Genoa

Surprisingly arduous day on the bike today. Underestimated the hills north of Genoa and ended up taking the quieter country roads (SR). These took me to a max altitude of 850m, but it was the constant ascending and descending which made it feel like a long day. Pretty and quiet though.
The climate on this side of the Genovese mountains is in stark contrast to Milan. The wind is more noticible and it feels cooler. Once again battling to enter a major city by bike was a chore and not a pleasant endeavour.
However, once inside the city traffic becomes more diluted and I make my way to the old part of town. The narrow streets are charming, more than claustrophobic, but even here, cars and mopeds miraculously squeeze through and pedestrians must yield to their metal superiors.
My host Xavi welcomes me into his apartment and immediately gives me the keys, as he already had plans for the evening. Such trust at first glance, with help from the CouchSurfing  platform, still bowls me over. The evening is spent shopping for food and cooking, later taking with Xavi until near midnight.
I have planned to stay two nights with Xavi, which means that I go exploring Genoa the next day. For all the modern attractions at Porto Antico (old port) and pretty seafront boulevards, the charm of the narrow lanes and small shops in the old part of the city are what makes this city special.

It's difficult to know whether to admire this city warts and all, or just get hung up on its flaws. For every tacky attraction, there is an example of Italian architecture at its finest, for every street where cars trump all, there is a quaint tailor shop making jeans from scratch. On a discussion about the traffic rules in Italy, Xavi summed it best... "There may be nobody obeying traffic rules in some of Italy, but they stop before hurting anyone".  My repost was that in Germany it feels like some car drivers would hit you to make a point, if you neglected to observe any rule. Which system is better, I've so to decide, but I do now experience that what Xavi said was true and it makes me feel a whole lot safer here.