Napoli Garbage

Ok, so since it has made so much news and everyone who found out I was going to Naples warned me about the garbage problem, I figured I should dedicate a whole post to the garbage. It really isn't as bad as the news media makes it out to be saying that you have to wade knee deep through piles of garbage. I actually saw piles of garbage that were probably 5-7 feet high. However, they seemed to be semi-contained. I say semi because they often spilled out of the trash recepticles and the piles would expand down the street for 30-50+ feet. But I never saw a garbage pile that you couldn't walk around.

I did actually see them cleaning up the garbage once. It's kinda funny because they have to bring out bob-cats to clean it up because they wait until it is pilled all around the trash recepticles before they clean it up so they can't just pick up the dumpsters like normal. It just makes life harder all around.

Occasionally, the locals will get so frustrated with the garbage and that nothing is being done about it that they will set the piles on fire. This forces it to be taken care of (by the fire department). The only problem with this is it really reaks! And it adds a nice shade of brown to the skyline. I didn't see any piles burning, but I did walk past one post-burn and the smell was awful!

I hope (like most people have told me) that they keep better tabs on it in the summer, because the reak will be really bad if they don't.