There are dozens of hotels, each with its own segment of beach, confronting the new arrival. After quite a scouting expedition we chose the HOTEL SAVOIA, and were not disappointed. If is the only one whose dining salon fronts directly on the beach. Its café tables are spread out under an immense fig tree. This is a family hotel, casual, informal and gay. The food is of the best quality-standard Italian dishes and a worthy wine list. The nights are cool and you sleep to the lapping of waves. Alassio has several sea-food restaurants stretched along the shore. We had good luck in the NETTUNO, and later found out that its chef was once an Escoffier pupil in London. You should find Neptune's gifts on the table - sole, triglie, shrimp, and yes, go on and try it-octopus-handsomely prepared here.
ALBENGA
The traveler with a thirst for antiquity gets his first good break upon resuming the road to Genoa. Albenga, Alassio's venerable neighbor, merits a brief visit. Several of its medieval fortified rowers are still standing, grim and faintly tipsy. Its churches are intriguing, especially an ancient baptistery whose age can be guessed by the fact that it reposes ten feet below the present street level. beyond Albenga, the shore road loses some of its interest: Industrial towns. rapidly recovering from their war wounds, become prevalent. The Via Aurelia and the electrified railroad ceaselessly fight it out for priority along the shore. The highway usually wins, and the train is obliged to tunnel its way through the cliffs. Once in a while, but not too often, a courageous citizen manages to outwit them both and builds a villa directly on the sea.
GENOA
Too many travelers, we think, consider Genoa merely as a port to disembark and to escape from as quickly as possible. But there is an adventurous, a picturesque, a gastronomic side to Genoa which really shouldn't be ignored. Since its rise as a seaport many centuries ago, Genoa has faced a fantastic problem in urbanism, for its steep stone cliffs rise almost perpendicularly at the edge of the ancient city which Columbus called home. The enigma which San Francisco was able to solve by cable cars calls for more drastic steps in Genoa. Streets are tunneled under hills, funiculars function frantically and everywhere there are elevators cut in solid rock hoisting hill dwellers to their modern apartments. We urge the traveler with a sense of the good things in life to award a few days to Genoa, and be richly repaid. It is a prosperous city and has some handsome shops, particularly in the neighborhood of the Via Roma. It has a grandiose side, best exhibited on the Via Garibaldi which is choked with immense palaces of the great Genoese families, now utilized by banks, museums and colleges. Its picturesque side is most gratifying of all. The intricate web of tightly-packed streets which trickle down to the waterfront it fascinating, or else we are getting naive. In this neighborhood is the handsome cathedral of San Lorenzo and the house which belonged to Andrea Doria, the Genoese patriot whose name has become known to millions since it was bestowed upon the handsome new Italian liner. The remains of the house where Christopher Columbus spent his youth is only a short walk away.
If there is much to be ferreted out by the sight-seer, the prospect for the discriminating diner is every bit as good. Genoa has impressively good hotels, many of them clustered near the Piazza Acquaverde, which adjoins the bustling Principe railway station. Two of these are the luxurious COLOMBIA-EXCELSIOR and the SAVOIA-MAJESTIC, recently rebuilt on its lofty perch of stone with the added virtue of air conditioning. The best conventional meal we experienced in Genoa was at the HOTEL BRISTOL E PALAZZO, a landmark on the busy, arcaded Via XX Settembre. Our luncheon at the Bristol consisted of paper-thin slices of smoked salmon, consommé, boiled dentice with steamed potatoes, sautéed veal tenderloin with haricots verts, vanilla soufflé, fruit, coffee and a venerable armagnac, all impeccably prepared and served.
If you can hardly go wrong in Genoa's targe hotels, its many restaurants offer a few pitfalls, but, profiting from the advice of a few Genoese bons vivants, we spent considerable time on the subject, and submit four shrines of local gastronomy which merit enthusiastic study. Two are restaurants, and two are content with the modest appellation of trattoria.
RISTORANTE OLIVO - Piazza Raibetta: This animated establishment is just beyond the Sotta Ripa, a vibrant, colorful succession of arcaded waterfront buildings known to countless American sailors. Olivo looks small as you enter, but the vaulted rooms upstairs are extensive enough to hold a large daily quota of local gourmets. The menu, so majestic in scope that it takes considerable study, lists those famous local specialties and a full panorama of ail-Italian dishes. The service is competent and the head waiters have more than a smattering of French and English at their command. A good wine list and very fair prices help to make Olivo one of the most satisfactory experiences in Genoa.
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