genova

The number one thing to do in Genova: leave.

Partially a joke, but actually quite true. The coastal Italian city is commonly used as a base to visit nearby infamous (and way more expensive) areas. Our first and only night in Genova was incredibly memorable nonetheless—and still one of the highlights of my trip.

Like many memorable experiences, the night started in a hostel common area and a game of cards, where we met two girls from Sweden and one guy from Germany.

Eager to do something outside of the stuffy hostel, we stepped out without a plan. That’s when I remembered a flyer for a mysterious local event sitting in my WhatsApp messages that had been sent to me by a Swiss girl at our hostel. We plugged in the address, shrugged at the 15-minute walk time, and began winding through the alleys of Genova. Soon enough we started seeing the physical posters all over the walls and hearing the distant beat of drums.

We walked into a structure of abandoned church ruins and were transported to a different world. A group of 7 to 12 musicians, of all ages and backgrounds, cycled in and out of a perpetual improvised jazz show; it was difficult to tell when a song completely ended and a new one began. The audience was just as much a part of it, moving their entire bodies with the music, some even occasionally accompanying the band with a mic or instrument. The energy was so alive it bounced off the walls and lingered on us during our walk back.

That night we said bye to the friends we made in the common area, but had been introduced to Johanna at the jazz show, a girl from Germany whom we’d spend time with during the next days in Cinque Terre and Portofino. And possibly be reunited with when we made it around to Berlin…

I don’t have much to say about our day trips to other spots in Liguria except that they were stunning. We spent our time sunbathing, collecting sea glass in hidden bays, and catching up on our books.

+cinque terre photos

+portofino photos

& a random connection (that probably only matters to me)

As is customary whenever I encounter someone from Sweden, I ask them whether they know of certain Swedish music artists I’m fond of. Usually, the effort is futile, but this time one of the girls was only a few degrees separated from one of them. Apparently, her half-sister’s half-brother is Gud, who just recently produced an album with Yung Lean under the name Död Mark—which had been part of my offline music collection for my flight.

It’s been a while!

I fell off with staying on top of my posts, as I kind of predicted I would, because of the simple paradox of having more experiences to write about if I didn’t use my time to write about them. I got home from my Europe trip on November 20th, traveling for roughly two months. But because I wanted this newsletter to be a record of my experiences for my own sake, I’ll be reminiscing over the next month or so as I complete the rest of my posts.

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