How Italy Gets Saucy

In the Port City of Genoa, a Heritage Walk Works Up an Appetite for Pesto. It Is a Traditional Family-run Trattoria That Satiates It

- Saritha Rao Rayachoti

 The room with high-vaulted frescoed ceilings and ornate decor was part of a historic palace in the heart of Genoa, Italy’s popular port city. It would have been the perfect place to stay if only it didn’t come with a minimum stay stipulation of three nights. Genoa was only going to be a stopover—one night and one morning—for my husband and I. As the palazzo was out of the equation, we settled for a business hotel at the edge of the city.

The hotel was just what a business traveller would expect—clean, functional and quiet. The entire building was devoid of any Mediterranean flourishes that could stir the senses. The staff spoke English and the rooms were white, grey and beige with soundproof windows overlooking a flyover and the harbour beyond. It would do for a night’s rest.

I attributed some of my discontent with the hotel to travel fatigue, coming on the heels of an exhilarating visit to Barcelona in Spain. Maybe this palate cleanser was what I needed before the next course of travel began.

From Genoa itself, I had no major expectations, apart from a hankering to savour pesto alla genovese in the land of its origin. The next morning, alighting from the bus at the old port, we had a few hours to ourselves before knocking on the doors of a trattoria. The choice was between visiting the Aquarium of Genoa and a heritage walk ending at the site of Christopher Columbus’s childhood home. The heritage walk won.