La Spezia, Italy
April 15th — April 15th
La Spezia was a halfway house.
Genoa surprised us in so many ways. It started out as merely a place to rest our heads but soon became a place that we weren’t quite ready to leave. The train arrived at 2 pm. Knowing what we had planned next was enough to keep our spirits high.
We arrived at La Spezia Centrale at 17:55. Although it was getting late and the sun was making its descent, it was still hot. No clouds. No wind. Perfect.
Alex, our Airbnb host, was waiting for us. He kindly arranged to collect us from the station and take us directly to our room. On entering the room we both quickly remembered why we were, at one point, excited about stopping here. The private bathroom. The room had its own private bathroom. With shower. The other places we’d stayed had bathrooms. Of course, they did. But when it’s private and you don’t have to rush, makes a world of difference! We waited for Alex to leave and both had long hot showers. Bliss.
By the time we’d showered and changed, the sun had disappeared and been replaced with the moon. We headed out. We had no idea where we were heading, but that’s part of the adventure.
There seemed to be one constant in La Spezia. On the corner of every street. Wherever there was space. There was a statue of Garibaldi. An Italian general, politican and nationalist who played a key role in Italy’s history. It felt as if we were following him. As if he were the breadcrumbs out of Hansel and Gretel, leading us to our destination.
We eventually reached Porto Mirabello, a super-yacht harbour offering breathtaking views. It was beautiful. I only wish we had seen it a few hours before when the sun was still high in the sky. We walked across Ponte Thaon di Revel bridge and stood for a minute. Silent. Appreciating where we were.
The silence was disturbed by our grumbling bellies so we made our way back towards the streets in search for pizza.
I couldn’t say where we ended up but the food was delicious. Homemade. Thin crust. Fresh ingredients. I could eat it again!
Full and tired we headed back to our room. We had to be up early as the train to our next destination departed at 05:30 am.
As soon as our heads hit the pillow we were out. Dreaming of Riomaggiore and the colourful buildings that were waiting for us.
La Spezia is the third story from our 2014 Holiday. We also visited Nice, Genoa, Riomaggiore, Pisa & Rome.
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