Brilliant MSC Splendida or cruise to and from the Atlantic
As I wrote earlier, on the evening of February 24.2012, we arrived in Genoa in order to sail the next day on the MSC SPLENDIDA liner to the Atlantic to Casablanca and back.
Everyone knows that Genoa competed with Venice in the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages, and even on the coast of Crimea there were its fortresses (in Sudak, for example). Therefore, the Genoese brought wealth from everywhere, and their city was not inferior to Venice in its heyday.
And here is the station of Genoa. We cross the station square Acquaverde with the monument to Columbus in the center and at the beginning of Via Balbi - our hotel "Standard Hotel Genoa", no more than 5 minutes walk from the station. We quickly go through the registration, the rooms are on the 6th floor, the room is very large, the bathroom, respectively, is also suitable. We put ourselves in order, we agree with our comrades to organize a dinner on the occasion of the end of the first part of the trip and the beginning of the second. We therefore go looking for a supermarket to skimp, and at the same time an evening promenade along Genoa. Via Balbi is one of the central streets of the historic center of Genoa and there are enough beautiful places on it, but we need a supermarket, which we find with difficulty. We buy goods, return to the hotel and it seemed to us that all of Russia and Ukraine were in our hotel. At the reception - Russian speech. We took the elevator (and the corridors there are quite confusing), we go to our room, the guys from Odessa follow us, they confused where to go to the elevator. We talked, sent them on the right path, again someone from the opened door asks if we will take a taxi to the port or how to do it. They answered that there was nothing to go to the seaport, the answer was “And the suitcases ?! ”.
In general, I realized that this hotel is a transshipment base and lodging for the night for those departing on cruises from Genoa, and cruise companies of the former Union know about it. But the hotel is actually not bad, but with its own jokes, so the comrades in the huge room below had a sliding sofa, and the bed was on some kind of mezzanine, where you had to climb up the stairs to the ceiling. Class!!
But digress! The festive dinner was held at a high ideological and political level, but the level of the neighbors was even higher, since the Russian voices subsided about three hours after the end of our banquet.
In the morning, having phoned each other, we met at breakfast alive and well. To be honest, I was worried about how a friend (of necessity, if suddenly) would slide off the mezzanine at night, where the bed was. But everything is fine. Breakfast is standard, European, we are already familiar with the third hotel. We decided to go to the port, find Splendida and check in all the luggage, because. he can give up from 8-00, after we walk around Genoa and register. If it works out, then we register, and then we walk. Immediately from the hotel down a steep street and we are on the embankment (glory to Google with its maps) and ahead is the seaport, then you can see Splendida. 15 minutes and we were at the terminal, the loader accepted the luggage, there was no queue yet, they gave me little things for tea, he did everything himself (attached tags, brought tickets) and we went to Check-in to be processed. Again, there are practically no people and the procedure for obtaining a Cruise Card did not take much time (20 minutes, of which 5 minutes was the search for a Russian-speaking officer). Wishing her good luck, and she told us not to be late for sailing, we went along the Embankment to see the sights of Genoa. If desired, it was possible to take the Turbas (20 euros) and drive through the historical places of the city (90 minutes), but we had plenty of time, the training in Rome did not go unnoticed, and walking was what we needed. And we also had to buy tickets at the station for the return trip from Genoa via Milan to Venice.
What did we watch! On the embankment, leaving the terminal, went to the right along the sea. The Museum of the Sea, followed by an Italian submarine of the 60s of the last century on the pier, in the same place some kind of folk ensemble sang songs. After 100 meters on the left is an ancient tower. Ahead is a handsome galleon, who starred in Polanski's film, then you can go through the park to the Genoese Aquarium, in the same place on the Biosphere pier, the Marina Hotel, then along the Boat Quay and the Antique Port. We cross the road to Piazza Caricamento and immediately two beautiful palazzos, between them we pass on Piazza. Banki, here is the loggia of Mercanti, in which the first Stock Exchange in Europe was opened and the Church of S. Pietro della Porta. Next, we consider the oldest historical part of the city - the Cathedral of Genoa, the Ducal Palace, we went to the two-towered gates of Porta Soprano with the remains of the fortress wall. Three minutes later we are in the central square of Genoa - Ferrari Square with a large fountain. There is also the Santo Felice Theatre. From here we go to Garibaldi Street, where the most luxurious palaces go one after another. This is a must see. Palazzos of the XV-XVI centuries, but they have survived, and they are not inferior in beauty to the Venetian palaces. Next is the Royal Palace and after it, having passed another 500 meters, we are at the forecourt. Having sent the women to rest on the embankment, they figured out the tickets, buying them at the Mini fare for the return trip to Venice. It was already lunch time, so we decided “Genoa - Genoa, and lunch on Splendid should be on schedule”, especially since we had already worked up an appetite.
According to Cruise-cards, we pass without question to our liner, we go up to our deck by elevator (all decks bear the names of famous Italian artists, ours is Giotto for No. 8). Our cabin is in the very stern, we go along the endless corridor, our luggage is already standing near the cabin, everything is brought into the cabin, we put ourselves in order and we go by elevator for lunch to the huge self-service cafes that are on deck 14 and call them "Bora Bora" and "Pago-Pago". It turned out that it was very convenient, next to our cabin there was an elevator, and very quickly we were in a cafe. The principle is simple, but for those lost in large volumes, the scheme is in a prominent place. There is a certain place for American food (hamburgers, fries, their favorite salads), then Italian pastas up to five types (spaghetti, macaroni and other horns) and sauces for them, on the contrary - various pizzas. And even further so-called. "Nepasty" - i. e. various meat dishes, sausages, meatballs, various salads, chopped vegetables, cheeses, then fruits, desserts, cakes, all kinds of pastries. There are tea and coffee machines in different places. There is ice and cold water. By the time I've listed everything, I'm already tired. And what is it all to see and choose! Food is chosen for something in between a large, very large plate and a decent spread. I understand that we will not starve here, the crew of the ship will not allow (I wrote this, because some are interested in this in the first place).
While we were sated, the time for sailing approached, from the cafe - exit directly to the stern, from where we said goodbye to Genoa for a week. Of course - a photo, next to the exclamations of "light brown tourists", many of which we have already seen in our hotel. We exchange impressions from Genoa. It turns out that one of the remarkable places that we did not know about is the Genoese cemetery, which is also an open-air museum of sculptures. For the future, you need to take note.
