Tuesday, June 4, 2024 Adventures in Italy Part 10

(To start at the beginning: Adventures in Italy Part 1) (crappy photo alert: still can’t find those original digital photos from our trip!)

Genoa, Italy – August 2016

It was by now getting to be close to 6:00, so we had to decide whether or not to pursue the 3rd attraction that we had a ticket for, which was a tour of some towers over by the Christopher Columbus house.  Well, why not – in for a penny, in for a pound.  By the time we got there (another 20 minute walk), it was almost 6:15 and we couldn’t find any open door around the whole area of the towers.  Is it possible they only opened at 6:00 and if you weren’t there, closed up again?  We could think of no explanation that made sense, but didn’t care enough about it to ask any of the nearby people about it.  C’est la vie. 

Time to start thinking about supper. Giovanni had recommended a couple places, one of which was very near where we were, so we walked down the narrow street to get to the entrance: Rosmarino Trattoria.  We went in and found out that they didn’t open again for dinner (cena) until 7:30, which is typical in Italy, probably in much of Europe actually.  Should we find a nice place to sit and wait or go back to the B&B (another 20 minute walk) to freshen up? In spite of the fact that we were both fairly tired, the allure of having a quick refreshing shower won us over and we hoofed it back to Il Borga Di Genova, home sweet home. This way, Kris posited, we could also put on some “glad rags” before going back to the restaurant. Gotta love a guy that uses the phrase “glad rags.” 

Feeling amazingly refreshed and dressed in our aforementioned glad rags, we got back to Rosmarino Trattoria at exactly 7:30 and were the first customers there, so we got our pick of the tables.  This time, the woman who seated us gave us an iPad with the menu in English (oh happy day!) to look over.  Much of the food here in this port city is seafood based and although I’m not a big fan of seafood, I wanted to be open to trying something new.  “I wonder what dolphin tastes like?” I mused out loud.  Kris thought it was probably a lot like mahi mahi and that made me wary of it being served raw or sushimi style.  The menu also had beef tartare, another type of raw meat that I wasn’t terribly eager to try.  One of the selections, even in “English” was mysterious, something like vitetto tonnoto with crispy something.  I asked the waiter what it was, and although he spoke English, his accent was such that I still couldn’t understand.  “I’ll have that,” I said, throwing caution to the wind.  Kris ordered the pork belly with figs and we both ordered another pasta pesto again for our first course.  The pesto pasta was different than the one we’d had the night before, but still so very tasty.  The main meals arrived, beautifully presented. 

I tucked into mine and discovered that it was a cold tuna salad, stuffed with spinach leaves and topped with some sort of thin crispy bread.  This was a surprise, but not an unpleasant one.  Kris said his pork belly and figs was excellent.  The reddish stuff on his plate appeared to be some sort of sautéed sweet onions – yummy (he gave me a taste).  We both chose tiramisu for dessert.   The restaurant had filled up rapidly after we got there and every seat was taken; the staff was quite busy running around filling wine bottles, bringing food in, etc.   We thought they’d be eager to empty our table but after we finished eating, the check did not appear.  We speculated that at Italian restaurants, you come at 7:30 and stay for a couple hours, after which the restaurant closes.  After waiting 15 or so minutes, Kris finally asked for the check so we could get our weary bodies back home (remember, we still had a 20 minute walk ahead of us).  It was around 9:00 by the time we left.

It looks like we walked around 12 miles and really got to know the town well in the process, so it’s all good.  We may take a train today to a nearby coastal town – not sure yet.  My legs are still aching from yesterday so I don’t want to do as much walking!   I’m feeling my age…

Next installment: Adventures in Italy Part 11

Time to delete this in the morning – c’est la vie.