La Spezia

La Spezia almost didn't happen today, as it was a mad dash to the train station. We gave ourselves an hour to get from our accommodations to the station, but it was barely enough time, as we hopped onto the train literally seconds before the door closed. A combination of missing the metro that only comes every 10 minutes, slippery new sandals, 40°C weather, and not knowing which platform we were supposed to be at, all contributed to the near disaster. I'm sure not too many people are surprised by this. 

However, we did make the train and we are in La Spezia, and it's been great so far. We are staying at a pretty modern B&B, which is only a 5 minute walk from the train station, and about the same distance away from the gulf. 

The city centre is made up of mainly pedestrian-only streets, that are lined with a combination of local shops and brand name stores, as well as a ton of interesting restaurants. 

We spent some time just walking through the streets, taking in some of the local culture and scenery. While there are still tourists here, it's not nearly the same as Paris. The people seem to be a bit more relaxed. 

For dinner we went to Come Te, a restaurant that came recommended from the owner of the B&B. It was a 3-course meal with about 5 options for each course. Everything was homemade here, right down to the pasta noodles. While I can't remember how to spell or pronounce exactly what we ate, Ashleigh started with a pasta dish with pesto, followed by a salad with beef carpaccio, and chocolate cake for dessert. I had a pasta dish with tomatoes and clams, stuffed anchovies, and a caramel creme dessert. We love eating at these genuine Italian restaurants. Everything is delicious and we certainly never go home feeling like we could eat more. 

The restaurant was uphill from where we are staying, so fortunately we were able to roll home. ;)

After the six hour train ride today, we are both pretty tired, and are therefore calling it an early night. Tomorrow we plan on visiting Cinque Terre, and checking out some of the La Spezia nightlife, which we hear is pretty good. 

Buon riposo!