Cycling in Italy - Day 15: Second day in Taranto

28 / 07 / 2013

Fabiana, Felice, Azzura, me and Anna

The hottest Sunday of the summer had arrived and we visited one of the finest beaches of Taranto, Marina di Lizzano. For sure, that was refreshing. 

One of Taranto's many ports

After some hours in the sea, we headed back to Taranto, to meet Angelo. He is a volunteer tower keeper in a small island that connects the old city with the new. If you pass by Taranto, you got to meet him. He knows the entire history of his city and the region.

Sandra, me, Felice and Angelo

Taras, the son of Poseidon and of the nymph Satyrion, riding a dolphin

It was about time to ask my hosts, what is this dirty cloud over Taranto. As it turns out, a big iron company named ILVA has a few major factories, almost INSIDE Taranto city. The health problems are numerous. When I asked "why don't you do something" the answer was the one I expected: half of the population complains, but the other half is working there. Same story with a city in Greece, Ptolemaida, where the country's electricity is beeing produced - and also with a mountain named Kakavos, Greece again, where a big company wants to extract gold, leaving ruins with the excuse of "creating jobs". 

Job-creating polution over Taranto

One of the local bands, Fido Guido, wrote a song in Tarantino dialect talking about ILVA and the "fume scure" (dark smoke).

Night came around and after a big dose of reallity, we went around Taranto for the last time. One of the navy's old ships was resting for a few days in front of Castello Aragonese.

We didn't stay up late, 'cause next day was monday - and also because the next day I was leaving to go to Salerno, in Campania region. So this was my last night in Puglia.

End of Day 15.