The Brilliant MSC Splendida or Cruise from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and back. Part 3
To be continued. Start here:
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 Aquaverde with the Columbus monument in the center and at the beginning of the street 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. Therefore, we are going to look 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 historical center of Genoa and there are enough beautiful places on it, but we need a supermarket, which we find with difficulty. We stock up, 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 us 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 “What about the suitcases?! ”.
In general, I realized that this hotel is a transshipment base and an overnight stay 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 my comrades in a huge room downstairs had a sliding sofa, and the bed was on some kind of mezzanine, where you had to climb up the stairs to the ceiling. Cool!
But, digress! The festive dinner was held at a high ideological and political level, but the neighbors' level 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, all alive and well. To be honest, I was worried 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 the MSC “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 (thank Google with its maps) and in front 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 small things for tea, he did everything himself (attached tags, brought tickets) and we went to Check-in take shape. 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 / person) and drive through the historical places of the city (90 minutes),
Turbas stop near the seaport
but we had plenty of time, training in Rome didn't go unnoticed, and walking was just what we needed. And we also had to buy tickets at the station for the return trip from Genoa via Milan to Venice. In principle, I described our path in the story “Routes of Genoa”. So in short.
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, some folk ensemble sang songs there.
After 100 meters, on the left is an ancient tower. Ahead is a handsome galleon,
Polanski's Galleon
which was filmed in Polanski's film, then through the park you can go to the Genoa Aquarium, in the same place on the Biosphere pier, the Marina Hotel, then along the embankment Boat Pier and the Antique Port. We cross the road to Caricamento square and two beautiful palazzos at once,
we pass between them on the square. Banki, here is the loggia of Mercanti, in which the first Stock Exchange in Europe and the church S. Pietro della Porta were opened. Next, we consider the oldest historical part of the city - the Cathedral of Genoa,
Duke's Palace
The Ducal Palace, we went to the double-towered gates of Porta Soprano with the remains of the fortress wall.
Three minutes later we are the central square of Genoa - Piazza Ferrari with a large fountain. There is also the theater of Santo Felice.
This photo is not mine, but I can’t constantly put my personality or my wife on display. And I tried so that the photos here and in the story "Routes of Genoa" were not the same.
From here we go to Garibaldi Street, where the most luxurious palaces go one after another. This is a must see. (photo of palaces in another story about Genoa). 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 walked 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", we have already worked up an appetite. Especially when we pass by such shop windows.
By Cruise-cards we pass without question to our liner, we go up to our deck by elevator (all decks are named after 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 huge self-service cafes, which are located on deck 14 and are called Bora Bora and Pago Pago.
It turned out to be very convenient that there was an elevator next to our cabin and very quickly we were in a cafe.
Stern lifts
The principle of the cafe is simple, but for large volumes lost in the premises, its 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, pasta and other horns) and sauces for them, opposite - various pizzas. And even further, the so-called. “non-pastes” - i. e. various meat dishes, sausages, cutlets, various salads, chopped vegetables, cheeses, then fruits, desserts, cakes, all 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 first of all).
In the evening in "Pago Pago" near the observation window and exit to the stern of the liner
While we were satiated, the time for sailing came, 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.
Port of Genoa
We are leaving Genoa for Barcelona
The next section will be about the MSC Splendida
