Italian House Arrest…living in lockdown

I’m now home.

How to describe this situation? Plus it’s so huge and changes all the time… It’s taken me a long time to start writing. So distracting, so distressing.

When Italy started falling apart, I was in Aosta (far west corner near France). My first clue was during my drive up on March 4: an almost empty service station cafe on the highway, usually full of people cars trucks. Nothing! It was near a town where two new cases had been diagnosed. And that was was ten days ago.

Cogne, in the Aosta valley, was on my calendar to compete in the Masters World Cup XC ski races. I’d trained since November for them, but they had been cancelled. Most people had bailed out (originally 100+ americans as part of a total of 1500 racers), but since I could just drive there, I decided to go anyhow. The trip was great, the scenery awesome, and I’ll post about it next.

When I came down for breakfast the first morning in Cogne, I discovered that there were only three of us in the entire hotel. How lucky for me that the other two were women skiers from Alaska who had arrived a week earlier to prep for the races. Hey, I’d have company!

We skied together and had a great time, but gradually everything broke down across Italy, eventually reaching even this village far up a valley in the Italians Alps. The hotels shut down, the shops closed, the bars were only open until 6pm. Few travelers joined us, although Friday and Saturday nights were busier, with people from Milan and other areas driving up.

My Alaskan friends were affected: Cindy’s Air France flight home from Milan was abruptly cancelled when the airport closed and Dorothy decided to change her later flight to go home with Cindy. But from where? They first thought of taking a bus to Geneva, but finally decided to leave Tuesday and drive down to Rome and fly from there. The highway went through the “red zone” around Milan so they needed a formal document to get past any police on the road. The hotel prepared the docs for them. (Btw, I’ve been in touch and they got home fine. Nobody asked them anything about their travels when they landed in the US despite coming from Italy.)

Monday morning I was told that I’d need to move to another hotel because this one was shutting down. Okay. I packed my bags and went skiing at a XC place (Etroubles/Saint Rhemy) across the Aosta valley. I skied a couple hours and then, when I got back to my car, there was a big “CLOSED” sign across the trail. Sigh. That’s it. Might as well plan on going home. No point sticking around.

This was serious. I stopped at a Conad Supermarket in Aosta on the way home. There were 15-20 people outside and a guard at the door. Only 50 people allowed inside at once. We had to wait until people came out. It was very calm inside, and yes, I bought an extra package of TP but only one. Nobody seemed worried.

When I got back to Cogne, I discovered that the ski trails there were also closed. In fact, the entire valley was closed. Sigh. Okay, throw in the towel. Weds morning I hiked a couple hours up the local valley on the snow walking trail. Very beautiful.

By now, Tuesday night, there was the new decree of the countrywide lockdown. The hotel prepared a travel doc for me too, so I could travel home but my drive was uneventful, although this time the service station cafe was even more deserted. I couldn’t even see any staff.

Thursday was tough. I felt trapped, a prisoner. The limitations of the lockdown freaked me out. I must stay within my local town’s boundaries. I’m not allowed even to drive to the next town five minutes away. OMG. If I do go anywhere, on foot, in my car, on my bike, I must carry a self-authorizing document stating why I am outside my home and the only acceptable reasons are: to go to work, to purchase food and necessities of life, for medical reasons (pharmacy or doctor’s appt), or to return home from a vacation or trip.

Nonetheless, I had to figure out a way to get out of the house. I’m allowed to travel to shops within my town’s boundaries, so I rode my town bike to the supermarket. Felt like a criminal. But when I got there and saw the long line of 50-60 people, I rode back home. Rode over a freeway (autostrada) that was completely empty in both directions. Later I went for a run up into the hills behind my house, again feeling like a criminal, wondering if someone who saw me run past would report me or if I’d see a policeman. Unpleasant.

Yesterday it was better and today more so. They have clarified the decree and I’m allowed to walk or run near my house. I’m definitely also allowed to go to the store. Whew. Today when I came back from the store. the roundabout right next to my house hingad a small black Carabinieri car and several uniformed policemen there hauling cars in for a check. They barely glanced at me. Whew.

Now I’m settling in… I ride around on my bike to get the newspaper (tabacchi are open) and to go to the store by the most circuitous route I can find. I run in the hills above the house. I work out indoors. I talk with friends and do video chats. This evening, I had dinner with my brother and his wife in Todi and two friends in Pietrasanta… on Whatsapp. and it worked great! We’re doing it again next Sunday. We’ve all laid bets as to when the lockdown will lift and when the cases will level off. The most pessimistic had the lockdown continuing until May 31. Yikes. I am hopeful that the total lockdown will end in March. We’ll see!

This a terrible situation. There was an article in the paper saying that Bergamo is so overwhelmed that they now have a protocol that means that anyone over 70 who has a secondary complication will only be given palliative care. They simply don’t have ventilators and doctors/nurses available for intensive care. The numbers here in Tuscany are still low: 614 cases, 10 recovered, 6 dead, all of whom were over 80. They are bringing doctors and nurses out of retirement. Everyone is working endless hours. It’s overwhelmed the hospitals and their staff.

All parks with fences have been closed. Newspapers print how many people are already in intensive therapy and how many beds are available here in Tuscany. So far, so good. Lucca has 30 people already and beds for 213. Pisa has 58 beds occupied and 473 available. Versilia, where I live, has only 8 people already in the hospital, but only 53 beds. Agriturismo hotels are being pressed into use as quarantine sites. Lots of people here are doing cool things together, like applauding or singing at their windows at a specific time like a flash mob. Lots of rainbow banners saying “Andra tutto bene” (All will work out).

Everyone I’ve spoken with is supportive. When you look out across the country, the far right wing parties are not happy, but everyone else is.

Everybody I know who was coming to Italy has cancelled their plans. The spring might be very very quiet. The italian economy is going to suffer horrendously. Easter is a huge tourist time, but not this year. Ouch!