[Nov. 2025] On our way back from Santa Margherita Ligure in Liguria, northern Italy, we stopped off at Genoa Nervi, a railway station on the way.
I knew the name of the town because it hosts a ballet gala every summer (though I looked it up and found that there’s no gala scheduled for this year).
Nervi is part of the city of Genoa, but it’s a resort-style town facing the sea.
It’s about 13 kilometers from the city centre.
We could see the seaside promenade from the train, so we decided to take a walk there first.
The waves crashing violently against the rocks really gave me a sense of the power of nature.
As I’d thought the day before, even though it was by the sea, there was no hint of a salty smell.
An old tower along the way made a great subject for photography.
The sun was barely visible, but it was a warm day, and I was sweating just walking.
The sea breeze was warm, too.
After walking here for a while, we saw an arrow pointing to the centre of town, so we headed in that direction.
We walked endlessly down the narrow streets beside the large park, Parchi di Nervi.
My husband later found out that ballet galas were held in this park.
We finally reached the street where there were shops in a row.
We continued along the town’s main street.
Here, too, the buildings were brightly coloured, with optical illusions here and there.
After researching, I learned that Liguria has limited land for building, so people couldn’t afford to add decorations, and so they painted them.
Also, in the 18th and 19th centuries, taxes were determined by the number of windows, which is apparently why there are so many fake windows.
Nowadays, they have become a distinctive feature of the area and also a tourist attraction.
We were getting tired from walking and hungry.
Let’s find a restaurant.
