This weekend some of my roommates and I took a trip to Genova in Northwest Italy. We spent 3 jam packed days there so I’ll only go through a few key highlights from my trip.
We arrived in Genoa at 6am and everything was still closed and the sun hadn’t risen yet. After a delicious breakfast at Caffè Fratelli Nadotti that included waffles and smoothies, we were able to check into our Airbnb early.
Genova Piazza Principe Station 
Waffle with Nutella
The first challenge we ran into was the language barrier with the Airbnb host. She spoke minimal English but luckily with our amateur Italian knowledge and her basic recognition of the English language, we were collectively able to communicate with her. There was definitely a shift as compared to Rome, where a large portion of the population speaks English. But I’m really glad that I was forced into the position to try to communicate in Italian and it helped me recognize that I should push myself more when I’m in Rome.
After settling in to the Airbnb, we took a tram that goes up the side of a hill. It was funny seeing the people that take this tram to get around on a regular basis or as part of their morning commute and we were just tourists taking a bunch of pictures.
Once we reached the top, we went on a walk. We had initially planned on only going up a little bit to admire the view, but ended up walking uphill for over an hour. Having been in Rome for a month now, a busy city, spending some time in nature was what I needed. My family spends a lot of time outdoors and I have definitely missed that time since being here.
Photo taken by Lydia Victor 
On our second day in Genova, we wandered by a vintage store and one of my roommates mentioned going in to check everything out. When we first went in we said hello and the owner asked if we were tourists. After saying yes she asked where we were from. We all replied “America”. And she responded excitedly, “oh, Bruce Springsteen!” And most of us being from New Jersey, replied with equal excitement. This was the kind of random, unplanned interaction that I know I’ll remember most when I get back.
Jellyfish 
Albino Python 
Lionfish 
Apart from going to several different museums in Genova, we also went to the Genova Aquarium. Which is actually one of the largest aquariums in Europe and is the 9th largest aquarium in the world. I grew up going to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden with my family so I was especially excited for this part of our trip. It was funny to see little kids saying “ciao!” to every fish that swam by. There was one kid who was screaming “Delfino! Delfino! Delfino!” (meaning dolphin). While I know this is common in the US as well, I was more aware of it because it was in Italian.
Here are a few more pictures that show some of what I did this past weekend.
Nearby Christopher Columbus’ house
Palazzo Bianco – we went through a museum that was here 
A Ferris wheel on the port that we rode on one night 
A random church we stopped at on the way to a museum 
Piazza De Ferrari
A Message from the Office of Global Engagement:
The safety and security of Drexel students is a priority for the University. As part of the efforts to support Drexel students that are studying abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Global Engagement has conducted a rigorous review of programming and provided additional support to participating students with customized pre-departure orientations and regular check-ins during the required self-isolation period and the term.
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