Mediterranean cruise and European adventure - Day 7 - Genoa

Genoa

Our tour wasn’t until 9:30 so we got to sleep in! Well, two of the three of us did anyway. I got up and headed to the gym. I wrote myself a workout the night before which I did in a little bit of space I staked out in the busy gym. After I finished I went up to deck 10 to take in the views and get some photos. I went back to the room and showered then we all went to Cabana’s for breakfast before disembarking to meet our guide.



Michela was born and raised in Genoa and from 9:30 - 12 she walked us around 5 attractions of the city. We started by getting on the underground for a quick trip to the Ancient port which is now a sort of promenade area and Michela gave us some information about Genoa as an important port city.



Then we walked to the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. The beautiful cathedral has a really interesting striped pattern and two incredible lions on either side of it’s steps. In order to go inside, I needed to have my knees covered (I was wearing shorts). Michela had a yoga blanket in her bag so I wrapped that around my lower half and I was all set. The church was lovely inside and Michela pointed out various aspects of the interior.





Our next stop was the Palazzo Ducale which was at one time the home of the Doge during a time when Genoa was it’s own republic from the 13th century until Napoleon conquered in 1797.



After this we went to see what remains of the house Christopher Columbus lived in when he was a boy. His house is right next to some remains of the ancient walls of the city (interestingly, the house is on the outside of the walls).



To end the tour, we walked to Via Garibaldi, a main thoroughfare of the old city with many old noble homes. One of the homes is currently the Chamber of Commerce so we were able to go inside and take a look around at several of the rooms. Once done there, we continued along the street looking at some of the other old houses along the way which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.





At this point we parted ways with our guide and she recommended some options for lunch. We settled in at a little cafe where Roger had a sandwich that he really enjoyed. Mine was fine, but not amazing though we both enjoyed the lovely atmosphere of the beautiful and quiet street while we ate.



We left lunch and went in search of dessert. Prior to our trip I read an article about gelato in Italy. It’s everywhere, but unfortunately, the majority of it is junk made from mixes. So I set about creating a list of legitimate artisanal handmade gelato. So we made our way over to a little gelato shop tucked in a teeny side “street” (more of an alley). As the slightly annoyed shop owner (who thankfully spoke English) translated the flavors for us, a line of irritated Italians formed behind us waiting for gelato. The gelato was excellent and worth every cranky look in our direction.



I finished our gelato and made our way back to the area where we began our tour, but Roger wanted to find a wine shop. We all looked and eventually he continued trying to look while Emmaline rode a really odd little carousel type thing that was there. Finally he gave up and we all rode the subway back to where the ship was docked. Upon arriving, he realized that there was another wine shop at the other end of the subway line that he had originally discounted since it wasn’t in walking distance. As our tickets were good for 100 minutes he decided to go in search of wine while Emmaline and I boarded the ship.



Once back onboard at around 2:30, I did some laundry while Emmaline watched something on the stateroom TV. After awhile we went to deck 9 to meet Goofy (in his Italian outfit) and have some snacks (aka ice cream) and Roger came back aboard around 3:30. Then Emmaline met up with a friend in the kid’s club while I worked on my trip report and Roger had a little rest in the stateroom.

After about an hour, Emmaline left the club to meet Pluto and then Goofy (again, apparently?) with her friend and then we all met up for dinner at 6 in Lumiere’s. Once again, I was presented with some amazing Indian food. The Indian food was a life saver this cruise because I actually found that I wasn’t as into many of the menu items this time around. Usually I can find things that work for me, but this cruise I had several nights where not much was appealing so it was super great to have the Indian food each night in case I wasn’t excited about the menu offerings.

I’ve touched on it a little bit in an earlier entry, but I feel I should stop and take a moment to further explain the evening entertainment. Traditionally on DCL there is a show each night in the Walt Disney Theatre (the main theatre on board). The show is opposite one’s dining time. So early dining watches the show after dinner and second seating watches the show and then has dinner. Normally there is a different show each night. Traditionally the first evening onboard is a welcome show, then there are three main stage shows (on the Magic they are “Twice Charmed: A Cinderella Story,” “ Tangled: The Musical,” and “Disney Dreams”). Then each of the other nights there is usually a movie one night and a variety entertainer another night. Then they have other variety entertainers in Fathoms (a smaller venue on board). This summer they have mixed things up a bit and they are showing each of the main shows two nights in a row. The first two nights were “Twice Charmed” and then the next two were “Tangled” and then they had a variety entertainer and then the final two nights were “Disney Dreams.” I found this annoying. We’ve seen all those shows and some of them multiple times. I was hoping at least to see “Incredibles 2” in the theatre one evening. So we skipped the shows every night (well, Roger and I did) except to see the variety entertainer.

At some point after dinner, Emmaline was off doing her own thing, maybe in the kid's club again, and Roger and I went out on deck and watched us pull out of port. It was quite a maneuver! We had pulled in forward and there was a long inlet. We backed out for quite a ways, then did a full turn and went forward the rest of the way. We watched as the pilot ship followed alongside and then eventually it pulled up alongside the ship and the local pilot disembarked and got onto the little ship.



This evening we went to see a variety entertainer in Fathoms (which turns into an adult nightclub after about 9:30 or so). Chris Cox is a magician/comedian who had a kind of “mind reading” thing. It wasn’t really mind reading, obviously, he said he used a variety of techniques to discern information about people. His show was entertaining and we enjoyed it. After that we were pretty beat so we made our way back to the room and got ready for bed, turning in somewhat early for the evening.

Click here for Day 8.