Italy is in total lockdown now
May 12th, 2020, 05:11 AM
#121
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bvlenci -WeedWhacker? I had to look that one up but since the cutter is at a distance you would have to trust the person using it on you!
Generally where I am (Como) there has never been any shortages although on one occasion there were absolutely no eggs.
An alternative to alcohol would be bleach.
Generally where I am (Como) there has never been any shortages although on one occasion there were absolutely no eggs.
An alternative to alcohol would be bleach.
May 12th, 2020, 08:27 AM
#122
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bvlenci -WeedWhacker? I had to look that one up but since the cutter is at a distance you would have to trust the person using it on you!
Generally where I am (Como) there has never been any shortages although on one occasion there were absolutely no eggs.
An alternative to alcohol would be bleach.
Generally where I am (Como) there has never been any shortages although on one occasion there were absolutely no eggs.
An alternative to alcohol would be bleach.
Your pharmacy may have hydrogen peroxide, which is cheap at least in the US:
Commercially available 3% hydrogen peroxide is a stable and effective disinfectant when used on inanimate surfaces. It has been used in concentrations from 3% to 6% for disinfecting soft contact lenses (e.g., 3% for 2–3 hrs) 653, 671, 672, tonometer biprisms 513, ventilators 673, fabrics 397, and endoscopes 456. Hydrogen peroxide was effective in spot-disinfecting fabrics in patients’ rooms 397. Corneal damage from a hydrogen peroxide-soaked tonometer tip that was not properly rinsed has been reported 674. Hydrogen peroxide also has been instilled into urinary drainage bags in an attempt to eliminate the bag as a source of bladder bacteriuria and environmental contamination 675. Although the instillation of hydrogen peroxide into the bag reduced microbial contamination of the bag, this procedure did not reduce the incidence of catheter-associated bacteriuria 675.
I use either alcohol or hydrogen peroxide mostly to wipe my devices and then also some surfaces. Doesn't cause discoloration or streaks.
You want to leave a film of these disinfectants, let them evaporate.
May 12th, 2020, 11:28 PM
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May 13th, 2020, 03:46 AM
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Yeah, the débroussailleuse crossed my mind pretty early on, but I'm going for something more subtle now, like Barbie Neanderthal. I have a collection of prehistoric flints/silex. I'm sure that's what my prehistoric ancestors used, and I could use them too. If they are sharp they do a fine job. You don't really cut your hair, you slice it. And you can use what's sliced off as a nice neck-warmer, maybe a furry mask.
https://richlyadorned.wordpress.com/...storic-europe/
https://richlyadorned.wordpress.com/...storic-europe/
May 13th, 2020, 06:32 AM
#126
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Bvlenci, the weed wacker is a great visual!
StS you made me laugh!
Our salons opened May 1 with very strict rules so I look like me again! Yay! Well except for the 10 pounds Ive gained staying home..
I have a neighbor who is looking like the 70s Kotter pic!
StS you made me laugh!
Our salons opened May 1 with very strict rules so I look like me again! Yay! Well except for the 10 pounds Ive gained staying home..
I have a neighbor who is looking like the 70s Kotter pic!
May 15th, 2020, 10:13 AM
#127
If things weren't bad enough, just as my Venetian friends were beginning to be able to move around a bit more, today one of the big chemical plants on the mainland exploded and went up in flames with lots of toxic smoke. Indeed one of them had gone on her first proper outing for months and had to go home as they were being advised to stay indoors and shut all the windows.
bvl - thank you for that wonderful addition to my italian vocabulary. Not sure how I'm going to work it into my essay about Raffaello but I can try!
bvl - thank you for that wonderful addition to my italian vocabulary. Not sure how I'm going to work it into my essay about Raffaello but I can try!
May 16th, 2020, 02:21 PM
#130
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Does Rome have the best pizza? I remember old threads about places like Da Baffetto.
One of the best pizzas I've had anywhere was this place on Piazza Barberini. It was like above an Easycafe. Tried a quattro stagioni with thick cheese which never came off the crust but wasn't rubbery at all. The prosciutto wasn't the normal thin slices you get but cut so it was stringy, like spaghetti and it was piled on there.
May 16th, 2020, 02:27 PM
#131
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Conte has yielded to the provinces to open up Italy for tourism from June 3. Some of the reporting implies it's opening to the world but this BBC article says it's just to other EU residents.
They are reserving the right to lock down the country again if there's any kind of surge in cases.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52687448
I've also seen it reported that Conte also moved up the opening of shops and restaurants, with reduced capacity, from 18 May rather than the planned 1 June, again to acquiesce to tourism industry pressures.
Got my fingers crossed that it all works out for the many people who depend on tourism for their livelihood.
I booked last fall for some time in Alta Badia and Verona in late August and early September. I don't know if I will be able to go but hoping that by end of summer, we have some good news about vaccines or drug treatments.
