Wintering in the Riviera: With Notes of Travel in Italy and France, and Practical Hints to Travellers
John Stuart Mill · en
After being two nights there, we left for Genoa. The day was fine, and
having a compartment to ourselves, we had full opportunity of looking
about and enjoying the scenery. The distance is about fifty–seven
miles, and as the train took nearly four hours to arrive quietly at
Genoa, we moved leisurely. I paced one of our bedrooms at the Hotel de
Gènes, and it seemed to be 27 feet long by 21 feet wide, and probably
it was 20 feet high. In the afternoon we drove out again to see the
Campo Santo, and found little change since last year. On the following
day we visited most of the places we had seen the previous year, and
some others, including some additional palaces already noticed. With
a little difficulty we made discovery of the Via Orifici (a narrow
street in the heart of the town, not far from the hotel), where the
filigree shops are, and made a few purchases. The shops are on both
sides of the street, and contain sometimes beautiful specimens of this
delicate work in silver and gold; perhaps the shop of Salvi exhibited
the largest collection of choice handiwork. In buying, it is well to
remember one is transacting in Italy. Genoa has a Galleria, but not
nearly so handsome as that at Milan, although equally suitable for
its purpose. Last year we had seen it in course of construction, but
it was now completed, and some of the best shops in Genoa were opened
in it. But at the time of our visit it was not fully occupied. At
night it was, as at Milan, crowded by the townspeople and visitors. A
long, wide, lofty arcade like this, covered over by a glass roof, and
brilliantly lighted up, is naturally an attraction, and something of
the kind in our large towns might induce a withdrawal of many from the
gin–palaces and drinking–shops, the glare and comfort of which seem to
be so great an inducement and temptation to certain classes. But, like
the Italian galleries, they require to be thoroughfares in good central
situations—not _cul–de–sacs_.
* * * * *
In the afternoon of the third day we left by train for Turin. A
few drops fell as we left, augmenting as we proceeded under inky
clouds to heavy rain. We obtained our last glimpse of our old friend
the Mediterranean just after leaving Genoa. The railway stations,
not improved by the rain, looked all so dirty—filthy, indeed. At
Alessandria, where we had an hour to wait, affording time to dine,
the whole platform was most disagreeable, from the abominable habit
(elsewhere alluded to) the Italians have of defiling every place, even
the floors of churches, so that it is not uncommon to see a notice up
in the churches requesting that it be not practised. However, good
service is done by the women, who trail their gowns over the floors,
and thus, with a thoughtful consideration for others and an unselfish
disregard for themselves, keep them cleaner than they would otherwise
be.