Day 121-122-Genova, Italy

I remembered it was exactly a year ago, on my mum's birthday that I bought the Rolla Dolls. Today, Mum turns 70 years old and I am 2 hours away from her birthday dinner. If my dolls have birthdays, then I guess it is theirs too. So to celebrate in true royal style, the Rollas went on a holiday to meet the real Rollas.

The picture on top was the very 1st glimpse of Italy they had. It was from a train window at Milano Centrale where we took the Eurail from Milan to Genova. We had headed there straight from the Milan Malpensa Airport and it was around 9-10am. It was drizzling and the weather was to be wet everyday that we were in Italy. You won't believe it but I love the Italian drizzle. Soft and tender, they are like Evian from a spritzer. Totally refreshing.

Rosanna met us at the train station at Port Principe and we went straight to her home. Let me tell you a secret, Rosanna lives in a dollhouse too! I love her home. It was warm, cosy and very sweet!

I went into the bedroom to put my bags down and true to the legendary Rolla's hospitality, I found these packages on the bed, so beautifully wrapped I didn't want to open them at all.

So many wonderful gifts which I will share later but this one (which I reluctantly unwrapped that evening just before dinner) was the lucky blog candy dip that Rosanna organised and to top it all, she made a miniature version of the apron!

The 2 days with Rosanna went by too quickly in beautiful Genova. Although we took a grand total of about 2000 pictures of this trip, I won't torture you with them. Here are my top picks to show off the Genova I have come to love:

The Alleyways,
Via Garibaldi
(17th Feb 2010)

Painted ceiling of an apartment block

Frescoes and gilded ceiling of a church

The Fishing Village
(18th Feb 2010)

The Quaint Houses
A small hilltop bungalow with a faux drawbridge

To save on taxes (which are based on the number of windows), this house has trompe l'oeil windows. The closed ones are all fakes.

The Market


The SeaportMarG, me and Rosanna walking toward a lunch spot

Lunch, courtesy of Roberta

The Mystery
This century old chocolate shop is in some dark and danky back alley with no signboard. They however sell the best chocolates in Genova. The little pots on the shelves were made entirely of chocolate for the carnivale. Adults puts sweets and candies in these pots for their children to find on the last day of the carnivale.

The Best Meal In Europe
Home Cooked Genoese Dinner



Starters: **panissa fritta e sacripantina (fried chick peas in flour) , Anchovies in oil, salami, bread
1st Course: **pasta al pesto 2nd Course: Artichoke Pie
3rd Course: pollo alla cacciatora -chicken stew in tomato sauce
Dessert: Sacripantina made with finger biscuits, butter, sugar, eggs and marsala (a christmas specialty)

Dishes are all lovingly cooked by Rosanna (except maybe the bread) and those with asterisks are my favourites. Seriously, I don't know how she keeps her petite size. We have the pesto pasta and artichoke pie for breakfast the next morning. I think I will have the same pesto pasta again this July.
H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S!

Most Memorably,
The Friendships

The Last Look
While waiting for the bus to bring us to the train station away from Genova and toward Venice, this is the view I see from the bus stop. Rosanna's La Casa Rossa, the life size house she is modeling her next dollhouse after.

Ciao Bella!
Me and Rosanna chatting every chance we have