Since I live on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, I wanted to make sure I experienced the beach here in Italy. I took the train west to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Along the way I chatted with an Italian gent and he recommended I go to Castel Fusano. And so it was. I headed to the water’s edge and noted zero sand to the south, only large rocks. By a seaside restaurant a conversation with a local revealed that there was a beach just to the north side of the restaurant. She said she doubted I’d find much, as the beach was cleaned every morning. I was told “they” would permit me to walk on the beach and pick up trash as long as I kept moving. Once on the beach, I finally understood why that was.
Instead of focusing on the sunbathers, I turned my attention more to the lovely breeze and the task at hand. I LOVED the smooth oval / round stones mixed in with the rather dark sand. I thought to pick some up, and resisted the urge. In some areas the sand was quite black and crusty. True, the beach area was “clean” and showed signs of hand raking as part of that process.
As I walked along, there were a few small pieces of plastic, and some sea glass. It wasn’t until I got to the end
of the beach stretch, I could see where the “trash” was piled up, next to the jetty. As there was so much of it, I decided only to pick up the plastic on the top layer (what I could see). I’d be there all day, for sure, if I had taken on the job of going through the entire pile.
Next to the north end seaside bar / restaurant was a nice recycle center set up. As private property, I asked permission to dump my collection out and photograph it, before I through away all the trash, and recycled the two cans.
Here’s what I was able to collect on that stretch of beach… It seemed like mostly skinny plastic straws. I would say the BIG pile held hundreds of them in an assortment of colors.
Once I cleaned up, I headed back to the original beachside restaurant and sat down on the outside dining area over the sea and enjoyed an arugula mixed salad. I will say I’d never tasted such tender and tasty arugula. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful time at the beach.
I was feeling “a woman’s work is never done.” Might that be just as true for men? Contemplate that.
