"Il Lungomare" – the seashore
We arrived at the hotel, in Tirenia, just north of Livorno, at 8 this morning. Most of the students were quite tired, as they hadn't slept much on the way. I was surprised that I was able to sleep in the bus, so I had no trouble settling in.
Breakfast was wonderful, with home-made prune and apricot tarts, coffee, juice, bread and a sort of mini-brioche shaped like a croissant. The students were very pleased with the hotel, even though half of the rooms weren't available this morning. They showered, brushed their teeth, and took possession of their new home for the week.
Just after ten, we grabbed our sack lunches and piled into the bus. On our way to the rendez-vous point, we drove through a heavy industry zone with port facilities and a lot of refineries. The air was heavy with the smell of oil and it was clear to us that the environment wasn't their primary concern. The skyline was filed with cranes and huge container ships, while later on we saw a dozen container ships waiting offshore to unload the next day.
When we finally parked along the seashore and students started thinking about the natural and urban environment, risks and actions we should do to protect the environment.
We saw a diver who had speared a fish and a squid, and other fishermen along the coast or offshore in their little boats, and when Marina arrived she explained that these days people assume that the fish they catch themselves are healthier than those they buy at the supermarket… even though the shoreline is heavily polluted by industrial sites and wastewater from the city itself.
Once we met up with the Italian students, we continued along the shoreline, observing the many details of the urban environment. There is no natural beach area along the Livorno shore, everything is in concrete, with only a few odd corners of sand, rocks and various vegetal and plastic debris washed up by the sea. There were several "Bagni" or public baths jutting out into the sea, with changing booths, concrete jetties for sunbathing and many public areas for bars, cafes or, in the evening, discotheques. Now in March, everything was closed, but we were told that in the summer they are full of people enjoying the seaside… despite the doubtful quality of the water.
In fact, right alongside one of these "Bagni" we saw an open sewer draining into the sea. Was it simply runoff from the streets, or was it raw sewage coming from the city? We weren't sure, but it didn't look like a very inviting spot to bathe. A little further along one of the "fossi" or canals, we saw an old bicycle wheel, a floating plastic bag, and then assorted trash and plastic washed up by the sea. And yet, every hundred yards or so there was another "bagni" where people relax along the seashore.
Even the tree-lined streets showed evidence of human action on the natural environment. All along the seashore, there were oleanders and palm trees, species not indigenous to the Livorno area, but rather imported and planted there simply for their ornamental value, or because they resist the effects of the salt from the sea. The palm trees far more for their beauty, because it seems they die out regularly and have to be replaced at great cost.
We left the seaside with many questions, and few answers. The management of natural resources along the seashore seemed to lack resources, lack the priorities necessary to deal with the scale of problems.
Philip Benz, Livorno, 14 March 2010
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