In the early AM. another hotel guest plays Spanish guitar just outside my door. There are worse ways to wake up on a Sunday morning...

It's one of my favorite Renaissance works for its subject mater and intricate detail, and I never dreamed to see it outside of an art book. And yet, here I am,

It is said that Wagner, upon looking out onto the sea off the coast of La Spezia, was inspired to write the first stanza of Das Niebelung.

Built for the Genoa Expo 1992, the Genoa Aquarium houses 63 tanks in its 10,000 meter space, and is said to be the largest indoor aquarium in Europe.

A police car stops behind me, and an officer asks if I'm here to see the Lanterna, the “Cymbol of Genova.”

Arriving in Genoa, I depart the beautiful train station and walk through a downtown shopping core