Corso Europa is a major street in Genoa, and is home to my hotel and workplace for the next two weeks. The air is brisk in February, probably in the 40s, but the days have been clear and beautiful thus far. Most of the buildings I pass are apartments. People inside are waking up, drinking their cafe and hanging out laundry. I watch an older woman unclip a shirt from the clothesline on the balcony and wonder how often something drops into the deep ravine below. It’s a very hilly city, near the ocean, and buildings are perched all over the hills and cliffs. Streets wind up and down in a maze, there is no way I could navigate them without a guide, nothing is obvious.
I pass an office that hasn’t opened yet, that sells and designs modular stairs like these http://www.modularstairs.com/modulars.html. I love the way they look, it reminds me of living in Germany. I pass many parents walking their small children to school, usually 5 or 6 year olds, bundled up and waddling by as their hold their mother or fathers hand.
Before I left for Italy I watched a video podcast about walking in Italy, and it has proved to be most valuable. What you see in the short video is people walking through intersections and the cars pausing, but not stopping at the crosswalks. The lessons is that no one stops, and it is certainly true. It isn’t really dangerous, because both the cars (or mopeds) and the pedestrians know that neither will really come to a stop, but if you are at a crosswalk, and a car is coming, don’t stand there looking stupid in Italy. Get out there and walk! The exception is if there is a walk light at the crosswalk, but even then many people go across the street when the traffic is low even when the light is red.
There are not many stores on my way to work, a few gas stations and a bus stop that is normally empty. Next to the office is a moped dealer and a Jaguar dealer, quite the contrast! Both tiny offices with a few vehicles parked outside, nothing like the mega-dealers in Houston.
Walking to work, at least on a day with good weather, is one of the pleasures I think most people overlook. You are able to see the city as it wakes up, it is refreshing and uplifting, healthy and I like to gather my thoughts and think of my goals for the day. I hope the weather stays nice because I didn’t bring an umbrella!
