Monthly Archives: March 2020

Corona Virus 7

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New count for Umbria as of yesterday…38 positives.
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Last night I watched the news with pictures of empty cities across Italy. Florence, usually chock-a-block with tourists, totally empty streets. Rome and Venice the same. St Marks in Venice … a vast empty space but for the pigeons. Sad. Lonely.
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Our Piazza is empty. There is no market today. An unheard of occurrence. Even in the case of a holiday they usually move the market forward a day.

A photo showing people are taking the edict to keep a meter distance between individuals seriously. These three just randomly met in the Piazza.

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Today we took a break from our enforced solitude and had lunch with friends at a nearby restaurant, L’Abbazia di Montecorona — named after the virus…kidding! It is just near Umbertide,  at the foot of Montecrona next to the Tiber river so it was within our Comune and legal for us to visit. Lunch is all you can do now since all restaurants are closed after six. It was a gorgeous day. Just like spring. Brilliant cloudless blue skies and temperatures in the 60sF.

Samantha, the proprietor. She said it was un disastro. So many bookings canceled. It’s hard for a restaurant to survive on lunch trade alone.

Look at the size of our table. It felt like we were miles apart. That one meter thing is a “Thing”.
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It is a beautiful space in the old Abbey.

I ordered two custard flans in Gorgonzola sauce for my first course.

Outside, you can see the whole complex with the attached church and crypt. The upper church was consecrated in 1105.

The octagonal campanile, it was perhaps adapted from a pre-existing defensive tower in the 14th century.

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Stay safe everyone, and…wash your hands! ☺️

Lockdown! Corona virus 6

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Well, as they say, this is one fine kettle of fish we are all in! Last night our Prime Minister decreed all of Italy is a Red Zone. So as of this morning we are all locked down.

To put this in perspective. We are restricted to our own Comune, (the locality that governs our neighborhoods near here). We cannot leave unless we have an urgent medical or work reason. And we’d need proof and a certification to leave. We can still go out for a nice walk outside…which is beautiful right now by the way…

But, within our Comune, are plenty of food stores and shops. It is why I love Umbertide. We have all we need here. The stores are all open during the day (except weekends). So we can go grocery shopping…but not together! Only one person per household allowed in the store. And we must always keep at least one meter apart.

The bars and restaurants are open, but only until 6PM. So this means, if you want to eat out you’ll need to do lunch. This will be hard on all bars and restaurants. Essentially this is a curfew starting at 6PM.

The worst thing I’ve heard is that our weekly market is canceled. This is huge. First for the merchants…very hard for them to lose this income. And second for all of us who count on shopping every week…not to mention the socializing that takes place. People come from all around the hills nearby and it’s a big social occasion. I guess this is why it’s cancelled. So sad.

Of course this all too, shall pass. We can get through it and I personally think it is necessary. It will slow and stop the virus. Then life will return to normal.
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Stay safe everyone, enjoy this enforced solitude, and WASH YOUR HANDS!!

Corona virus 5

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The weekend was good. We went grocery shopping on Saturday, I prepared a Pranzo messicano for our Italian friends and we enjoyed ourselves.

Generally we are staying in our casa in the sky, looking out on the world. But as I’ve said before, we are a real backwater area. Umbria is not on the beaten path to start with, and we are very far north in the region, so not on any transportation routes. Things are pretty much as usual here. We’ve got a couple of upcoming meals out with friends this week. I feel we should be careful but not crazy about it. We will go to our market on Wednesday. I will buy food. I will wash it…and my hands, and try not to touch my face. Only time will tell now this will all shake out in the end.
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Horrible news out of Lombardia is that news of the shut down of the area was leaked to the public the night before it went into effect (Saturday). You should have seen the people getting out of town in the night. Half were in their PJs. And all trying to catch the last trains south…where they will spread it to areas that do not have good health care to begin with. Someone said, along the Tuscan coast, the towns look like it’s summertime with crowds of people. Because all the Milanese who fled Milan came and opened up their summer homes. Now, if they’d be responsible and self quarantine…but they are NOT doing that.
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So that’s the Corona virus news for today.. be safe, be well, wash your hands!

Corona virus 4

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Things are heating up in Italy, as everyone knows. Thanks for the comments and well wishes from all my friends!

Here in Umbria, as of yesterday, we have 24 cases a jump from 16 the day before. The schools are closed until April and all gatherings and events are canceled. This includes weddings, funerals and masses! We went grocery shopping yesterday and all seemed normal. No crazy panic buying. There did seem to be more people than usual but it was Saturday so… and Otherwise the bars are open. Restaurants open. The poor parents are going crazy I’m sure with the kids home.
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As for the national news. Italy has formally locked down more than a quarter of its population.

More than 5,800 cases have been confirmed in Italy, after an increase of more than 1,200 in a single 24-hour period. Two hundred and thirty-three people have died.

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree enacting forced quarantine for the region of Lombardy – home to more than 10 million people and the financial capital, Milan – and multiple other provinces, totalling around 16 million residents.

Affected provinces include Venice, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano Cusio Ossola, Vercelli, Padua, and Treviso.
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And on the US front I hear my native Virginia has a case. Washington DC, and Maryland all have cases. As I suspected the strategy of the government was to pretend it wasn’t there. What you don’t know can’t be counted. Therefore it looks like the US is safe. But like a little kid, hiding behind his hand, because if he can’t see it, it isn’t there, the US plan is dangerously flawed.
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Strange days for us all. Stay safe everyone!
Stay tuned for updates.

Corona virus 3

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We had to visit the big Perugia hospital today. Luther needed some stitches removed. While we were waiting the entire hospital went on lock down. We were in a waiting room but all the internal doors were auto-locked. Turns out there was a hospital wide meeting to explain all the new corona virus protocols to the staff. After 3 hours Luther got his stitches out. I admit, as the waiting room got more and more crowded I got more and more uncomfortable. So I left Luther to wait and I went to the car. I was so glad to get outside in the cold crisp air. I breathed deep. I’m sure it was all in my mind but I couldn’t wait to get out of there!

New notices.
Things change quickly. Today they closed all schools in all of Italy until March 15 at the earliest. All soccer games and sports matches, concerts, conventions, gatherings of any sort are cancelled until further notice.

Other news
On the radio we heard them suggest all elderly people (in the north this means over 65) remain in their homes. Also in the north (in the areas with large outbreaks) they are mandating one meter distance between customers in bars and stores. Also they have a four person limit in stores. So people line up outside keeping one or two meters between each other. And worst of all…no double kissing, hugging, or handshaking. This is darn near impossible for Italians! Un disastro.

Still, life goes on here in Umbria. Now, no gatherings, no school, but here it’s business as usual in Bar Mary downstairs. 🙂

Stay safe.

Corona Virus 2

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We now have a few cases of the Virus here in Umbria. A family self quarantining itself in Città della Pieve on the far west side near Tuscany, one in Todi, to the south, one in Foligno, and two others in small towns south of Perugia. I do not personally know of any closures.

We are starting to feel it here in other ways. The Questura is not processing the Permessi di Soggiorno that we need to stay here. Supposedly we will get extensions. This is impacting the fact we were going to try for the long term permits. Not sure what we will do now.

Airlines are not flying into the northern airports near the red zones but Rome and Naples are fine. The people who are flying places, so far are not hitting any problems. But many people are canceling their trips here. It will have a devastating impact on the Italian economy 😢. The news from the US makes me think it will be no safer there than here as this thing runs its course.

Stay safe everyone!