4 hours nice train ride from Rome to La Spezia ! La Spezia is in the North-western part of Italy in Toscana Region near the sea. We planned to visit Cinque Terre , Ligura villages, Castello di Fosdinova and Pisa. It was very convenient way to keep in La Spezia and travelled around. Pisa is 1,5 hours far away from La Spezia by train.
We reached to the main square -Piazza Saint Bon in a short walking from the station. Old and historical buildings are very original and affective. You should walk throughout Via Fume to get La Spezia golf.
It is very cute to hang clothes out to dry on lines in Italy. I love clothesline in front of the windows . Hanging clothes out is typical and traditional in Italy. it is an old fashioned custom in Turkiye , too.We are using clothesline or clothes rack outside on sunny days.
Locanda del Golfo e delle Cinque Terre
We stayed " Locanda del Golfo" hotel in La Spezia, 10 or 15 minutes walk from the train station. There is no reception so we notified our arrival time, The owner of the hotel , Simone was waiting us at the door. The rooms are on the first floor of an old building. Simone welcomed us with the best quality espresso. The breakfast was offered at the cafe in the nearby square.The classical Italian breakfast was espresso , croissant or focaccia. Simone was very helpful and sincere. He expressed us where we could eat the best pizza or how could we go to Cinque Terre . He informed us markets of La Spezia and shopping , too.
La Spezia Pazarı/Farmer's Market in La Spezia
I loved local market in La Spezia. Every weekdays, a local market is established until noon in La Spezia. You can find there local products like olives, cheese, olive oil, and original vegetables . I was surprised when I saw that taking a photo was 5 euros in porcini mushroom stand.The seller, I learned his name, Iadarola Francesco had a humor for curious tourists. The prices are between 25 Euros and 35 Euros.
I met some special vegetables. Patate rosse is grown originally in Italy.It is a sweet potato.
Another sweet potato, I met in La Spezia local market, is Patate Dolci.
Cuore di bue, a special kind of tomato , is grown originaly in Liguria Region.It has heart shape and pretty pinky colour. Cuore di bue is served with olive oil,basil and mozzerella to make a delicious salad.
On Friday,We encountered the Bazaar in the Saint Bon square in which you can find souveniers, clothes, shoes , food, wood products etc.
Ohh,everyting is purple, I loved this attractive lavander stand and I found so many things like soaps, perfumes, door lavander baskets and dried bunches of lavander...
Malaspina Şatosu/ Castello Di fosdinovo/ Castle Malaspina

we went to the medieval castle of Fosdinovo near Sarzana which still belongs to the noble family , Malaspina.The castel was built in 1084 A.C. It was very surprising to learn that Dante Alighieri was hosted at the castel and his room has been protected.
What a lovely door handle! Dolphins are the symbol of the Malaspina family. Some legends are surrounding the castel even now.
Zehirlenerek ölen Marquis Ippolito 'nun karyolasının nefes aldığı ve kalp atışlarının duyulduğu söyleniyor. Ama ben duyamadım !
It is belived that the original bed of the Marquis Ippolito who died from drinking poison breathes and you can hear his heartbeats from the knobs of the bed .We tried to hear the heartbeats ,it was an exciting experience.Unfortunately I couldn't hear anything.
Another story was about a girl, Bianca who was loved by a young yeoman.But her family didn't accept their marriage. She was closed a tower with a dog and ate only bread and water. It was told that she and her dog are still moving room by room in the castle.We managed to see some images as a water stain on the ceilling which recognized Bianca and her dog.
Reading chair was designed in Medieval times. Please take attention the book support stand!
Unbelivable but true!Babies in Malaspina family was locking in this cage-crib to prevent kidnapping or killing at that times.
Cinque Terre
Our last day activity was a trip to a very attractive region,Cinque Terre that is formed by five villages,Riomaggiore, Corniglia, Manarola, Vernazza, Monterosso. We were surprised that there was no car road. We could reach the last village , Monterosso by train and then we took boat for other villages.
People have been living there for 1000 years.Bright coloured buildings of villages are very caracteristic. The magnificient scenery is impressive.
It is an old and stylish door I loved...
Cats are never scared of people and they look like not caring anything... So cute.
Residents of the villages get by fishing and tourism.
Ne Yedik? / What we ate?Roma'da yediğimiz sıradan ve lezzetsiz yiyeceklerin aksine burada değişik tatlar deneme şansımız oldu.Geleneksel olarak pişirilen yiyecekleri tercih etmekte fayda var.
We had chance to taste the old fashioned pizza and food in Liguria region . Pizza or sphagetti is not good everywhere in Italy. For example, in Rome, pizzas were very ordinary and not special. But in this region we found very special and traditional Italian dishes.
Farrina de Castano...
Turto de Verdura with zuccini...
Delicacy "Pesto olive"...
Pasta with olive oil and basil...
Traditionally, turta is baked with chestnut, apricot or cherry marmalade.
Sgabei(read ızgata) is a typical Ligurian treat filled with cheese and fried in olive oil.
Al Convento Ristorante in High Vezzano
We would like to catch the real Italian pizza so we are in Al Convento Ristorante in Vezzano Ligure.You can easily reach there by bus from La Spezia. Traditional Pizza cooking in wood oven has thick edge and thin crust with various toppings.
It was very difficult to decide for children what they would eat...
It is told that there are 500 different kind of pizza.Margherita pizza is one of my favourites. In 1889, in Naples , Queen Margherita was served a pizza looking like an Italian flag, red (tomato), white(mozzarella) and green (basil).After that The pizza created for Queen is still on behalf of Queen Margherita and named as "Pizza Margherita".
Old wood oven in Al Convento Ristorante...
Pisa/The Leaning Tower Of Pisa
Portovenere
At the end of our trip ,from Genoa , Christopher Columbus' city, we took off Turkish Airlines whose service forgot us all our tiredness .While I was flying on the Bosphorus, I thought, actually, everywhere in the world is unique and worth seeing.