Lockdown 2.0

Last Thursday when I went to the Meta (Sainsbury’s express equivalent) I had to join a socially distanced queue to get in and I had a flashback to the first lockdown.

It wasn’t the first reminder (Al has been on furlough for a few weeks now) and it won’t be the last. The numbers in Italy remain terrifyingly high and this weekend our region of Emilia Romagna moved from yellow to amber. There were new regional rules: the open air markets could open but with tighter restrictions on numbers and direction of flow (dedicated in and out areas) and some “non-essential” shops were closed. The gyms, museums and cinemas were already closed. Now only one person from a household can go to get groceries, with the familiar caveats for people who need to be accompanied and children. Interregional travel had been stopped with few exceptions, Language schools have been instructed to move to online teaching. You can’t do exercise in the city centre, but you can use the parks. So, we could still go anywhere we want within the region and could go out and have lunch which led to us feeling we were in an almost Lockdown 2.0 but not quite.

It had been a hard week. Al discovered, not unexpectedly, that his restaurant will not reopen after furlough. I am struggling to find students and now feel that I should really only teach online where possible. Luckily, the language school where I teach a couple of conversation classes has moved online so I can continue with those lessons. There is nothing yet to say I can’t continue to teach face to face, but I feel that more people will want online lessons. Friday was a day of tough conversations, soul searching and strategizing so we decided to treat ourselves to an Aperitivo at Mamalo Cafe which is just down the road. It’s quite pubby and local and we like it for that. We had the ubiquitous Spritz con Campari and were brought a plate of nibbles. The owner recognises us and although there hasn’t been much in the way of conversation, we feel welcome.

Saturday morning, we woke up to the realisation that Bologna city (comune) was bringing in tougher restrictions than the region. Bars and restaurants were to be closed except for takeaway starting from Sunday. Open air markets and non-essential shops were closed. Al had been planning to go to some restaurants with his CV, in case any of them needed staff, but now they were all being closed. It’s difficult not to feel downhearted and a little bit thwarted by life.

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Our plan, such as it was, was to have this experience while I wrote my novel and Al learned different aspects of Italian cooking, then to return to the UK and start our own food business. It all feels very far away now and quite remote. The writing has not been easy and always seemed to be underscored by my own inability to prioritise what I love doing and practical considerations like earning enough money. The hospitality industry around the world, like so many other industries, has been decimated and while getting a new job for Al is the priority, starting a food business in the UK feels unlikely in the short term. I know, there has been a global pandemic and no one asked for this, no one’s lives are unchanged, but I am feeling self-indulgently down right now.

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However, we are well. This experience, certainly since March, might not be what we had planned for this year, but it has meant we were able to have some amazing experiences in places that would usually have been out of our price range, or too full of tourists or both. We have taken advantage of the lack of tourists to see new parts of Italy and experience new things. It is unlikely that anyone will experience an empty St Marks square like that again. We are in an incredibly privileged position that has allowed us this once in a lifetime experience and to guard ourselves against the dramatic ups and downs that has been 2020 so far, its not done yet and I don’t want to be complacent, we are still in a good place, in a beautiful country.

Luckily for us our favourite central bar, Astral put up a post on Saturday to say that they were having a final opening between 3 and 6 that afternoon. We headed down there to support them and drink great beer and wine whilst being super careful about masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing. Astral has been our most regular spot, the guys that run it are knowledgeable and friendly and we feel very at home there. We don’t know how long it will be before we can go out to bars and restaurants again, but as they reminded us when we were there, Astral are still offering delivery for the duration.

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So, the future won’t be the one we imagined, so what? It will be different that’s all. There will be new opportunities and options that we couldn’t have dreamed of before. If we keep moving forward with our eyes open who knows what will happen. We’re going to get through this lock down like we did the last one. The world will still turn. Life is going to be tough for everyone for a while, so we need to look after each other, keep our chin up and, when its time, head out into the world and be what happens next.

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