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Italian Camping
It was after the high season and the beaches on the western shore of the Adriatic Sea were mostly deserted. We had just enjoyed an impromptu picnic and I was happily walking barefoot along the shore picking up some of the colorful clam shells that littered the wet sand. The water on this mid September day was warm and I watched enviously a handful of swimmers and wished that I had brought my swim suit. Of course this was Italy and they could care less if I were to go swimming in my ‘none the less’ but American modesty prevailed and in the end I chickened out. The ocean was remarkably calm and every once in a while a cruise ship or a cargo vessel would emerge from the haze breaking up the horizon. Oh, how lucky these people are to have such a beautiful place to fish and play. At that moment I wished to be a native.
We continued our road trip north along the coast and I noticed lots of little camping symbols on the map. So we decided to check out an Italian campground. These beaches are popular get-aways for western European suburbanites. It wasn’t until we took a look at the ‘campgrounds’ that we realized just how popular they were. A typical camping place was about a mile away from the beach and consisted of about a quarter of an acre. They were fenced in and the nicer ones had some trees. “Campers” would pull up into a parking space in little RV’s. The ones without RV’s had tents pitched in front of their vehicle.
The late season campers present were spread out a little but it was obvious that in the summer neighbors were less than a car door’s length away. Families were cooking out on little grills and plastic chairs were grouped wherever there was a spot. There were no campfires or tables but folks were having a good time in the ‘great’ outdoors.
This goofy camping seemed totally absurd to us but this is just an example of an outdoor activity where the outdoors is limited. There is so little space and so many people that people just do with what they have. I wonder how many Americans realize just how lucky we are to have wild beautiful open spaces. Let’s hope that we never take them for granted.
Linda Dightmon Team AZOD
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