Summer Stroll

There are few things more relaxing than a stroll along the water's edge in the evening.

Generation after generation of Italians have grown up this way and lived this way their whole life.

The sun sets - eventually. It only really gets dark at about 9.30 p.m. in summer. The air cools. Tanned bodies in sandals and light summer clothing wander aimlessly. It's all about the pleasure of the moment. Ice-creams are eaten. Little children get to stay up late because their parents couldn't bear to stay at home when the evening is so cool. Teenage summertime romances are enacted each and every evening like an ongoing play - in episodes. Ice-cream parlors, arcades, pubs and restaurants with waterfront tables. The occasional event on a makeshift stage: singers, plays, TV comedians making a little extra money during their off season, or beauty pageants where teenagers get to parade up and down in front of the whole town.

The Porto Antico area in Genoa is a city version of all this. In fact, the coast of the city is lined with urban versions of this scenario. Corso Italia is the historical seaside promenade, and further up along the coast is the Marina Aeroporto area, which is quite recent.

I often go out for an evening walk in the Porto Antico since I live nearby.
On the evening I took these pictures, I discovered that my favorite relaxing place in the city - a group of barges with park benches on them I also discussed in the aquarium post - is finally back in place and open to the public.

Being the middle of summer, there is plenty of activity even well past midnight. This floating club is a good example (ok, a blurry example but you get the idea).

But it's not too hard to find quieter places - even just a few meters away from the clubs.

The western end, around the Galata Museo del Mare, is much quieter in the evening. During opening hours, this is a very interesting museum that deals with the city's historical connection with the sea and the maritime world.

The eastern end, on the other hand, is much more lively, with lots of pubs and restaurants. The streetlights are even brighter for some reason. Families walk up and down eating ice-cream (the famous Italian gelato). This is a national summer pastime - I can think of at least five ice-cream places in that precise area alone. Single people head for the clubs in search of company. The brave head for the outdoor karaoke place - here everybody can see and hear you.

On this particular evening, a group of English students decided to have an evening swim right next to the Coast Guard's boats - and right in front of the karaoke place. They stole the scene for a while, attracting horrified looks from some and amused looks from everyone else. The locals wouldn't be caught dead swimming in there - it is a port after all, so the water is polluted. Soon people got used to them and the karaoke drowned out the excited squeals in the background. I am almost sure most of the squeals were coming from the English tourists and not from the few old men hanging over the railing wishing they could join in.

Just past the karaoke area is a long series of buildings known as the Magazzini del Cotone (Cotton Warehouses - which is what they were before they were turned into restaurants, pubs, cinemas, etc.). On the front side you can walk along and look at boats I assume to be parked in order of increasing wealth.
Somewhere in the middle they become luxury yachts and toward the end, most of the time, I think they should be called ships and I'm quite sure they could easily house a family of fifty.
After the last and largest vessel, the buildings come to the end, and it is suddenly more peaceful and you can stand or sit awhile, looking out across the port, taking in the cool sea breeze.

And then, finally, like millions of other Italians all around the peninsula, you turn around and stroll back in the opposite direction.