We got a bit of a slow start but we managed to cover a good part of the historic center of Genoa today, on foot. We wound our way slowly down to the Porto Antico and back up to Via Garibaldi, stopping for coffee along the way and lots of window shopping. We are looking for a purse to bring home for Kathryn, so we went into many of those shops. Lunch was at Da Maria. We all agreed that the pastas were very good but the secondi “not so much”. Cec and I both had a vegetariano Polpettone which we expected to be like meatballs without meat, but instead it was like a slice of stuffing–like potato kugel–good but not at all what we expected. Kenny was the only smart one. He ordered a salad after his pasta and no secondo.
The afternoon found us wandering around again; tis is a great city for window shoping and church hopping. We discovered the Galleria Mazzini is right on the next street. It reminded us of the Milan train station–very beautiful and ornate

We found a great bag for Kathryn in a store that reminded me of “Express”. We were just about to get her a nice leather one and I called her. She does not want leather, so we opted for a cool printed cloth one that I had seen the first day–much less $$$.
In the afternoon we went to see the Duomo–church of San Lorenzo. The detail on the facade, like yesterday, kept us rapt. Ken and Cec both didn’t go in because on “inapropriate dress” so I stayed very briefly. Here’s a shot of some of the detail, outside:

Cecelia is really suffering with her back and feels like her rib may be broken. We got her an ace bandage and I wrapped her up in it in a comical scene in the bathroom in the Osteria Vico Palla. We had a wonderful waitress there who was very helpful but I am starting to realize we don’t really jive with the typical Genovese food. It is just too fishy, in general. We enjoyed most, a bowl of mussels with a simple salty, garlicky broth which we all shared for a antipasto.
I am really worried about Cecelia… this afternoon, we will throw ourselves on the mercy of the Baurs and hope that the magic of their place will cure all of our ills.