This Is Not How I Had This Planned

I'm having a devil of a time with the Italian calendar.  Unlike in the US, the Italian calendar starts on Mondays, not Sundays.  So Thursday, when I was in a rush, I glanced at my Google calendar, saw an appointment on the 5th day of the week and off we went...a day early.  This wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't the second time in 3 days that I've done this.  Ollie is not pleased with me.  He is about to have one, or possibly two root canals and all he wants is to get it over with.   Thus, he was particularly displeased when we got all the way to the dentist's office before I realized I had erred once again.

After we returned home, my daughter Jessica, who's here visiting from California, and I decided to go to the Museo d'Arte Orientale Edoardo Chiossone.  This is an exceptional exhibit of primarily Japanese arts housed in the Villetta di Negro above Piazza Corvetto.  Edoardo Chiossone was employed by the Japanese government in 1875 to set up and manage the engraving section responsible for printing Japanese currency.  During his 23 years of residency in Japan, he collected a stunning collection of various art forms from Japan and Thailand which he bequeathed to the city of Genova.   I love Oriental art, especially kimono and porcelain,  so I was very excited to see this exhibit.  Of course, the museum was closed when we got there. This fit in perfectly with the way this week has been going.

Instead we decided to check out the lovely park that surrounds the museum.  

Looking down at Piazza Corvetto

At one time the park was a small zoo.  Remnants of those buildings are still in use, although there are no longer any animals here.
 

The park is also the home of the Gardens and Forests Service of the city

Grottos were built into an ancient city wall.

A view of the city elevator at Spianata Castelletto.

None of the original villetta is still here.  It was destroyed by English bombing during WWII.  Too bad they missed this.

Wildlife...in the city!

After spending a lovely afternoon wandering around the park, we decided to head for home via one of Genova's funiculare.  This required walking through one of the galleria or tunnels that cut through the city.  The first is the Galleria Nino Bixio.  

It is guarded by two very impressive sentinels.

Art Nouveau, called Liberty Style in Italy, and Art Deco statuary is very common in the newer sections of town.  These two have been here since 1925.

It is moments like these that I remember how fatalistic Italians are.  This tunnel is commonly used by pedestrians.  Note the narrow sidewalk.  Note the lack of any kind of barrier between pedestrians and rampaging Italian drivers.  A little speed walking was definitely in order.

A sense of self preservation convinced me not to walk through the twin tunnel Galleria Giuseppe Garibaldi, but to take advantage of the Funicolare Sant'Anna.

A great way to travel.  Note there is only one track.  The uphill car and the downhill car are synchronized to run at the same time.  Midway up the hill about 25 feet of the track is doubled allowing the two cars to pass each other.

Today is another day, and we're heading off to the dentist...again.  I have an inkling something will intrude in Ollie's dental plans again, but perhaps we'll get to see the museum.