THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29
Since arriving in Genoa we wanted to climb to Castello d’Albertis, an unusual, small castle propped high on the hill hiding behind tall, thick trees like a temptress in the woods. And so we set out. Many stairs, a few winding narrow streets and lots of gasping for air and we arrived at what was once the home of Enrico Alberto d’Albertis, a sea captain and complete character. d’Albertis donated this castle, his home, to the city of Genoa after his death in 1932. In 2004, it was turned into a museum, Museo delle Culture del Mondo (or the museum of the world – a bold name!).
Our two-day museum passes had run their course so we planned to admire the castle/home’s exterior, look around the grounds and enjoy the panoramic view of the port and city below.
THE FABULOUS AND QUIRKY CASTELLO D’ALBERTIS
But we loved the quirkiness of this small castle, it’s strange turrets and balconies, alcoves and odd details, and decided to poke our heads inside. A woman at the front desk let us go in for free, either because she didn’t realize they’d expired, or because we were the only visitors in the entire museum, or simply because she was nice.
The crazy, intrepid man who lived here travelled the world collecting, or stealing, depending on how you look at it, and exploring. The museum’s curators cast his travels in a well-balanced tone of explorer/exploiter/colonialist without undercutting the wonders of his collection. To appropriately contextualize, the ground and first floors showed artifacts and art from different cultures – Hopi, Middle Eastern, Indian, Native America, Peruvian, etc. – in a contemporary exhibit that paid tribute to the diverse cultures and indigenous peoples.
It wasn’t just that the Captain collected a grand curiosity shop of relics but the design of the house was incredible– painted walls, wood carved banisters and ceilings, lanterns from Egypt and elsewhere, massive fireplaces, small solariums that looked out over Genoa, a terrace with the captain’s hero, Christopher Columbus, as a boy sculpted in marble, a room like a hookah lounge with deep colored walls, an abundance of cushions covered in tapestries and a multitude of rugs.
Chloe read out loud descriptions of details found in each room and parts of the Captain’s story. These missives came in the form of a prepared laminated “fact sheet” just outside each room.
SKYPE TO THE AGENCY FROM A RESTAURANT
Then down the hill we bounded to a restaurant for Chloe’s skype meeting. But Chloe couldn’t be heard over the chatter of customers, and when she walked for the computer camera, she couldn’t be seen. It was agreed she would send a video and some snaps. We rushed back to take them, dashed back to the restaurant with internet access and off they went. A bit stressful, but what a great day!
The Castello d’Albertis was (and would remain) one of our favorite museums in all of our travels.
