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Monday, October 24, 2005

Genoa

On arrival, the first thing I do is drop my bags off at left luggage at the station. I also get myself a map as I want to orientate myself and work out how to get to the boat later this evening.

This is the main entrance to the station: it's quite the hub of activity and looks much nicer than it really is.

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Just in front of the station stands quite a large monument.

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This is the Columbus monument on Piazza Acquaverde - it is the work of Lorenzo Bartolini among others and dates from 1846-1862. At the top stands Columbus with an American figure kneeling beside him. One level down on the four corners of the base are seated statues that represent Piety, Science, Constancy and Prudence - bass reliefs lay between this figures.

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This one shows Columbus in chains as he is returned to Spain. The others show Columbus before the Council of Salamanca, Columbus placing the cross on the first land he discovered and Columbus being received by the Kings of Spain on his return from his first voyage.

The inscriptions on the base read - To Christopher Columbus, The Fatherland. Having divined a world, he found it for the perennial benefit of the old one.

The bronze laurel wreaths at the foot of the monument were laid in 1893.

Having absorbed the history lesson and feeling a little drained with the noticeable higher humidity I opt for lunch nearby and it turns out to be fairly uninspiring stuff. I'll put that down to the area I'm in.

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Returning to the station I manage to work out which bus to take and head out to the port. It comes as a complete surprise when my uncanny sense of direction lets me down and I end up totally flustered and in the wrong place (Say nothing and stop laughing Paalo). Actually my sense of direction wasn't wrong, I just couldn't work out where the entrance was!

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Feeling hot and bothered I do finally make it inside and to the information counter of Grimaldi. All I need to do is check in at least 2 hours before hand and I can take the luggage on board with me. Simple.

On my trip back to the station I take a few photos of what is a less than picturesque city.

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I must admit that I am underwhelmed and feel rather uncomfortable here. It's noisier and dirtier than Turin and feels rather claustrophobic. I'm actually quite pleased that I altered my plans and decided to go to Turin - I had originally planned to spend four days here, spending just half a day has been more than enough.

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