La Spezia

 Saturday, October 11

LA SPEZIA

7.46 am.

We are going to the harbour.

Out of the gate, you will see this view.

Directly opposite our accommodation. 

We turn left from our place.

The walking app is really wonderful.

Truly, it has made our trip ...

so easy and ...

effortless.

How do tourists cope before this miracle device?

124 greets us here.

Decode : 21   4

 

So something funny happened here.

 

At all material times, 

 

Bryan was walking ahead of me, 

 

following the app directions.

 

I was following behind him,

 

taking photos left and right,

 

and walking at a slower pace.

 

Then, as Bryan was walking on this path,

 

as shown in the photo above,

 

he was happily strolling on that road 

 

(meant for cars and not pedestrians).

 

It was early. 

 

Before 8 am.

 

Italians only start functioning after 10 am,

 

as one of our AirBnB Owners indicated.

 

Haha.

 

So he was strolling on the main (car) road,

 

when a car appeared behind him. 

 

The car moved slowly behind ... 

 

slowly and quietly. 

 

Bryan was not aware there 

 

was a car on the road 

 

just right behind him. 

 

The car driver seemed nice. 

 

He followed Bryan patiently, 

 

without honking him out of the way.

 

I was busy taking photos 

 

here and there, 

 

and was not immediately 

 

aware at first.

 

Then, I saw ...

 

the car inching its way quietly 

 

behind Bryan.

 

I gave a shout.

 

"There's a car behind you."

 

Bryan got startled, 

 

he had been so engrossed 

 

trying to follow the app.

 

He turned back abruptly, 

 

jumped out of the way,

 

 giving the driver an apologetic smile 

 

and a "I'm sorry" hand-gesture.  

 

As soon as Bryan moved out 

 

of the driver's way, 

 

we saw the car turning left 

 

into a parking space 

 

just a few feet in front of us. 

 

I waited till I could see the ...

number plate. (7.56 am)

 

A big smile appeared on my face.

 

I should have known.

 

44

 

Why, that a clear morning greeting 

 

all the way from heaven.

 

"Son says, Hi Dad," 

 

I said with a laugh. 

 

Need more evidence?

 

See the time the photo was taken.

 

(snapshot of my photo gallery)

 

7.65 am.

 

18

 

Decode : 14  4

 

The movie : I Am Number 4.

 

Beach scene at the start 

 

of the movie, 

 

you will hear someone calling, 

 

"Daniel, Daniel."

 

I respectfully rest my case. 

It was a happy morning indeed.

We walk on.

The air is cool.

Like Genting's weather.

Even this he wants to take.

The little town of ...

La Spezia ...

is all ...

quiet.

Not a stir ...

nor a moving car ...

on the road.

Italians wake up ...

at 10 am. 

Ah. A handful of cars ...

are starting to appear.

A nice ...

park area.

Palm trees ...

in the ...

background.

Wahhh! 

We reach the harbour.

Coconut trees. Not palm trees.

We have ...

never seen ...

so many yacths ...

and boats ...

in one place before, until now.

That's the famous bridge ...

(must he stand in front of the motorcycles?)

of La Spezia ...

called the ...

Thaon di Revel Bridge.

This is ...

pedestrian bridge ...

that connects ...

the city ...

to the ...

port area ...

(Porto Mirabello marina).

This beautiful bridge ...

was opened ...

to the ...

public ...

in 2013.

This bridge in La Spezia ...

is well-known ...

for its ...

sleek ...

and modern ...

architecture ...

as well as ...

its ...

panaromic ...

views.

Take a look ...

at the sailing boats ...

all nicely ...

parked and ...

bobbing gently ...

in the waters ...

of the ...

shipyard.

The bridge is striking ...

and you can see that ...

it features ...

a design ...

that resembles ...

the framework ...

of a very large ...

sailing ship.

It takes the name of ...

Admiral Paolo Emilio Thaon di Revel, ...

an important figure ...

in Italy's ...

naval history, ...

making it ...

a symbol of ...

La Spezia's ...

deep connection ...

to the ...

sea.

The morning sun.

Here are some ...

colourful ...

fishing boats.

The bridge is well-lit at night ...

 

creating a romantic and tranquil 

 

atmosphere for evening strolls.

