La Spezia is the large port city and rail hub to the south of Cinque Terra. We hadn't paid attention to it while planning our trip. We should have. If we were to return, we might stay a night or two in one of the five villages, but we'd use La Spezia as our base.
Linny and I like active ports and their cities. We seek them out. So despite having really only researched Cinque Terra, we expected La Spezia to deliver its portiness in spades—or, in fact, Carrera Marble. This port has a rich history as one of Liguria's major cities and as major headquarters for the Italian navy. La Spezia’s industries include iron production, shipbuilding, oil refining, It's an import center for coal and oil. Then there's some tourism. That would be us. If we went back, we'd show up when the musuem is open. It's highly recommended. It might be neat to get there by boat.
Our impression on seeing when we got there by train from Rome was of a tidy large city. It's actually not large at all—maybe 125,000. However, it not only serves the navy, it serves the Ligurian coast and the region. But we were surprised at it's population.
It's neither a fancy nor pretentious city, but its history is deep and rich. There are good restaurants, a noticeable lack of touristy kitsch, interesting museums to explore, gardens to walk, and prime views of sea and mountains. Prices are noticeably lower for lodging. And the rail links make Cinque Terra, Genoa, and Firenze (Florence) easy outings.
The gardens by the sea attracted us immediately. It's semi-tropical when it's not Mediterranean. It makes for interesting plants. The park was well laid out and there were some very well established specimens of plants I'd only heard of. Linny had great joy with it, and for no reason we could find, we had almost to ourselves.
It didn't get the attentnion it deserves, and it's unlikely we'll get back for another try. But nice try on a day trip. We know what we missed.
