Day 377 – EU – Italy [Gianola to Castel Volturno]

16/04/21

38.5km

  From Gianola (Italy) to Castel Volturno (Italy)

Europe

The strangest day on the road so far, running into a decrepit, garbage strewn dirty land ruled by the mafia(s)

Gaeta across the Gulf in the morning

What a day on the road. Some striking contrast, some disheartening and sad reality – all in a 40km running day. It was looking good as I left Gianola this morning, with a clear view on Gaeta across the gulf. The sky was clear, the wind was strong and cold, north-easterly. I was looking forward to getting that much closer to Naples and maybe get to see Vesuvio in the distance.

Like a divide… the aqueduct

As soon as I left and started to follow the coastline, I noticed the atmosphere changed brutally. Everything about the seaside looked abandoned, derelict. Buildings, resorts, restaurants, cafes. Even the beach looked very uninviting. I reflected that it could not possibly be just the effect of one year of pandemic and low activity. I kept running. I noticed garbage strewn around both sides of the road, in a never ending trail of detritus. Stray animals roaming around looking for food among piles of garbage.

Illustration Castel Volturno – ABC News

Then I started to notice women, sitting on plastic chairs by the side of the road. Waiting. Sex workers waiting to be picked up by their customers. Everything was so sad. Decrepit, dirty, lawless. I truly did not know what was happening, I hadn’t been expecting to come across such a brutal change. I googled as soon as I got to Castel Volturno, to understand what had happened to the place. This ABC News article describes the situation better than I could: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-17/castel-volturno-is-headquarters-for-nigerian-mafia-in-italy/12033684 .Mafias, both Nigerian and Italian, ruling the place. What an ordeal it must be for anyone caught in it, a human tragedy…

PS: I haven’t got many pictures today. As soon as I crossed into the derelict land, I couldn’t possibly imagine taking my phone out to take pictures like a tourist collecting mementos… it would have felt very inappropriate.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: