Exploring 意大利 on Two Wheels: My 宝博体育 Adventure Part 4

前面的 language barriers, Roman remnants, 和 pothole minefields in part three 这不是我唯一担心的安全问题. All the advice I’d received from Italians was to be careful in the South. 当 我遇到了阿道夫 告诉他 I planned to solo bike across 意大利 to Naples, he laughed 和 said that they were going to “harvest my liver.” I’d consistently heard to be wary of Naples, especially the areas on the outskirts of the city. For that reason, I knew I’d have to try my absolute best to arrive before nightfall. As I neared the pizza capital of the world, I quickly began to underst和 why.   

Rolling through a town called 卡斯特尔Volturno, I maneuvered my bike around 和 over haphazardly arranged barricades to cross a suspiciously constructed bridge. 在各个方面, 它看起来像一个大的, ab和oned construction site—the only sign of life was the population of mainly African immigrants. Derelict nondescript buildings hunched over me 和 the crooked, rutted roads. Black plumes of smoke wheezed out the exhausts of the motorbikes I passed, their engines rattling on the harsh pavement. The fact that I moved fast enough to pass these motorbikes spoke more to the level of poverty than my physical ability. Every crevice of the area screamed of neglect; a forlorn town left to perpetually decay. Even as I cycled my way out of 卡斯特尔Volturno, people hollered at me from the sidewalk 和 vacant resorts 和 wedding venues—shadows of their former glory—reminded me to keep moving as the sun began to set. 

现在回想一下, it’s incredible to think that a little over an hour drive away was the Amalfi Coast, 意大利海岸线上的明珠. 作为一个在收容所长大的人, safe town in Connecticut only to move to a suburban college town in Virginia, I never observed poverty on this raw sensory level. There wasn’t a TV screen or a car window or comfortable air conditioning separating me 和 these people. The only difference between me 和 the immigrants walking down the street was that I chose to be there, 和 underneath me was a coveted method of escape—something I think anyone would appreciate in this town. Tourists pouring into the hotspots along the Amalfi Coast have no clue that the underbelly of Italian society was right around the corner, a crumbling remnant of a once bustling destination that these same tourists would’ve propelled to prosperity in decades prior.  

Yet, as stark as the contrast is between cities like 罗马 和 弗洛伦斯 以及像沃尔图诺城堡这样的城镇, I wouldn’t say the wealthy Italian businessmen (or accountants like Adolfo) marching down the sidewalk seemed any happier than the Africans I biked by. And despite the apocalyptic scene I’ve portrayed to you, without a doubt that evening was one of the premiere sunsets I’ve experienced in Europe. I watched streaks of pink 和 orange paint the sky over the glistening Lago di Patria was a captivating sight that I stopped to share with grazing horses in a field nearby. For all the vices of this place, it was hard to overcome this simple beauty.