La Spezia in January - La Spezia

By 8.30 we're in the car and by 10.30 we have gone through a few banks of fog along the Po plain and some spitting unpleasant rain mixed with nearly sleet on the way up to the highest point of the Parma - La Spezia motorway which avoids the Cisa Pass, and are heading down with some weak sunshine and decidedly nicer temperatures towards La Spezia, our destination for a week in January.

This destination was somewhat by exclusion more than by specific choice. We didn't want to fly this time and after discarding Siena due to the chilly temperatures, one coast or the other of Liguria seemed the best choice. In the end, La Spezia won because it was 2 hours less drive than the other short list option, Ventimiglia. We will see.

Our apartment is an Airbnb Andrea tracked down on Facebook too but with a discount. It's ok, a new kitchen and newish bathroom and furniture, a quiet area with parking but right in the centre. Nothing spectacular but our host is most helpful and it is convenient for the station, supermarkets and centre.

After lunch that I'd prepared the previous day and just needed heating up we head out to explore. The sun which had warmed us during lunch in the still chilly apartment disappears behind cloud so our first impressions of La Spezia on a not very bright Sunday lunchtime in January are a little subdued. We head straight down Corso Cavour which is lined on both sides with orange trees, past the Municipal Market area, empty and a little dismal and onto the gardens and waterfront right by the enormous statue to commemorate Garibaldi. We walk across the modern Thaon de Revel bridge but a really cold wind has sprung up and we are not the only ones to wish for a warmer scarf and possibly a woolly hat.

A pity, because this seems to be the area of small fishing boats and looks interesting but the wind blows away all thoughts of a walk along the palm lined sea front and we scurry back to the shelter of the historical centre. Much of this area of La Spezia was destroyed by bombing during the Second World War, so amongst elegant Liberty style buildings there are quite a lot of quite ugly replacements which filled in the gaps after the bombing. We look into a church which was rebuilt too, Santa Maria Assunta, austere and uninspiring. La Spezia also has its fair share of graffiti but is extremely short on something we like very much, historic or at least interesting cafés for coffee. Zero. We give up the search and choose the least grotty looking bar of the next few where we drink a spectacularly bad cappuccino of gravelly coffee and cooler than lukewarm milk at a pretend marble table the broken bits of which have been stuck back on wonky with some sort of paste. Oh well.

We head up one of the famous Scalinate towards the Castle, it's a bit weedy, a bit neglected. We don't go into the castle because that requires a 5.50€ ticket each, so we don't get to see the view either. Back down we head along Via del Prione, a few shops are opening. We have a look into another black and white horizontal striped church but this time are pleasantly surprised. Santuario Madonna della Neve was finished in 1901 but the red Verona marble has been echoed in the reddish colour of the walls and together with some nice frescoes higher up the walls, some extremely skilled lighting of the columns high up in between and the blue star effect on part of the ceiling the interior is really very atmospheric and pleasant.

We come out finally a little warmed in all senses and carry on to the rather pretty Piazza Brin with its unusual fountain sculpture, where there are also some fine old decorated buildings and a surprisingly ugly church which looks like it has been covered in whipped concrete: Chiesa Nostra Signora de la Salute is nicer in than out for some pleasant ceiling frescoes.

Our last stop is at a very good Coop just five minutes from the apartment, we get a few things then head back as it's getting dark.