Italian Postcard #3 - Genoa & Milan - 5/29/2003

Nervi

The house in which we are staying in Nervi is quite large and full of history. Until the 1500's the land was owned by the Stinola family who built a giant castle (which we can see from our bathroom window). Sometime in the 1500's, the Carrera family (the same family from the Carrara marble quarry just south of here in the Alps near Lucca) bought it. When their 3 children were grown, they split up the land so that each had some and each built their own house with expansive land to surround it. One of those houses is next to ours. It is a large 4-story mansion with huge gardens and neo-classical fountains and statues. Our house lies just the other side of the gardens and was built to house the gardener. It's a large 2-story, marble inlayed house with it's own garden and a view of the sea. That must have been a happy gardener! The lady who owns our house now has decided to live in the basement part of the year and rent the house out in order to maintain it (must be a huge money pit). She is very protective of the house and is known to come in when we are out to make sure we are treating it well. We're not fond of that and have dubbed her Nurse Rachett. Nonetheless, we enjoy having Paul's family over here for dinner and eatting on the large marble patio that overlooks the infinity pool and the garden of the mansion I explained earlier. We usually have about 15 people and have had as many as 20 for dinner. Only one guest was duplicated, which gives yu an idea of just how many cousins still live near Genoa!


Rondanina
We traveled today to Paul's mom's hometown of Rondanina - a mountain village north east of Genoa that looks just out of the Swiss alps. They host a year-round population of 23 (5 of which are children). It was 72 when she was a child, so she knew most everyone that remains, most of which are relatives! We visited everyone, ate a fantastic meal at the one and only restaurant in town (her cousin's), and even visited her father, Andrea, who's plain, wooden cross is so worn with age, it no longer bears his name. It was tucked in the cemetary with all the other Scrivani's and Casazza's (again, all relatives). A charming town that reminds me of many mountain villages. They have a very impressive church. A cousin is the guardian for the church, thus giving us a private tour.


Genoa
They in return have been showing us around. I like Genoa and am beginning to know the neighborhoods and piazzas quite well. The most surprizing hightlight of the town, though, has been the cemetary. Built in 1840, it houses the important and famous as well as the rich. They waste no money on outdoing the Jones's and the hills have large monument next to huge marble gothic crpyts. Amazing the variety, many of which have been done by famous artists.

Milan was nice, although too abbreviated (if you knew my sister-in-law, you'd know what I'm talking about). We saw the Duomo - the famous gothic church, walked on its roof to see the vast number of spires, statues and flying buttresses, walked by the Galleria, and saw the fort. Very unimpressed with the smog, dog owners who figure pedistrians don't matter, and the incredicle graffitti (puts Watts to shame)!

Didn't get a second to window shop, much less buy anything, so what I missed out in Milan, I will do in Rome. We leave tomorrow, and we plan to see the Vatican, Forum, Palentine, Colesum, Pantheon, , Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps (our "home base" while there).