Cinque Terre has done its best to live up to all our expectations.  The town we’re staying in, Monterrosso al Mare, has all the the tourist guides promise — towering cliffs, blue-green waters, colorful buildings, copious walking paths.  It’s not Monterosso’s fault that we’ve been forced into being preoccupied with a less happy focus — how to reclaim Lanie’s lost luggage.

On the plus side, the airline knew where the luggage was, and had a plan to have a courier bring it back to us.  Unfortunately, this was complicated by the fact that Cinque Terre does not allow cars, so our lodging is only accessible on foot.  So, there was a great deal of uncertainty around (a) when the luggage would arrive, and (b) where it would be driven to.  Having arrived by train, we weren’t even sure where the nearest car-accessible area was.

This uncertainty hampered our plans somewhat.  We were planning to walk down the cliffside path to the next village, Verrnaza.  But we quickly came to a checkpoint where we were informed that we would need to pay 15 euro each to continue.  Normally this would be no

problem, but we were afraid that we might need to turn around at any moment if the courier called, and might end up needing to hang around Monterosso for the afternoon.  So we bailed out on the plan and decided to save it for the next day.  (This would later prove to have been the wrong decision.)

Instead we wandered around Monterosso a bit — Cinque Terre is wonderful for wandering, with its colorful houses, old stone bridges, and picturesque stairways — and did a little shopping,  Eventually we ended up following a path up into a lemon grove.  This proved to be a delightful walk along a river with frequent waterfalls, lemon trees overarching the path from the hillsides above.  Eventually the path led way, way up the steep hillside, and eventually we got some nice views of Monterosso and the sea in the distance.  We were hoping the path would lead back down — and possibly it did somehow — but we hit a fence and a gated road and decided to avoid a potential trespassing situation.

After seeing all those lemons and working up quite a thirst, we had to return to the fresh lemonade stand that we’d passed in town.  Delicious!  They really know how to do food and drink here, even at the tourist trap places.

Monterosso in the distance

Throughout this time, we’d been checking approximately every 5 minutes for word from the luggage courier.  But our emails and calls were going unanswered, and the day was wearing on.  After another email asking them to PLEASE give us advance warning of their arrival, we decided to hop on a train to the village at the far end of Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore.  (The train runs every 20 minutes and takes only 11 minutes, so we figured we could get back pretty rapidly if needed.)

Riomaggiore was another lovely little town.  There was an area down by the water where you could climb on rocks (or jump off them into the water, if you were adventurous) and take in the views of the brightly-painted buildings rising up the cliffs above.  Bob and I were a little more ambitious and wanted to walk to the next town, which didn’t look to be very far.  The girls decided to bail on this plan — Nadia’s shin splints were acting up from the morning’s hike, and Lanie was feeling jet-lagged — so they stayed to explore the town and take the train back while Bob and I set off down the path.

We quickly found that to walk the path required both the Cinque Terre card (which was what we’d declined to buy that morning) AND a supplemental payment for this leg of the trail, called the Via di Amore.  When we heard the 25 euro per person price tag, we walked away — but then weren’t sure what else to do with ourselves, so decided to grit our teeth and pay it.  It must be pretty spectacular, right?

Busy train station

Well…it was spectacular, but it took all of 15 minutes.  It was a luxury path — smoothly paved, with shade overhead and little elevation change.  We would have just as soon hiked a more rugged, natural path that didn’t cost 50 euro.  Because our walk was so short (and to get more of our money’s worth), we decided to continue to the next town, Manarola.  Alas, after a short distance we found that that trail was closed, so we were foiled again.  (The short distance was still worth it for the amazing views of Manarola (shown at the to

p of this post).  We have a Cinque Terre puzzle at home, and we’ve been trying to figure out where the photo on it was taken — and we think this may be the one.)

The alternate path climbed high into the hills and took 2.5 hours, so we gave up the plan and took the train back.  The girls were waiting for us at a seaside bar, happily indulging in apertivos.  (Luckily for 17-year-old Lanie, no one checks ids here.)  The rest of our evening was spent strolling, checking out the beach, eating dinner, and getting gelato (and checking my phone for word from the luggage courier).

Finally we had to accept that he wasn’t coming, and

Grape beer! It had a slight grape soda aftertaste.

headed back to the apartment for bed.  When, wonder of wonders, we got a phone call!  He clearly wasn’t sure where he was going either, but he gave us the name of a nearby road, and we were able to find the point on it where cars can get to.  (While waiting for him, we got to see several members of the area’s feral cat colony.)  And as of 10pm, happy Lanie was reunited with her luggage.