This is ...

the surrounding ...

area.

We spot some ...

luxury yachts ...

over on this deck.

Bryan said that ...

luxury super yachts can cost ...

as high as USD200 million!

Sure or not ...  

I googled to check.

It's true.

Smaller yachts under 50 feet ...

are about USD2.5 million.

Looks like there are many wealthy people ...

in Italy.

Ooh. We spot a ...

cruise liner.

Passengers are embarking.

La Spezia apparently is the ...

world capital of ...

yachting.

An emotion called the sea.

Which reminded me of Rose in Titanic.

 

"A woman's heart is an ocean of secrets."

We are heading back ...

to the ...

apartment.

The town is ...

still looking ...

a bit deserted.

Cafes serving breakfast are open.

This handbag shop is open ...

but the rest ...

remain closed.

Orange suit in Dan John. Haha.

This is ...

the town ...

of ...

La Spezia.

Funny how ...

we are ...

able to ...

walk from ...

one place ...

to ...

another ...

but we would ...

never dream ...

of stepping ...

out of our homes ...

back in KL ...

even if it's just ...

to go ...

round the corner.

The buildings here ...

are just so ...

solid looking.

Nice apartments here.

This seems to be ...

the morning ...

dry-market ...

area.

See their wide ...

solid bricks.

Some tables are in the open ...

and some in covers (from pigeons).

We finally see our landmark ...

this pretty in pink building.

 

Our apartment is nearby from here.

 

It's 9.25 am.

 

Just nice.

 

We have to check out before 10 am.

 

We cross over and see a pink bike in this shop.

 

After checking out, 

 

we made our way to the train station.

 

At leisure pace. 

 

No hurry, Bryan says.

 

Plenty of time.

 

We are going to Rome next. 

10.02 am. 

Bryan buys his favourite baguette ...

with ham and cheese.

It is 10.05 am at this point.

Our second round of food at 12 pm. 

4 ... Nice.

2375


17


8


44



See the time :



11.48.22


21.21.84


21.21.21


Very nice.

We are charging our phones ...

... whilst waiting for the train.

At the time of blogging, 

 

I just noticed that this photo of Bryan 

 

(the incident with Car #44) 

 

was taken at 7.57 am.

 

Decode : 19

 

8

 

44 

Always nice.

Train line for Cinque Terre and La Spezia.

Arrive at Roma Termini

At 5.05 pm.

Taking Metro underground

to our accommodation

at Furio Camillo.

About 6 stops away.

The larger layout.

Stepping out of the train station in Rome,

 this is our immediate view. 

KFC right in front.

The view on the left of KFC.

We come out from here.

The lift.

Takes us about 10 minutes

 to walk to the apartment.

The owners, are waiting for us

at the door of Barocci Home.

How sweet of them.

They show us our room.

We are blown away by our beautiful room. 

This apartment is absolutely gorgeous!

Newly renovated 2 months ago.

Everything is brand new. The kitchen is so cute.

Andrea and Ilaria.

They are so nice and friendly.

So very helpful too.

Andrea did all the renovation works 

on his own. He is from

 construction background.

Gosh. His workmanship

is truly out of this world.

Ilaria helped in all the

interior decorating.

So tastefully done. 

The apartment is truly super amazing!

All the furnishings are newly installed.

The floorboards are beautiful. 

The walls, the curtains, 

the security door-locks etc.

Everything was just so

high-tech.

We feel like we are probably the first ...

 to use these fresh, fluffy, white towels.

The wall closet is sleek and has ...

sufficient space to store two small suitcases. 

I am mesmerized by the beautiful kitchen theme.

Everything is just so ...

... seamless and so perfect!

We absolutely love the white French doors. 

That's our room on the left,

after you enter the glass paneled door.

This leads to the living room.

See above photo of the oval wooden dining table.

(7.04 pm)    We went out for a bit

 to get dinner.

We were introduced

to this pizza place by Ilaira,

which was just around ... 

the corner.

Pizza with roasted pork

and cheese.

Ooh.

By the way ...

... check out ...

... bathroom. 

Absolutely divine. 

Brand new everything.

Totally awesome.

I can't believe I found

this place. 

Our accommodation for

this whole trip has been

super fantastic. 

This one truly takes the prize!

Souvenir from La Spezia.