From Milan we headed to Genoa, a less touristy spot along the Italian riviera. We had a great Airbnb apartment a few minutes walk from the station. It was really nice to have a place to relax for a few days, even if it wasn't Lake Como! We were pleasantly surprised by how charming Genoa was with it's layout almost in layers.
Our Airbnb
Our apartment was great and had so much space we could chill out separately (including Netflix binge watching).
The city center & the Vivian Maier exhibit
The city center around Principe station was a bit gritty and the streets were lined with people who didn't look like they had much to their name. There were many lovely nooks to be found though, and most of them filled with gelato shops! We also stumbled upon the Vivian Maier photographic exhibit at the Palazzo Ducale which was really great. Maier, who worked as a nanny for 40 years, documented street life in Chicago and Los Angeles almost obsessively. Her work was unknown until the contents of an abandoned storage unit packed with hundreds of thousands of negatives, hundreds of rolls of film, some printed work and audio recordings were auctioned off after her death. Many details of her life are still a mystery.
Walk along the Corso Italia to Boccadasse
We spent an evening walking along the Corso Italia (the beachfront esplanade) along to an old, picturesque fishing village called Boccadasse. On our way back we decided to walk down to the water and put our feet in - ouch, pebble beaches aren't for comfortable barefoot walking! On the upside, there's no sand to stick to you for days and the water was incredibly clear and tepid.
Santa Margherita to Portofino
To get to Portofino, we caught the train from Brignole to Santa Margherita and walked the 5km along the coast. The beaches were brimming with people basking in the sun - no hats, rashies or sunscreen to be seen. The colour of the water was a gorgeous turquoise, and so inviting! We stopped for a glass of prosecco at a beachfront bar overlooking a designated dog beach. A gorgeous golden retriever stole our hearts as he refused to get out of the water and gave his owner the biggest puppy eyes. We continued along the coast with many people on scooters (sometimes carrying inflatable lilos and flamingos) passing us by. About half way along we passed Paraggi and noted that it looked like the perfect swimming spot for us to stop on the return walk - and it was.
