Genoa Aquarium

When planning for this trip we wanted to have a range of experiences and included the girls in the process of choosing where to go and what to see. Genoa, a busy port town, was a surprise to us. With no expectations, we were charmed by the narrow maze of laneways, colourful building scattered in the hills surrounding the port, the cheap and tasty food and the warmer weather!

 

Today we visited the Acquario di Genova, apparently the second largest aquarium in Europe conveniently located only a few minutes walk from our place at Porto Antico, the old port. Arriving at opening time, we purchased the aquarium only ticket and with cameras ready we entered!

We were plunged into darkness, to watch an impressive short animation on the ocean all in Italian of course.

 




Spread over a building slightly resembling a ship, we explore the three floors filled with a various marine animals housed in an assortment of tanks.  The manatees were Katy's favourite.

We built our own fish before setting them free on the big screen!

It was tiring work, weaving amongst the other tourists bustling to get the best spot to take the perfect photo. Halfway around we recovered with a snack and rest looking back on Genoa.

The touch pool was busy, not helped by the rays and flounders, most of whom were camouflaged in the sand in the centre of the pool. Persistence paid off for Katy who waited for what felt like an eternity managed to stretch out and pat the flounder without getting too wet!

Despite not understanding a single word of the dolphin show, the girls loved watching the dolphins frolicking in the water. We all enjoyed observing the dolphins graceful underwater movements below deck.

More tanks appeared on this never ending tour - a few snakes, poisonous frogs, a chameleon or two followed by corals and the very cool jellyfish. We emerged from the aquarium, 3 hours after arriving, well and truly filling our quota of photos (350+ between the three girls.) Everyone was happy but hungry...time for pizza!

Back into the narrow streets, we bought delicious pizza focaccia from Focacceria San Luca and ate it down in the sunshine at the harbour.



Post lunch, gelato in hand, we embarked on a walking adventure based a bit on what Andy had discovered during his morning run. Our aim was to wander though the streets in search of the Zecca Righi funicular that would take us uphill away from the busy city centre into the hills offering panoramic views of Genoa. We would then return via the creuze, a network of tiny, steep cobblestoned pedestrian paths that link the city to the surrounding hills.

Arriving at the funicular station, we were greeted with a sign - chiuso. The funicular was closed due to a technical problem. Continuing up to the next station just to be sure, we were momentarily distracted by a playground and stopped to play Marco Polo on the equipment! This station, Carbonara, was also closed, so we admitted defeat and headed back to the apartment.