Starting a Self-Imposed Isolation

The trip home was smooth. Too smooth. We flew from Florence to Frankfurt to Denver to Durango.  It was about the time that we landed in Denver that the CDC raised the Travel Notice for Italy to Level 3 -- Avoid Nonessential Travel. But as we entered Germany and then the US, there were no temperature scans, no mandates to wear masks, no recommendations on how to interact with thousands of other travelers en route to all parts of the world. The only question we received was from the US customs agent asking if we brought any good Italian wine back (We did not. We consumed it all there). Ironically enough, the only country to scan our temperatures was Italy upon our entry, and that was before they even had any known cases of COVID19.

So we have come home after being in multiple areas in Italy with known cases of this new disease. As such, we've decided to impose our own quarantine for two weeks.

Of course, the mere suggestion of cutting ourselves off immediately from others ignites the desire to get together with friends. I so want to go out for a beer and burger at our favorite brew pub or tacos at our favorite Mexican food restaurant. With our friends. Never had a poker party at our house, but now it sounds like a really fun idea. Dance party? Yep. Book club? Most definitely. Any activity with friends that we haven't seen in oh-so-long sounds great right now.  Never mind the fact that we wouldn't have seen them for another two weeks anyway.  We can't see them now, and that makes the longing that much more significant.

Friends have been grateful that we've decided to self-quarantine and have offered to bring in food.  Fortunately, online grocery shopping exists. And online books and streaming videos.  Now I admit that I have scoffed at the idea of online grocery shopping.  Who doesn't have time to procure their own food at a store? It's not like we grow it ourselves anymore. Besides, I like picking out my own produce.  However, breathing on produce clearly violates our effort to protect our fellow Durangotangs, so this morning we ordered our groceries online.  It was easy. They did a great job picking produce for us. We won't starve during our sequestration, and I certainly won't judge anyone using this service.

The Vernazza seaside trail

We are going to allow ourselves to get out and exercise. I would go absolutely stir crazy without this allowance.  Chris would simply combust.  We feel fortunate that a hike in our part of the world won't look anything like the hike we took in the Cinque Terre on the supposedly-closed trail between Vernazza and Monterosso. It was packed, and this was low season. People were all over the place.  That's not the case here, so we should be okay.  And so should our neighbors.

Losing Out to a Bug

Vernazza, one of the Cinque Terre villages. 

We won’t keep you in suspense. StephFest is losing out to Coronavirus. We’re cutting our trip short and planning to return to the US on Friday because of the escalation of cases in Italy. We became cognizant of the rapid rise in diagnosed cases after spending an awesome day on Sunday at the Viareggio Carnevale, a spectacle that brings hundreds of thousands of people to this coastal community in Tuscany for a one-of-kind parade and celebration. Packed trains brought many of us to the event.

The day before, we had spent a good part of the day on crowded trains en route to Cinque Terre, enjoying a positively gorgeous day along this series of small towns in the Italian Riviera. And of course, prior to that, we’d spent the week in Venice, wrapped up in its Carnevale.

We’ve had a week of celebrations unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Of course, these events also are the perfect scenarios for viruses just like the novel coronavirus, COVID19.  The nasty buggers love when a whole bunch of us vectors hang out together.

Carnevale in Viareggio

We are currently in a small Tuscan village, Radicondoli, so our exposure is much more limited than it was this past weekend.  Still, we’re watching the number of cases grow across the country and realizing we could find ourselves locked down in any community at any moment. Ahead of us is an 8-day trek through small villages in Umbria, so rather than push our luck and get quarantined in the middle of nowhere, we’re folding our hand in this low-odds, high-risk game.

San Gimignano, a Tuscan village

To be tourists in a country figuring out how to navigate a health crisis - a potential global pandemic even - is surreal. Chris and I are both planners, and we pride ourselves on figuring out complex logistics. But we are at the mercy of so many unknowns - just like thousands of others. All we can do is make decisions on what might happen. The risk of us getting quarantined somewhere away from home becomes more likely as this disease spreads.

The economic hit is significant. Both personally and globally. We’re bummed to miss out on the trekking portion of our trip, but the risk of further complications if we carry on as planned is more troublesome. The trip thus far has been grand so we will leave on Friday with many fond memories. There will be other long walks in our future. For now, we just want to get home without incident.

Elegant Decay

Some 400 bridges connect more than 100 islands in this historic municipal powerhouse. It’s wild to think that people have been navigating these streets since the 10th Century. This city has seen its fair share of highs and lows through its 1,000 years of existence. Its resilience is evident.

Today, we hear so much about the impending doom of Venice. Too many tourists. Rising seas. Pollution. Residents fleeing to the main land.  

It does seem to be a city where people toil just to live a simple life. Looking at furniture stores as we’ve walked the narrow, often crowded, streets, I wince at the thought of trying to move a new couch or refrigerator to a residence. Watching men unload produce from boats and navigate stairs on some of the city’s 400 bridges, one realizes just how much work is involved in procuring the daily necessities here. But people do it. Sure, fewer people now, but this is still a vibrant city.

There is a lot of graffiti, and cigarette smoke fills the narrow streets much too frequently, but the Venetian people are beautiful and well-dressed.

Chris and I have watched families navigate streets on their way to and from school.  Perhaps it’s just the bubbly aspect of the Italian language, but the children seem to love life. Perhaps, the fact that we’re in the midst of Carnival has something to do with their exuberance as they have access to copious amounts of confetti and silly string, remnants of which fill plazas throughout the city.

It is believed that the first iterations of today’s Carnevale di Venezia started in the late 12th Century. Today, it seems mostly a spectacle for tourists, although we don’t dare participate in the elegant balls that run €500 per person. Costumed couples and groups pose for photographers no matter if they wield a smartphone or a full complement of lights, reflectors, and lenses. No matter. It is beautiful and uniquely Venice.

It's been a while but I'm back

Wow. Nearly 7 years.  And low and behold, I find myself car-free again -- for over a year now actually.  Technically, I have access to Chris' car, but at least 90% of my travel around Durango is sans automobile.

Oh, yeah.  I've also moved from Williamsburg, VA to Durango, CO since my last post. I've been in Durango since June 2017.  While I may have been focused on living simply in Williamsburg, through a series of events, I live even more simply now, but that's a topic for another post.

Right now, I'm bridging the gap, resurrecting this blog (which I honestly forgot about), and getting ready to provide a platform for "Steph Fest 2020," an epic journey to Italy, courtesy of Chris, to celebrate just a few milestones in our life -- my 50th birthday and the transition from being the executive director of Durango Nature Studies to being a freelance consultant.  Steph Fest provides a clear demarcation between the two endeavors, and I am thrilled for the adventure.