A Salerno promenade by the sea

The seaside Salerno promenade, Lungomare Trieste, offers other distractions than a magnificent view of the Amalfi coast.

They sprout up all around the minute it starts to drizzle. Bright blue, red, green, orange and yellow nylon umbrellas dominate the view from Salerno’s seaside promenade, where I had looked forward to a magnificent panorama over the sea with the Amalfi coast and the island of Capri in the background. Travelling can be unpredictable and some sights are only accessible with a certain amount of luck.

salerno promenade

I hadn’t counted the Lungomare Trieste among fickle attractions of Campania, and although the sunset ride has been cancelled for the night, this is the kind of theme park that never closes. While ferry passengers, old men with fishing rods, women walking tiny dogs, families with push-chairs and secret lovers run for shelter, other shadows become visible among the palm trees. Ikea’s facer team keeps trying to persuade hurried passers-by to join the Ikea family Club. Sweet smelling smoke wavers around a group of heavily make-upped
–       One umbrella is 3 euro, but you can have two for 5, one of them says with a smile.subculture youngster. And then there are all the African vendors who manage to renew their entire stock of goods in the spur of the moment. Instead of selling carved woodwork, leather belts, lighters and hand bags, they are pushing cheap umbrellas.

We settle for an ugly green specimen and follow the crowd to the shops and shelter on Corso Vittorio Emanuele surrounded by people selling and buying umbrellas. On the way we pass an anchor leaning on a slightly fanshaped stone. The rain has not only managed to unfold a bouquet of brightly coloured plastic and transformed bad weather into a flourishing business. It has also temporarily returned the mariners monument to its natural element. It’s a kind of magic that compensates for the missing sunset.

 Other things to do than taking a Salerno promenade

Salerno Italy – medicine and gardens

Must see places on the Amalfi coast

Salerno Italy – Sights and activities


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4 replies
    • admin
      admin says:

      I hadn’t thought about that, but the preference for black is the same in Denmark. A couple of weeks ago, I heard about some Italian tourists who thought the Danish queen had died, since the entire population was wearing mourning in their black overcoats. Strange.

      Reply
  1. prustage
    prustage says:

    Must be a cultural thing but when I read the title of this piece I thought it was going to be critical about Campania.

    I dont think there is anything particularly endearing about theme parks; they are cheap, fake, unsubtle, over commercialised and dumbed down for the masses. To compare Campania to a “never closing theme park” suggests to me that it would be a place I would take pains to avoid. However, the actual article was beautifully written and evoked a good sense of place.

    I should be wary of badly chosen metaphors though.

    Reply
    • admin
      admin says:

      You are certainly right about the metaphors – but I expect it depends on you experiences. To me there are both good and bad theme parks – they are (fortunately) not all like the ones you describe – although I agree they may be in majority. And then, it’s is not all of Campania I compare to a theme park – only the Lungomare Trieste in Salerno on a rainy night in October.

      Reply

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