maccamusings

Take a stroll from casa Aff'n'Chris

Casa Aff'n'Chris - our apartment is on the ground floor (the windows behind Aff are ours)

walking on our street, in the opposite direction to the last photo.

and so begins the descent (much better leaving home than coming back!)

still walking on our "street" (more like a stair case really), towards Via Garibaldi (at the bottom of the stairs)

and onto Via Garibaldi, and into Genova's "centro storico".

I never get sick of walking out our front door!

Labels: bella_italia, look_at_moi, the_simple_things

Mia Genova

Cost of ticket on Funicula to top of surrounding hills: $1.20 (euro)

Cost of picnic lunch: $10.25 (euro)

Finding a quiet place to eat lunch while looking over Genova:

.... about $11.45 (euro) actually ..... but worth every cent.

(photo taken by Andrew Dankers)

Labels: bella_europe, bella_italia

"Festival delle Sagre" in Asti

Italians do like a festival or two, and will seemingly organise one for just about any excuse under the sun. On Sunday, Aff and I decided to make the journey to Asti (pop 80,000, about 90 minutes train ride from Genova (on the way to Turin). We had originally planned to make the trip to Turin, but after reading that the second Sunday of September is Asti's day of days, The "Festa della Sagre" (basically means the festival of the town), we thought this might be worth a visit.

Asti didn't dissapoint!

Having just caught the 8am Intercity train from Genova, we managed to arrive just in time for the start of what must surely be the world's longest parade. Asti is a regional centre to a whole bunch of villages in the area, most of which have strong connections with the local wine industry (they mostly produce "Spumante", that sickly sweet sparkling wine so many of us became aquainted with early in our drinking careers), as well as corn growing (for polenta). As a result, most of the parade consisted of elaborate floats, paying tribute to the production, and consumption of food and wine (which I guess doesn't really distinguish it so much from other Italian festivals). There were other floats, dedicated to landmarks, and historical events from the region, but it didn't take long for another float to go past, depicting a bunch of old Italian blokes drinking vast amounts of vino rosso .... they played the part quite well ... if indeed they were playing the part at all.

After the parade, which took no less than 2.5 hours, including no less than 40 different represented regions, the real fun began in an adjacent car park lot, where around 40 food stalls lay waiting with many different local foods, and wines to taste. Without a moment to lose, thousands of Italians, and two not so well informed Australians, made their way on mass to the food. This event really did sum up everything I love, and hate, about life in Italy. The food on offer was amazing, and the prices next to nothing. The wine also it's usual high standard, and was virtually free once you purchased your 50c glass. Italians know, probably better than most, how to put on a town festival. These festivals seem to embody the pride of the region, particularly with respect to their food and produce. Nothing is expensive, and everything is top notch. On the downside, at least for us Australians used to a little more space, and order, is the enormity of the crowds, and the crushing "queues" one must endure to obtain the popular dishes. "Festival queueing" in Italy is an art form in itself, and requires a special kind of assertiveness, tolerance and endurance ... and that's just to get your food and wine tickets, then you have to line up seperately for each item you wish to take. Of course, none of this is helped by the constant defending of your place, and the hot north Italian sun baking the bituman surface below. To be fair, things did get consderably easier as the day went on, and the length of the queues lessened. Aff and I managed to visit a number of stalls, and sample a reasonable amount of the local wine (well, perhaps I sampled a little more than Aff did ). Like I said, they virtually give their wine away at these festivals. I can't imagine what kind of a mess such an event would end up being in Australia ... the Italians, to their credit, generally keep their consumption of alcohol to moderate amounts, which allows events like this to remain enjoyable for all.

Now for some photos. First, the parade, for which I unfortunately cannot add much of an explanation. There was an announcer, but my Italian wasn't quite up to understanding what the hell these floats were all about.

Yes, it's a cow!

Now for the food....

yes .... it's a little fried fish
(I thought they were chips)

yes .... the wine was plentiful!

yes ... that's a dog at the dinner table.

and yes ... I may have had a few.

It was a great day!

Labels: bella_europe, bella_italia, italia

The Italian Stallions

"another satisfied guest at casa Aff'n'Chris"

T and C at Spianata Castelleto (Belvedere Montaldo), the obligatory first stop for all guests of casa Aff'n'Chris

taken 09/06/2007

Labels: bella_europe, bella_italia, italia

Three Aussies and a Russian walk into a bar ..

"and that's the way we all became the brady bunch"

A night out with T (and our new Russian amico Tim) at Porto Antico, Genoa
(taken 08/06/2007)

Labels: bella_europe, bella_italia, italia

Dees win first game of season - Genova goes wild!

"after nine rounds of dissapointment, Genovese fans errupt at the news of Melbourne's first win"

Piazza De Ferrari, Centro Genoa (taken 10/06/07)

As I stood watching this spontaneous street party errupt in Piazza Deferrari last night, I couldn't help but think that this may in fact be the closest I'll ever get to seeing the Melbourne colours, red and blue, being marched triumphantly down the main drag of my home town. Of course, the red and blue colours had nothing to do with the Melbourne Football Club, but rather, the triumphant promotion of the Genoa Football (i.e soccer) Club to Serie A in Italy's Lega Calcio.

No less than 5,000 people (according to this morning's paper) crowded into Piazza De Ferrari (more or less the city centre) to celebrate the fact that Genoa, after 12 years in "Serie B" (second division), have just been promoted to Serie A after a nill all draw with Napoli. This may not seem like a big deal, but in soccer mad Italia, if your not competing in the top division, your not really competing. Clearly the loyal Genovese fans were pretty happy to hear that next season, they will be competing again.

I must admit, I was quite oblivious to this event at the start of the day, although I did note a little more red and blue being worn around town than usual. It wasn't until the late afternoon, when I heard a sudden burst of beeping horns, and cheering, that I realised there was something going on. In a flash, I grabbed the camera, and went on the hunt. This is what I found:

Aff and I stuck around for almost 2 hours, and the party never really looked like stopping. We decided to leave when someone shot a firework rocket through the window of one of the adjacent buildings. The fire brigade arrived not long after, just as smoke started to pour out of the window. I truly haven't seen anything quite like it, and I can only imagine what it was like when Italy won the world cup.

Interestingly, the similiarity between the Genoa and Melbourne football clubs go further than their choice of colours. The full name of the Genovese soccer club is "The Genoa Cricket and Football Club", which was first established in 1893 by a bunch of poms living in Genoa at the time. Of course, the Melbourne football club also orginated from the MCC (Melbourne Cricket Club), and still holds close ties. It is also interesting to note that the Genoa Football Club uses the English spelling of Genova (i.e without the 'v'), again as a result of it's English roots.

Needless to say, with the red and blue colours, and now a place in the top division of one of the world's best soccer competitions, I have well and truly jumped aboard the good ship Genoa C.F.C. Of course, you can never really call yourself a fan until you buy a team flag, which I did: