Trains in Italy – no cars needed here

July 18, 2009  by Erica Berman

To get around the Ligurian Riviera without a car (Camoli, Cinque Terre, Santa Margherita, Finale Ligure, Varigotti, La Spezia, Portofino – you need to take a boat or bus from Santa Margherita) from Genoa on public transportation one may take the increasingly infamous Trenitalia. Continue Reading »

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Genoa – what exactly am I doing while here in Italy?

June 10, 2009  by Erica Berman

Typical Genoa

So, what do I do here friends want to know? This is my third trip to Genoa, and I still have not been to the Aquarium, to the famous museums that dot the city,  or even to  see the house where Christopher  Colombus supposedly lived. I have thoroughly walked on the winding passageways (caruggi), in and around Genoa’s old medieval center (said to be the largest medieval center in Europe).

I have criss-crossed my neighborhood Castelletto, and I have made it my mission to find the best gelateria, the best focacceria, the best cappuccino,

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Genova, Genes, Genoa, Italy – however you want to spell it – at last!

June 8, 2009  by Erica Berman

Photo: Erica Berman -The path that leads to home

In Genova, finally, until July 17! My third trip. Inquiring friends want to know why I chose Genova. No-one has ever heard if it. They think it is Geneva, and that I am in Switzerland.  The story is quite simple. In the fall of 2007 I needed a flat with high speed Internet in order to participate  in an Intensive Italian language class and learn Italian, finally.  Not wanting to be in the tourist mecca’s of Florence, Venice or Rome, it was proving difficult to impossible to find a flat that was both nice and had Internet (sounds implausible, but it is true). Finally, I came across a penthouse flat with terrace in Genova that seemed beautiful, and had Internet. Although I knew next to nothing about Genova aside from the fact that it was not touristy with the anglo community, that it was a port not far from Portofino and Cinque Terre, that it was home to the best pesto in Italy, that the ferry leaves from there to go to Sardinia, and that Chistopher Colombus was born there, I decided to check it out.

Part of the door to my friend Maria’s house

The irony, and beauty of the whole affair is that in my wonderful penthouse apartment, despite the efforts of  numerous Italians, the Internet just would not work with my Mac.

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