G is for...

Genoa.

*sigh*
Oh, how I love Italy!
Each visit has been different, each has left me with wonderful memories.
My first trip to Italy was when I went InterRailing with my dear friend J in the summer of 1989. We spent time in Florence and Rome, a night in Venice, Turin and Pisa and many, many hours in trains. We had such adventures (particularly at Roma Termini railway station!), such fun. It was the most magical part of our month-long holiday, the part I remember with the most fondness.
My next trip to Italy was in early June 1994, with my American friend D. He and I had spent the year working as English assistants and had become friends, and decided to travel to Italy for a week together. We went to Florence and Siena and Turin. We drank dessert wines and ate icecreams, we wandered around museums. It was lovely. Really.
Next, I convinced D (my ex, not American-D) that we should travel to Lake Como with the girls in the summer of 2008. It was amazing. So far, Lake Como is the most beautiful place I've ever been. It was stunning and perfect, a wonderful holiday.

And then, finally, last summer, I took the girls to beautiful, wonderful Genoa. So much to see and do, so interesting and varied, so dynamic yet laid-back. The perfect place for a holiday with two not-so-small girls. A magical place.
I wish I'd studied Italian rather than Spanish - I wanted to study Italian, but St Andrews didn't have an Italian department, so Spanish it was. I like Italy so much more than Spain...
And Genoa? I'd go back tomorrow. In fact, if my finances allow it, it's one of the possibilities for our summer holiday again this year. I know the girls would like to try somewhere new (maybe Lisbon?), but I think they'd be happy back in Genoa too.
I even like cheesy Italian pop songs! Like this one, or this one... Tell me you can listen to these and not have at least one of them in your head afterwards! And even though I don't speak Italian, it's close enough to French and Spanish to be understandable.
Bellissima Italia, ti amo !