La Passerella: Ways of Accessing the Sea
*This text appears in As is the Sea: An Anthology
The sand on the shores of the Adriatic sea is usually soft and extremely warm to your feet. Sometimes, it can be unpleasantly hot,
especially during the sticky days of an Italian summer. Crowds of holiday makers have been depositing themselves on the beaches of
Riviera Romagnola, 100 km of coast in the north of the peninsula, since the early fifties. To avoid mobs of tourists hopping on one foot
and swearing in a variety of languages, local resorts introduced a practical solution: la passerella, a quintessentially Italian invention
which can be translated into the shape of a colourful footbridge. La passerella allows bathers to navigate the myriad of flaming sunbeds
under umbrellas, and, finally, to access the sea – feet unharmed.
Despite its true utility, this name doesn’t reveal a mere platform to walk across. Having being a zealous frequenter of the Romagnola
coast, I dare to say that la passerella is not just functional; it is a metonym for an attitude towards the shore.
© 2014 Giulia Damiani
