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Nightlife And Culture
On first impressions, life after dark looks sparse but a bit of time rooting around in the old town will turn up a good choice of convivial bars and small clubs, some of them with live music. The best source of information on nightlife is the local regular paper Il Secolo XIX ; in summer you can supplement this with Genova by Night, the tourist office’s free what’s-on guide. The student entrepot La Rosa Purpurea del Cairo also has information on music, theatre and cinema; it’s published monthly and is acquirable from bars and some Via Balbi bookshops in term-time.
There are plenty of bars along the seamy waterfront Via Gramsci, in between the strip joints and brothels, but more captivating places to drink can be found on the side roads off Via XX Settembre and around Piazza delle Erbe. Moretti on Via San Bernardo is a beery student dive; Le Corbusier , Via San Donato 36r, is consistently popular; Eprïe Rosse , Via Ravecca 54r, is a characterful wine-bar. The Britannia pub at Vico Casana 76r, off Piazza di Ferrari, has pints of Guinness and burgers and chips. The Louisiana club on Via San Sebastiano has live trad talking most nights from around 10pm, but you’ll find more happening joints tucked away in the southern part of the old town: the Quaalude , beneath the “Massari” signboard at Piazza Sarzano 14, is an underground club that features live bands and/or diversion parties on Fridays and Saturdays - ask around in local bars for the latest news.
Theatre and opera
The two main theatres in Genoa are the Teatro della Corte, Via E.F. Duca d’Aosta, and the Teatro Duse, Via Bacigalupo, who advertise their performances on the same hoardings around town and sell tickets to both venues (tel 010.534.2200, www.teatro-di-genova .it.net ). The Teatro Carlo Felice in Piazza de Ferrari (tel 010.589.329, www.carlofelice.it ), is Genoa’s main opera house ; its performances are often oversubscribed, but it’s still worth an enquiry. Chamber music concerts take place in some of Genoa’s palaces over summertime.
