Maybe some of you know where Viareggio is. On the lovely shores of Northern Tuscany, close to Pisa and Lucca, Viareggio is a small seaside resort with nothing too special to boast about but in fact, a wonderful, unforgettable place.
I was not born in Viareggio – although my home town Cecina is again in Tuscany – but spent many years there due to my father’s job in the Navy. As a language lover and pretty adventurous girl, I soon decided I wanted to travel the world – or at least, Europe first – and moved in the pursuit of new experiences, friends, cities and surprises. Viareggio, nevertheless, had always been there, the very central piece of that jigsaw that is my life.
It was the 29th of June 2009, and I was in bed, playing around with my Iphone, probably discovering the latest, coolest app of the week. It was around 11pm, England is GMT 0 so an hour behind Italy.
And then, while surfing my Facebook page, I started reading rather bizarre posts by most of my friends, sounding more or less like this: ‘What a tragedy‘, ‘I cannot believe this’, ‘Fire and smoke close to the station’, ‘This is incredible‘. And then, clicked on an amateur video posted by someone’s friend, and understood immediately.
I think derailments happen all the time and we are barely aware of most of them. You can be sorry, but it’s never enough. It’s only when you realise it could have been you, it could have been your family, your friends who may have died in that hell, well… you feel powerless and weak. And in my case, far away from home. It’s when it hits you the most. I frantically called my beloved, my friends and relatives, and luckily no one was close to the accident location – still, my house is just a mile away from the place.
Justice is yet to be made and still no tangible action has been taken. No responsible has been charged so far.
I just wanted to share my thoughts, and maybe be that one more person to remember those who tragically lost their lives in the explosion. Those who fought against death for a while, to then leave Viareggio forever.
Val
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