The water was cold and a little salty. I swam underwater and felt as though I had become a fish in the sea. Then something touched my ankle, and stung me! Because I was in pain, I decided to run out of the water and back to the safety of the beach.
The Ligurian Sea is on the west side of Italy, and becomes connected to the Tyrrhenian Sea and then the Mediterranean Sea. Italy is shaped like a tree branch extending itself between Europe and Africa, which makes it a unique spot in the world. All of these seas have made it easy for people to come to Italy, even before airplanes were invented, because you could easily take a boat to visit another country. This is why it was easy for many Italians to emigrate to other countries, such as the United States, and why, currently, many people from African countries are emigrating to Italy. The sea also provides a source of food for people, and so seafood is a staple in these costal areas. The mountains here are called the Maritime Alps, and they were formed over millions of years when there was a collision of tectonic plates under the earth that pushed the earth higher and higher, creating peaks.
The people of Italy use the sea as a source of work, food, inspiration for life and transportation. The mountains are also a source of innovation, transportation, food and beauty. Both the sea and the mountains occur naturally on this earth, and both constantly change shape. For example, the sea shifts due to the water cycle, which moves water all along the earth through the help of natural elements such as the wind.
