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ITALY, MARCH 2020

Oh boy… where to begin! in Modena! Modena is a great place to live and always full of
life! That evening we find out we’re going into Lockdown. What
It started out with the threat of corona virus near Milan in an does that even mean… LOCKDOWN? Sounds like prison
area called Lodi where they had the first lockdown. I had a terminology.
fantastic week of skiing the Dolomites booked with my sons
and their friends which we had been planning for a few months So… now how do I get the boys to Bologna to catch their
already. So it was touch and go if my sons and their friends flight back to the UK. We set off early and get there without a
would arrive but in the end, arrive they did, albeit with face hitch. The boys go off but now I have another issue, my partner
masks and looking like budget Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and her family are flying into Milan airport and their airport
Villains… oh the sight and how I laughed… and we went up to transfer has just been cancelled. So off I go to Milan, all the way
the mountains. hoping to not get into difficulty. I get to Milan Malpensa airport
and it’s virtually deserted. I pick up my Lady and her family
What a week we had! The conditions were beautiful with deep and shoot back. I drop them off at home, spend some precious
powder and loads of après ski. Lots of people in the mountains moments with them but little did we know that would be the
and we did what I can honestly say was the best skiing we’ve last time we’d see each other for a while.
ever done. The people in the village we stayed in were so friend-
ly and accommodating. The food and beverages, importantly Lockdown begins…….
top notch. My two sons live in the UK and as such, any time we
have together is super important to me to get some Toppie and Monday morning, I go into work and we get told all external
laaities time in. staff to leave the premises effective immediately. I frantically
run around to organise remote working for my team because
This time was no exception and it was amazing. I got to do the the projects cannot stop. People’s livelihoods depend on this.
full Sellaronda circuit which is a circuit around the Sella Do- Organised! We all leave to go home and the lockdown for us
lomite Massive, connecting three valleys and resulting in a ski begins in real terms. I go to the supermarket and get some
route that is over 40 km long. To do it with my sons, is just next supplies and at this point, I want to pay tribute to Italians and
level! We did it not only once but 3 times and I estimate that by Italian society. There was no panic buying, no people being
the end of the holiday, we had done about 120km of skiing and assholes to each other. Everyone was respectful and bought only
this ballie’s leg were done! I was a bit concerned whether ‘old what they need. The Italian government have ensured that the
bullit boy’ here was going to keep up with the ‘jong latte’ but in supply chains have stayed open and until this moment we have
the end, I held up just fine. not had shortages of anything. Chapeau!

I ski often, one of the joys of living in Italy and keep myself rel- Fast forward and coming to the end of the 3rd week of lock-
atively fit. I did make sure I returned to the digs relatively early down on my own. It feels like we’re in a film, a crap one, proper
after each night out, simply because I don’t recover from hango- B movie stuff and no Pierce Brosnan is no going to come up
vers like I used to and good thing too because on more than one with a miracle cure at the last minute! In Italy at the moment
occasion they skulked in at 5am… pissed as farts. So much so we are losing the equivalent of the population of a small village
that even they suffered the following day! When your son looks every single day. Yesterday in Modena alone we lost over 90
at you the morning after with eyes that look like “muis koekies people to this virus. Doctors are having to choose who to save
in paar tyd” you know they had a good night out! All in all, an and who to let go because there is not enough equipment and
awesome holiday although a little less farting would have been this is one of the best health care systems in the world. It’s heart-
great! breaking.

Then of course the worst happens, as we prepare to come down The only way is STAY AT HOME. It’s simple! The virus is not
from the mountains, their flights start being cancelled and re- omnipotent and will not find you wherever you’re hiding! It’s a
scheduled. Not because of the virus directly but because people simple celled virus that without its host can’t survive. It needs
are starting to cancel because of the virus. The airports are still human interaction to spread. It’s really simple! NO HUMAN
open everywhere, which in itself is a bit strange but the flights INTERACTION = NO VIRUS SPREAD. It just gets killed off by
are being affected simply because empty flights are unviable, so its hosts immune system or it kills the host, either way it stops
they start merging flight times. However, we now have to do a there! It’s very basic stuff! This truly is a case where stupidity
bit of ‘Boer maak ’n plan’ because we’ve just given the keys back kills!
to the digs.
Ok, how am I doing? I’m doing fine and so are my loved ones,
So, it’s all back to my place in Modena but I only have a 2-bed friends and colleagues. No physical interaction with people is
flat (welcome to life as a divorced man!) and there are 6 of us. hard! We keep each other company by way of video calls, mes-
So make do and make said plan but also have a great night out sages, jokes, meetings, etc. I get messages from people I know

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