November: The most wonderful time of the year

March 15, 2020

Locked down but not out in Italy

Singing from the balconies! One nice thing about this crisis ... solidarity! “Guess you’re not living like a tourist anymore,” was the funny, truthful and somewhat gut-wrenching message of a friend the day the lockdown in Italy began. Today is day 6. My beloved Italia has been hit hard with the COVID19 epidemic. With the second largest elderly population in the world, the epidemic has meant a disproportionate amount of deaths in the country. So though I haven’t been worried about contracting it myself, this isn’t about me or someone like me who, if contracted it would probably have a sucky couple of weeks and then recover. It is about if someone like me contracted it and then spread it to a person with a complicated health history or an elderly person with a weakened immune system. Eerily orderly: Lines for the grocery store, each person one meter apart In a country with no concept (and no physical room really) for personal space, and in a city with reproachable hygie

Sometimes being a full-time worker AND a full-time tourist makes it hard to be even a part-time blogger. So though I have been actively exploring all parts of D.C. and have crossed off another boatload of sights on my list, I have had little free time to relive these experiences through blogging.

However, my added excuse is that this has been the most beautiful November on record. And because I am already one with a virtual phobia of being stuck indoors, in lieu of a proper update, I will instead give you a glimpse into why I could not be bottled up by a ceiling and four walls when the outdoors looks like this: