It’s mid-morning in the medieval town of Sarzana, slowly waking to what will be another hot summer day. I’ve traveled here from Lerici to get to know the southern Riviera countryside better, an area getting more attention from visitors enamored of the nearby coast. (I’ve also heard there’s a great pastry shop to visit, and, as someone who is no stranger to Italian sweets, need to check it out.)

A few sight-seers are are out and about and you wonder if it’s too early in the day to gauge the tourist scene, but several minutes later a line of enthusiastic tourists from a just-docked cruise ship in La Spezia (about 10 miles away) suddenly appears, turning a corner. They march off happily, heading to a nearby church, and the streets quickly return to their residents-only calm.