The problem with living in a place like Switzerland is that when you cross a border into another country, you realise that there are a lot of things that you take for granted here. Things like bin men, buses that come on time and whose doors close, clean lakeside beaches and clear signposting. This really isn’t an anti-Italy rant – I really love Italy and most Italians I’ve met are lovely (except for the man who chased me and an Austrian friend through the back streets of Bologna shouting ‘Pikatchu’ at us – but that’s another story all together!). Neither is it a blind praise of Switzerland. It is pure experiential observation.
It is rather easy to live in a bubble in Switzerland, ignorantly believing that everyone, at least in Europe, has PET recycling bins, pays for the amount of waste they generate and takes their own shopping bags to the supermarket rather than taking plastic bags. Yet only a few kilometres away in Italy (and I know that Italy is certainly not the only environmental criminal), searching for a bottle bank is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Perhaps the most shocking observation from my weekend camping in Lenno on Lake Como was the amount of pollution the public boat services pumped out. Boats left each port of call with a huge filthy putrid black cloud that clung to the water surface and eventually dispersed. The air is filled with the noise of jet skis and power boats, something we are spared of on Vierwaldstatersee. I’m not sure if there are speed regulations on Lake Lucerne, or if people would simply consider you a pretentious arsehole if you were to create such a ruckus in such a beautiful place.
An Italian paradox: Italians love children, but apparently not enough to clean the broken glass and empty containers from the beaches of Lake Como. As far as I am aware, there is quite a high rate of unemployment in Italy – couldn’t these unemployed people clean up a little bit?
On arrival in the beautiful town of Como, we descended into the centre through a little park, which was littered with discarded newspapers, drinks cans and plastic bags. That was the first of our many “This wouldn’t happen in Switzerland.” On departure, Juan nearly fell out of a broken bus door as the delayed bus swung around a corner. So the departing exclamation was identical to that of the arrival.
To me this is one of best things about living in different countries – it makes you question other places, other peoples’ behaviour (and your own.). I really had a super weekend; and Como is beautiful, if a little polluted. The Italian way of life is also beautiful and Italy is wonderful, but the Italians really need to change their attitude towards the environment.
I will keep going to Italy for as long as they continue to make delicious gnocchi, to ride rusty town bicycles and talk with their hands, but I would rather swim in a cold but clean lake in Switzerland than a warm but filthy lake in Italy (even if I can’t have such a good gelato after my dip!).
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