Week 6 INTRODUCTION I was so excited and nervous for this trip. Originally, I wanted to spend my Reading week (UK's week without classes in the middle-ish of the semester) traveling with friends. We had different places we wanted to visit so I decided to take a risk and step out of my comfort zone and travel solo for the nine days of my reading week trip. My reading week adventures will be broken into five parts so keep reading my next blogs to find out more. ACCOMMODATION Since this was my first solo trip and I had my own preconceived notions about hostels in Italy, I stayed in an Airbnb in the heart of Old Town, Genova. My host was lovely and made me feel very welcomed. The apartment was located about a 10 minute walk from one of the central piazzas (plazas). This accommodation options was cheaper than a hotel and also let me experience a bit of local life. TRANSPORATION Within the city of Genova, I just walked. There is a good public transporation system made of up buses and metro in the city, but to save money and since I felt I had the time, I walked everywhere, other than my day trips where I took the regional train. From the airport, I took an airport bus into the city (Volabus). My Airbnb host recommended the service. It was quick, cheap, and safe. London to Genova My journey to Genova was a bit stressful, but I have found that this type of stress is one of the best. Through it, I have learned how to be adaptable and in the end, it was always, always worth it. That morning I left for Italy, my cellular data was not working. Yes, I know people have traveled without phones for years, but I am very accustom to having at least my maps app available. Going to a foreign country where I did not know the language, and myself none the less, I was super nervous. Thankfully on my train ride to the airport, I figured out what was wrong and got access. To get to Genova, I took a short flight on RyanAir. The price and timing of this flight was a part of the reason I chose this Italian city over others. Honestly, while Genova is not one of the main tourist cities in Italy, it is one of my favorites. ITINERARY DAY 1 I got into Genova in the afternoon. The city was a short bus ride from the airport, so I was able to get to my Airbnb and settled pretty well. It was overwhelming, at first, navigating the vias (walking streets) and vicos (alleys) of Genova as they were packed with people, but within a couple minutes, I had a smile on my face that could not be wiped off. I was so happy. Words cannot describe the surreal feeling. I found a place I wanted to eat dinner, but it didn't open until later that night (Italians do eat dinner later), so I decided to wander around the town. The city is very very walkable and attractions are really close together. I walked back to Piazza Ferrari to take some photos and then just wandered around. I ended up going into this little antique shop which is pretty cool at seeing Doge’s Palace at night where they project a light show on it. I also walked by the cathedral but unfortunately it looks like it’s going under some work still there’s a lot of scaffolding up and the whole front is blocked off. I even wander to the seaside of the city almost to the aquarium. As I was heading back towards the area where the restaurant I wanted to eat at was I stumbled upon a little baby clothes shop. I spent quite a while in there trying to figure out what to get my baby cousin Brookie. I ended up getting this cute bib. The owners were very kind, and while their English was limited and my Italian nonexistent, we were still able to communicate. They were thrilled to find out I was from Hawaii. After purchasing her gift I went to the restaurant I looked up to go eat dinner. It was called Trattoria Ugo. Genova is known for its pesto so I got their fettuccine pesto. It was very good and very very filling. I decided to also splurge and get dessert. When I found this restaurant online one of the reviews said their tiramisu was to die for and I love tiramisu, so I had to try it. It was very, very good in addition to being tiramisu there were also some pistachios on top. During dinner, I also got to chat with this lady from Naples who was also dining by herself. She was there for the science convention that they had the next day. After dinner, I turned in as I had a very full day ahead of me with my day trip to Cinque Terre.
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Kaylee MikiI'm a college student from Hawai‘i studying abroad in London and looking forward to traveling around Europe and sharing my experiences. Archives
January 2023
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