and I wanted to show respect.

Views from our walk to the Cathedral

No other words except stunning... 

Next, we walked towards the Church of San Matteo, which again was amazing from the outside but I wasn't able to get more than a quick look inside the doors. Nevertheless, we kept on. Not too far up the hill, we stumbled upon the Piazza De Ferrari. The pictures don't do it justice, this piazza was incredibly beautiful.

An example of the "caruggi" - narrow streets

Church of San Matteo is another beautiful church

So happy I was able to poke my head inside and grab this quick shot

Another ornate piece of sculpture captured from our journey

Piazza De Ferrari - it was stunning!

We were too early for lunch, but this place looked good!

Fountain close up!

One thing to know before heading to Genoa, it's windy streets (or "caruggi") can make it very easy to get lost. Luckily for me, hubs is an amazing navigator... without him I might still be stuck in Genoa trying to find my way! After we had our fill at the Piazza Ferrari, we made our way to the Piazza Corvetto - are you sensing the luxury car theme here?!? On our left, there was a beautiful monument which turned out to be a tribute for Guiseppe Mazzini who was an activist for the unification of Italy in the 1800's.

As we were leaving the piazza

Another building that caught my eye

Piazza De Corvetto

The monument to Guiseppe Mazzini 

After pausing momentarily to bask in the beauty of the monument, we noticed a path leading up into a park - Park Viletta Di Negro. Since we didn't really have much of a plan, we figured why not. As we followed the path up the steep hillside, we started to notice just how high above the city we were. Each turn held a more spectacular view than the last until finally we reached the top. If you love panoramic views, this is the place for you. We were able to see tons of the city but also even spotted the cruise ship off in the distance.

A look facing the hills of Genoa

Not the best shot but there's our boat

Beautiful cityscape

Another view of the city

Cruise ship through the flowers

Selfie!

I thought this was a cool keyhole view of the city

We stayed for a while soaking in the sunshine and city views while we decided what to do next. Even though it was still early, we had already walked over ten miles and we were starting to get tired. Despite the aching legs, we decided to press on and explore more "caruggi" or narrow alleyways that are typical from the Italian medieval towns. From the park, it was easy to find one of  Genoa's infamous "shopping streets" where the alleys are line with tiny shops and street vendors. Hubs was nice enough to let me window shop as we ambled down the caruggi back towards the ship. I even managed to purchase a couple of items to take home as souvenirs.

I love this bridge and all the greenery

More beautiful architecture

One last shot of the Italian coast

Soon enough though, we were walking back towards the ship for the last time. Our feet were tired and our stomachs were hungry but I remember how happy we were. We were chatting about all the sites we'd seen and discussing which day had been our favorite. We talked about the future and where our next voyages would take us. This may sound silly, but I often have a hard time living "in the moment." I tend to think about what lies ahead or dwell on looking back at what I could have done differently. But in those moments, we were just two people holding hands and exploring a new city.

By the time we made it back to the boat, it was time for a late lunch. Hubs opted for a nap and I read by the pool for a few hours. Soon enough, we'd be back in Rome for the last leg of this voyage. And that's where I'll leave you... until next week! Ta ta for now!

Tres Belle Marseille

When we began planning the cruise (if this is your first time tuning in, you may want to start at the beginning of this voyage with Amsterdamin') I'll admit, I was a little bummed because the three places I had the most interest in (Mallorca, Valencia, and Marseille) were the shortest stops of our journey. Plus another bummer - there was only one stop in France and for those who know me, know that I am French at heart. My first international trip was to Paris... way back to when Hubs and I started dating. One day, we plan to go back to Paris and rent a car so we can try out the different regions of Wine that the French countryside has to offer.

Anyway, I digress. Marseille is a beautiful city, there's tons to do and some very impressive architecture throughout the city. One place we had hoped to get to but didn't during our short stay was Chateau D'If. It was the inspiration for Alexandre Dumas' book - The Count of Monte Cristo. If you're planning a trip to Marseille, I'd encourage you to at least look into doing this.

Beautiful sunset from the night before

Love these clouds

It just kept getting better

This time our ship docked in early afternoon, so we decided to disembark as quickly as possible since we only had seven hours. We were able to get to a taxi within a few minutes and were heading to our first stop Notre Dame de la Garde (translates to Our Lady of the Guard) Cathedral, which sits upon a the highest point in Marseille. The cathedral is extremely impressive and the views of the city are unprecedented. We enjoyed soaking in the sunshine while we admired the architecture of the cathedral. One thing to know, it's easy to get a cab to the cathedral however, getting back can be a pain. The closest place you can pick up a cab to leave is from the Vieux Port (meaning Old Port). It's all downhill but it is extremely steep, you've been warned!

Views from the Cathedral

Pano of the view

Despite the sunshine in the photo, I love this shot

I thought this statue was cool

More views

Another of the church

You can just barely make out the football (soccer) stadium that was built for the Olypmics

Inside the church was incredible

I love the ceiling

We made our way down the steps towards the next stop on our list the Palais Longchamp which is a grandious monument built in 1869 to celebrate the completion of the canal bringing water to the city. Even from blocks away, the monument will take your breath away. Once you head up the stairs, you're able to walk behind the large fountain to either the Botanical Gardens, a park, the Natural History Museum or the Musee des beaux-arts. If we'd had more time, we could have seen at least one of these but we had a long list of things to see and miles of city between them.

Beautiful statue on our walk to the Palais

If this had been open, I would have ridden it

Giraffe!

Another beautiful church -  La Chapitre

Far away from the Palais and it was still huge!

Beautiful fountains

Cool shot from behind the fountain with the Notre Dame de la Garde in the background

More city views

Digging the detail up above

Another fountain shot

Looking down on the fountain

Side view

After we'd had our fill of the girnomous fountains, we decided to take a slight detour and see the Porte D'Aix built to celebrate peace in Marseille. It's not as impressive as the Arc d'Triomphe found in Paris, but still beautiful nonetheless.

The Porte D'Aix

The arc was only a four minute walk from Cathedral La Major - one of Europe's largest cathedrals! It's facade was extremely unique and the inside was beautiful. If you're in the area it is definitely worth a visit but if you only have time for one, I'd stick with Notre Dame de la Garde.

Beautiful shot of the Cathedral La Major

Entrance to the Cathedral

It was huge!

Front entrance to the Cathedral

Love this side view

We have been walking for about three hours at this point and were starting to get a bit thirsty so we decided to find a cafe where we could rest our feet and perhaps have an early dinner. We quickly realized dinner was out of the question, most places weren't even open until 4 or 5 and it was just 3:30pm. Finally we came upon Cafe Le Major  and decided this spot would do for a glass of wine and some dessert. The owner, Jon, came over as we were sitting down and offered us some water and asked if we would trust him to choose a bottle of wine for us. Since we are still learning which notes we like, we decided to be open to suggestion. Let me tell you, that bottle of wine was probably the best we've ever had! The French certainly know their wine!  For dessert we took another suggestion from Jon and tried the strawberries with homemade whip cream and mint, which a bit of pepper. Another fantastic choice. Seriously, if you're in Marseille, you'd be silly not to stop in and see Jon. We had the best time sitting on the patio, drinking wine and enjoying conversation with him.

Be sure to go and ask for Jon!

Soon enough, time was running short. Reluctantly, we hailed a cab and made our way back to the ship for one our last dinners aboard the ship. Next time... we'll be back to Italy in Genoa! Ta ta for now!

Another amazing sunset as we were leaving

It was a great feeling to be out on the water each night looking back at the city we'd just explored

Enjoying our balcony