GENOA - A TALE OF 2 VISITS

I first visited Genoa in 2001 as part of the demonstrations protesting against the policies of the G8 who were meeting in the city. Of particular concern was the increasing exploitation of developing world labour markets, unfair trade policies, increasing barriers to the movement of people and the use of war to maintain the control of the world's resources. I was there with the knowledge that 1/2 the population of the world lives on less than 2 dollars a day and I wanted the world leaders to acknowledge this and start implementing changes, fast.

But we were not welcomed to the summit. In fact Berlusconi went out of his way to disrupt the plans of anyone with an alternative viewpoint visiting the city. Trains, planes and coaches were stopped while the people of Genoa were warned of an invading rabble which was about to descend on their city.

Although locked out of the old city by a ring of steel, the demonstrations, which took place over two days, were huge, vibrant, noisy and uplifting. But the visit was overshadowed by the death of Carlo Giuliani who was shot dead by a carabiniere and the savage beating of a number of demonstrators still in their sleeping bags by a group of carabinieri who invaded the media centre in the middle of the night.

My personal memories of the one night staying in the reception centre (a car park on the seafront) is of the almost constant presence of a low flying helicopter and, with the knowledge of the beatings that had taken place, vain attempts to find a safer place to sleep. It was not a pleasent experience.

Arriving on the ferry from Barcelona in sunshine on a flat sea, Genoa seemed a different place than the siren filled one of my memories. Cycling from the port I let out a shriek of triumph as I saw that the memory of Carlo lives as his name featured in some of the first grafitti I spotted.

The old city of Genoa is a fascinating collection of small twisting alleyways and streets opening up into squares featuring astonishing architecture. And the whole place is so vibrant. Unlike the quiet Spanish towns we visited, Genoa is full of a cosmopolitan mixture of people.