Port Identification

[Tee]

Hello everyone,

I've joined the forum to try and piece together a bit of a jigsaw. My Dad was in the Merchant Navy as a young man and apparently worked on a few ships as a JOS, and OS in the mid 50's. I think he may have worked on the*ships Lunan and Captain Cook, taking assisted immigrants to New Zealand. I've done some basic research into this using the National Archives.*

I have a photograph, presumably taken at a port somewhere and I am trying to identify the location as it has been bugging me for a long time! So would be really grateful if anyone can help. A few* people have suggested Genoa...and a few suggested coming on here and seeing if anyone can help!

Very grateful to anyone who can confirm Genoa or has other ideas!

Thanks very much
Tee

[Hawkey01]

Tee,

Firstly - welcome to SH.

I cannot help with your identity problem but that is a nice old fashioned Chianti bottle the
fellow is holding.

Neville

[Tony Selman]

My first reaction was Genoa or Naples. As there is a bottle of Chianti in hand and both Genoa and Chianti are from Northern Italy this seems a fair bet. If it was Naples it would be more likely to be one of their very strong reds in a different shaped bottle.

[Malcolm G]

Overhead cables - tram or trolleybus?
No tracks visible so trolleybus
Genoa has trolleybus, Naples has tram.

I think that the building on the left is now the Holiday Inn on the Via Antonio Cantore.

Not forgetting, welcome aboard, stick around, plenty to see here.

[Tee]

Hello there, many thanks for your responses, yes the wine does look rather good (I forgot to mention originally that it is a potential clue!)

I think I shall have to head to Northern Italy (when safe to do so) and do some investigating, try and find the same spot. I have been studying the buildings and hill behind too and it does look very similar to Genoa. Hopefully I can get over there in the future, at some point!

[Varley]

M-L. Masterly! (the 'hilliness' of Naples seems distant from the port whereas that of Genoa seems virtually on the foothills)

[Makko]

My first thought was Naples. I was thinking Via Cesare Console, looking back toward the castle on the hilltop. But, the buildings cramming the hillside don't match. Also, if it were that point in Naples, the Royal Palace should be visible.

I have to agree, it is probably Genoa although I don't know it well enough (plus all the building in the interim) to guess a precise location.

As an aside, the last time that I was in Genoa was just over a year ago. I was visiting my colleagues there (Via Roma) and I was told to park in the Pica Pietra car park - Literally the "Flintstone" car park (Picapiedra = Flintstones in Mexico)!!

Rgds.
Dave

[Malcolm G]

Genoa - Courtesy of Google:

Via Milano from Junction of Via Antonio Cantore looking North East.

[Makko]

Well done, Malcolm! I was wary of the elevated expressway to the right which could have "distorted" the view! Strange city, Genoa. I was also there in 1992, five hundred years after the arrival of Columbus to the Americas.

Rgds.
Dave.

[Tee]

Wow! Thanks everyone and to you Malcolm for the searching, I have had some dodgy google street view searches and ended up in all sorts of bizarre streets! But this really does look like the background view and the building too, shame the trolleybus or tram seems to have been replaced by a big old road! But I guess it wasn't going to look exactly the same all these years later.

[Malcolm G]

Happy to help, it did help that I had a good idea where to look.
Genoa still has trolley busses and are actually spending big money on updating the network using battery power - a sort of non trolley bus!
There are parts where the trolley wires are almost level with the newer raised carriageway - definitely looks dodgy, but that is Italy.

[Tee]

Oh that's good to know, I've been to a few places in Italy but never that part of the country, will get a visit to Genoa one day

[Makko]

Well done, Malcolm. Tee, Genoa is an odd place but a very interesting place to visit. My colleagues there started out as cargo claims inspectors in the late 1700's and are still a family run company. Quite admirable. I got the chance to visit them because I was accompanying my daughter to settle in to Padua, where she has now entered her second year of a Psychology degree.

I have travelled extensively through Italy and, if you get the chance, would HIGHLY recommend Sicily. It is incredible!

Best Rgds.
Dave

[Tee]

Hi Makko, that company must have such an interesting history, wonderful to hear they are still going.

Oh would love to see Sicily too, always hear good things about there. I was in Venice just last year and visited Rome a really long time ago, but do want to explore more of the country, one day

[Malcolm G]

Yes, Sicily definitely worth a visit, almost a different country, some Sicilians claim it is a different country and still blame Garibaldi for the take over.
An aside - I enjoy watching the TV series, based on the books, 'Commissiare Montalbano' - a semi comedic take on Sicilian Police and life in general.
The actor who plays the Inspector is from Rome and has to work on the accent. His girlfriend in the story comes from Genoa - all bases covered.

[Varley]

I don't think I sailed there but I have visited ships there a couple of times. They stop at pedestrian crossings! and otherwise drive non-maniacally which having visited other Italian ports was surprising. And I like Montalbano as well. Good Telly in this entertainment drought.

[Makko]

We had a lot of fun on the south coast and centre visiting Mantalbano's hang-outs/backgrounds.

Sicily is wonderful:

What we did was rent a car - I had booked a VW Tiguan SUV but got an upgrade to an Alfa Romeo Giulia! That was me made up for the whole trip.

We booked a room in Balestrate first, just outside Palermo, as our first base. We were two weeks there. The town is ALIVE! what a wonderful experience. To my shame, wherever we went, locals would come up to examine the car and ask me whether it was all it was claimed to be! We then went to a penthouse apartment (but no lift!) in Piazza Armerina (a beautiful city in it's own right) for two weeks to explore the south and east. There were two HUGE suprises nearby, Villa Romana Casale and Morgantina (originally a Greek city that was founded about 4,000 years ago!). We ended with a few days in Rome and visiting a very good friend in Florence (Scandicci). He lives in the tower of a castle built for, but never inhabited by, the Medici's. The castle has its own consecrated chapel which will only hold about 25 people - My dream is for my daughters to get married (again) there and have a wild luncheon in the gardens - Maybe one day!

I am seriously considering buying a property in Sicily for my retirement! Great times and memories there, when can we go back?

Best Rgds.
Dave