Boccadesse, Italy
The other week, during a lovely day excursion to the seaport city of Genova, Italy, my visiting twin sis and I stumbled upon a fantastic little surprise towards the end of our day trip.
We had spent the major part of the day wandering around the eclectic quarters of Genova, (more on the Journal next week), and had three hours to kill before our train home. Somehow we stumbled upon an article in which someone had mentioned a quaint little town not too far away from the center of Genova.
Taking advantage of our unlimited 4.50 euro transportation passes, (a bargain if you ask me), we hopped on board a bus and took it about 35 mins; through the Genova neighborhoods and along the coast line, until we were dropped off a few streets from the humble gift of a town we were to witness.
Boccadesse is a beautiful, little fisherman's village, tucked away in the lovely seaport city of Genova, Italy. It is a wonderful little gem, one that Genova visitors should definitely add to the top of their list on their site-seeing destinations.
The sky provided a lovely backdrop against the fresh salt water of the waves, crashing over the rocky beaches below the balconied piazza we started at.
The sky was clear and crisp, accompanied by beautiful, pillowy, white clouds, amidst the clean blue-blue air. It was a refreshing landscape in comparison to the hustle and bustle of my home-base in Milan.
Our wandering started in the open aired piazza, next to the clean lines of the honey colored church at the top the of hill, overlooking the sea. After taking it in, we were astonished by the skyline view of the humble, but astonishingly beautiful, candied color fisherman town. There was something so surreal about the open sea air and the beautifully weathered colors of the piazza against the almost brooding, stormy sky. It was a fantastic contrast, we couldn’t help but sit in silence, taking it in before snapping a few photos and wandering down into the center.
The main part we explored was pretty small, but inviting all the same.
We took in the strangely stoney beach; complied of smooth, dark grey and randomly eccentric stones, the old fisherman boats and the locals soaking in the last rays and warm sunshine that signaled the end of August and the holiday season.
Even though we were accompanied by some natives and maybe one or two other visitors, there was something about the little town that gave us the wonderful sensation that it was our own little secret. Our own little Italian safe-haven.
Everything else going on seemed trivial, fading into the background amongst the noise of the crashing waves and soft chatter of the residents from one of the small trattorias nearby.
We stopped to enjoy a traditional gelato, sitting on the steps outside the little shop to people watch (we were happy to find that more ice cream places were catering to those with allergies by providing soy substitutes. Still just as satiating and satisfyingly delicious!).
The little town was the perfect end to our day get-away and our Thursday evening. What a fantastic little treasure to discover.
