Wednesday, June 3 – Genova

We picked up our host waiting outside the convent gate - Michela, a conductor. He gave us a tour of the Paganini Conservatory of Music. He was a wonderful, energetic, informative, and thoughtful guide! At the conservatory we moved up and down the many staircases, seeing the facilities and listening in on flute and piano lessons.

Piano lessons at the Paganini Conservatory of Music

We then returned to Gianni and went to Genova’s city center for a performance of a children’s opera. A great surprise addition to the itinerary! The opera, The Devil’s Hair, was written for the kids with the normal elements of any good fable like a poor, heroic, good protagonist, a stupid king, a quest, love, and comic relief. The children performing were incredibly professional. They were all from the same school and their performance had won a city-wide competition that won them the performance we saw (and others) in professional venues around the city.

The Devil's Hair

Next we walked to lunch, on the terrace at the Palazzo Ducale, with some Rotarians. A gallery owner gave us brochures of the exhibit he was opening that evening, and we dropped by and saw the paintings after lunch. The terrace has an amazingly unique, wide, low-rise staircase twisting up to it from ground level.

Another delicious meal with wonderful Rotary hosts.

Scooters, scooters everywhere...and this is where they park.

Kelli, Stephanie, and me by a Genova fountain.

We walked to the Canale TV studios on top of the tallest building in Genova for a tour in the afternoon. We met a news anchor (too bad we don’t know the Italian news!) and saw the panoramas from the top of the building as well.

Kelli fills in for news anchor Elisabetta Biancalani.

Jim and the city of Genova.

Ruth and Stephanie with our news studio tour guide.

Riding the elevator - our host, Ruth, and Me (with the Canale news on in the background)

Looking up in a mirrored elevator.

We had free time before dinner and went shopping briefly before returning to the hotel. Dinner was at the NH Plaza. There were two club meetings occurring, so we had to look up which we were being hosted by before choosing a meeting room. They asked if we would present, on only Iowa, after the main presentation of the evening, on legalities related to medicine.