I have just stepped out of the train, and from the first glance, Genoa seems amazing!

Well, its train station, at least. Hopefully, the rest of the city is just as beautiful.

I was being so amazed by how things look at this place, I didn't pay attention to exactly where I was stepping. As a result, I almost bumped into a few people.

"Hey, watch your step!" one of them exclaimed.

Soon enough, Giulia and I were out of the station, and on the street. Lots of people out there, I gotta admit. Lots of cars.

Lots of Vespas.

I looked to the other side of the street that was right in front of me, so I thought to myself that it was the only logical place to go. And I picked up my cases and started to head there. But then:

"Where are you going, Luca?" Giulia suddenly called out, so I stopped. "That way," she said, pointing left of her.

What she pointed at was a weird alley. I could see a few trees in that alley, though, so that trip wouldn't be so exhausting after all. And those were cherry trees, too. So we could pick a few of them up with no worries.

We waved to the few neighbours that we could see sitting in their backyards. And they waved back, thankfully.

"Come on, we gotta hurry," Giulia exclaimed, though. Clearly, she felt like we were dragging ourselves.

And she was probably worried that her mom would think something happened to her. And me.

Understandable.

So I did speed up a little.

It didn't even take that much.

"And here we are," Giulia proudly announced.

It turns out the house I'm staying at is only a 15-minute walk away from the train station. So, that's very convenient, I have to say.

We climbed up to the second floor, and Giulia stood in front of one of the doors, which said Marcovaldo. That's the place.

She knocked. After a few seconds:

"Who is it?"

"Me!" Giulia exclaimed very excitedly.

After the door being opened, I saw a middle-aged lady standing in front of me. That was clearly...

"Mom!" Giulia ran to hug her.

"Hello, Giulia; how are you doing? I haven't seen you in so long," were Mrs. Marcovaldo's very cuddly words.

"I had a great summer!" Giulia told her. "I'll tell you everything at dinner!"

"I can't wait for it," Mrs. Marcovaldo responded

Right after which - she saw me.

"And you must be Luca."

"That's me," I proudly said.

"I've heard so much about you," she continued. "I think you're gonna have a wonderful time in Genoa."

"I sure hope so," I responded. Why did I say that?! That's understood!

But anyway, I got inside the apartment with all my cases.

It's a very warm-looking house. The smell of spaghetti-bolognese was spread all across it. A few paintings are hung in the living room, and some laundry is being dried at the kitchen window. The other one, of course, not the one above the sink.

Mrs. Marcovaldo led me to another door in the living room, and the room behind it.

"Well, Luca, this is your bedroom," she told me.

It was quite something of a bedroom, too. The moment I sat on the bed, it was so cozy, I never wanted to get up from it.

But I couldn't enjoy it too long; I had to unpack all my clothes first, and get it tidily to the closet next to the bed.

It's not until after I did that that I noticed the view from the window. Straight to the sea. Where a lot of people and their children are currently having the time of their life, on a nearby beach.

Oh, yes... this is gonna be so amazing.

It is this - watching people on the beach - that I've spent most of the time since coming to this apartment doing. Almost until the sunset.

Someone knocked on my door. I was startled for a second.

"Hey, Luca, it's dinner time," Mrs. Marcovaldo spoke to me as she stood just outside the bedroom.

"Oh, okay, I'm coming," I immediately told her.

As I ate the spaghetti-bolognese that emitted the smell I spoke of, Giulia and her mom were talking about a plethora of stuff, from how the sea was in Portorosso, to how she finally won the Portorosso cup, to how her dad was doing, and so on. She even mentioned Alberto.

"That sounds wonderful," Mrs. Marcovaldo said at the end of that conversation, and then turned to me. "And how was your summer? As I understand, you and Giulia only just met a few months ago."

And I honestly didn't know how to start.

"Well, um..."

"Alright, I get it; you have so much to tell me. Take it easy; have plenty of time."

And then, she kind of changed the subject.

"Has Giulia told you about all the stuff that you could visit here?"

"Um... no, not yet..." Giulia said awkwardly.

"That's okay," Mrs. Marcovaldo responded, and then told me: "Well, for the start, you've probably seen the beach from your room."

"Yeah."

"In case that beach is too crowded, you always have the public pool just a little further down the road..." she kept explaining.

And I stopped eating.

And so did Giulia.

In a way that Mrs. Marcovaldo wouldn't notice, I turned my head to Giulia, silently, wondering if she'd told her mom what happens to me when I get in contact with water.

But from Giulia's reaction, I'll have to take it she hadn't.

I knew that Giulia's mom was in the middle of explaining, but I had to interrupt her:

"Uh, thanks... I'll check it all out," with a minimum smile on my face.

"Alright then," she said. "Oh, one more thing. One of you will have to help me throw away the papers from the balcony."

Papers? That just reminded me of the promise I made my mom.

"Um... actually, I could use those papers."

Dear mom,

I have finally arrived at Genoa. So far, it's amazing. I even got a view to the beach from my bedroom.

I had spaghetti-bolognese for dinner, and it was delicious.

Obviously, I need some time to catch up to the way of this city. But I think that'll be easy-peasy.

Hope you're doing well.

Love,
Luca

Immediately in my backpack did I put that letter, so I won't forget to send it on my way to school tomorrow.

Oh, right... school starts tomorrow.