Genoa? Hardly.

Photographically, its tempting to look for a theme that seems the essence of a place. Genoa won't indulge that temptation. We visited an Edvard Munch exhibition while here and it seemed the perfect city to see it.

It is a complicated place. Port city, fading glory, gritty, slightly spooky and threatening. Kids and focaccia, high end retail and fabulous palazzo. A place to get lost in, but not too lost or too late. And if you do, chances are you'll pop out of a tiny alley into a bustling, Christmas lit piazza. But not every time.

There was a serial killer on the loose in Genoa while we were there. He fled while out visiting his sick mamma (only in Italy). I'm guessing they don't have a serial killer on the streets every week - but I'm betting that something is going down.