It was lovely to reminisce about our fabulous Sicilian journey in my last few posts. However, we have to hit the present reality at one time or another. Even in the Apennine village we live in one cannot forget the current covid situation. From the least dangerous yellow zone Tuscany moved to orange zone and now it is in the red zone with the highest strictures applied to social interaction. No doubt my friends in the local branch of the Reformed Italian Communist party may humorously quip on this point but we remain red until at least Christmas.
Better red than dead? Only essential shops are open (which include hairdressers, of course) and if one wants a cappuccino and a pezzo dolce (bun) one will be served it in a cardboard cup with the bun put in a paper bag and then leave from a newly named exit door and enjoy elevenses in the cold of winter Bagni di Lucca’s deserted market square. Not quite what one expected of Italy but then Italy is in a very unexpected situation as, indeed, is the rest of the world.
Actually, since yesterday morning we are now no longer into the red zone but rather in the white, as a scattering of snow has turned large chunks of our mountain landscape into a winter wonderland.
This was the scene looking out of my bedroom window yesterday morning.
These are some photographs from friends who live further north at Porretta. They got a more generous helping of the white stuff.
A beautiful set of photographs of Montefegatesi, our highest village, was taken by that master photographer David Bonaventuri. I’m sure he won’t mind if I include this one in my post. It’s so atmospheric!
One helpful thing which the pandemic has brought for us is the ability to look and act locally. This may mean anything from clearing out our kitchen cupboard in need of attention, or tidying up the garden or by-passing supermarkets like the plague (literally!) and using the excellent local shops we have here at Bagni di Lucca. Here is the front of Ragghianti’s shop, for example:
And Borghesi’s bar and restaurant do offer a good selection of take-aways:
Although the UK has perhaps prematurely rushed to grasp the saving rope of a vaccine Italy has to wait at least another month, I just hope that southern Italy and Calabria in particular, where hospitals coping with the pandemic are close to breaking-down point thanks to a combination of the local version of the mafia known as the ndrangheta and badly-cut health services, will not have to suffer for too long. It’s just not fair to a beautiful country and to such beautiful people as the Italians.
We two are towards the end of our employment history and consider ourselves lucky that we don’t have to suffer both the economic hardships of much of the population especially the self-employed like artists and musicians and also the psychological damage which younger people are bound to suffer as a result of social distancing. (How could we have been forbidden parties when I was at uni!) In this respect Italy is particularly hard-done-by. Different countries have different concepts of social space: the further north one goes the wider the distance of interaction between people. Italy is a particularly tactile country; hugs and kisses abound here, especially between generations. How sad that so many cannot express themselves in this way for the time being. Let us truly hope that a New Year will bring hope and that one day not too far away we will be able to shake hands and hug our friends and, most of all, appreciate anew how valuable real (and not virtual!) human contact is and how we must treasure life’s most valuable gifts: our loved ones and true friends.