Mr Conte announced that travel to and from Italy, and between the country's regions would be allowed from 3 June.
Gyms, swimming pools and sports centres will reopen on 25 May, and cinemas and theatres on 15 June.
Travellers from EU countries will be able to enter Italy without going into a two-week quarantine.
Gyms, swimming pools and sports centres will reopen on 25 May, and cinemas and theatres on 15 June.
Travellers from EU countries will be able to enter Italy without going into a two-week quarantine.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52687448
I've also seen it reported that Conte also moved up the opening of shops and restaurants, with reduced capacity, from 18 May rather than the planned 1 June, again to acquiesce to tourism industry pressures.
Got my fingers crossed that it all works out for the many people who depend on tourism for their livelihood.
I booked last fall for some time in Alta Badia and Verona in late August and early September. I don't know if I will be able to go but hoping that by end of summer, we have some good news about vaccines or drug treatments.
May 17th, 2020, 02:59 AM
#132
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Does Rome have the best pizza? I remember old threads about places like Da Baffetto.
One of the best pizzas I've had anywhere was this place on Piazza Barberini. It was like above an Easycafe. Tried a quattro stagioni with thick cheese which never came off the crust but wasn't rubbery at all. The prosciutto wasn't the normal thin slices you get but cut so it was stringy, like spaghetti and it was piled on there.
One of the best pizzas I've had anywhere was this place on Piazza Barberini. It was like above an Easycafe. Tried a quattro stagioni with thick cheese which never came off the crust but wasn't rubbery at all. The prosciutto wasn't the normal thin slices you get but cut so it was stringy, like spaghetti and it was piled on there.
Last edited by Moderator3; May 17th, 2020 at 06:09 AM. Reason: Removed link to commercial site
May 20th, 2020, 03:00 PM
#133
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May not be able to read unless you have a subscription to the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ge%2Fstory-ans
I can't read it on the website but am able to read it on the News app on my iPad.
They talk about a Rome restaurant's experience the first night they reopened. They had to reduce capacity by more than half, to just 12 seats. They only got a few delivery orders.
Some good reviews on Google and TA, Zia Rilla, near the Vatican.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ge%2Fstory-ans
I can't read it on the website but am able to read it on the News app on my iPad.
They talk about a Rome restaurant's experience the first night they reopened. They had to reduce capacity by more than half, to just 12 seats. They only got a few delivery orders.
Some good reviews on Google and TA, Zia Rilla, near the Vatican.
May 21st, 2020, 03:31 PM
#134
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This is from a friend, Philip Gwyn Jones. Phil lives in Venice, teaches English a bit and writes novels. He is not exactly your standard writer living in a garret; four of his books have sold well, the fifth is on the way.
Phil and Caroline live in an apartment close to the San Basilio vaporetto stop.
Two days ago I went to buy a newspaper, a sandwich and a book. Things that would have seemed banal at the beginning of March now seem like a bit of a privilege. I needed to stretch my legs and so I walked along the Zattere to what passes for Walter’s edicola these days. You might have heard about Walter. His newspaper kiosk was washed away into the Giudecca canal by the acqua grande last November. It’s since been recovered but, until it’s properly patched up again, Walter’s operating out of a space belonging to the church of the Gesuati on the Zattere.
I stop by Al Bottegon to pick us up a couple of panini for lunch. They’re famous for some of the best cicheti in Venice, and do some of the best filled rolls as well. Getting to the bar is usually akin to a contact sport, but there are no such problems today. The floor is marked out with tape, indicating the obligatory 1m of distance, but the bar is quiet anyway. It would be nice to stop and have a drink, but Caroline isn’t with me and I don’t think it would seem quite right. The first drink outside our apartment in ten weeks is something, I think, we really need to do together…
Libreria Toletta is the largest bookshop in this part of town. They’ve never stocked my books, but I forgive them (it’s an issue with the Italian distribution system, and there’s nothing they can do about it), and so I think it would be nice to stop off and browse. One door has been marked out as a dedicated entrance, the other as the exit. There are no formal restrictions on numbers, just a request to be patient and respectful. In the event, there is just one other customer. We dance our way around each other, leafing through books as best we can in our thin latex gloves, always mindful of maintaining a minimum distance from each other. I buy a book by Gianrico Carofiglio that I haven’t read – I don’t know why, but there’s always a book by Gianrico Carofiglio that I haven’t read – pay (contactless, of course) and make my way home along a not-quite-deserted Calle Lunga.
That evening we go out with a friend, for a Spritz at Nico’s on the Zattere. It’s a slightly odd feeling. Everything feels normal and yet – like everything else today – anything but normal. We are at liberty to remove our masks. The waiter, however, is not, which makes conversation between us feel just a little awkward, unequal. A family of five are seated on the adjacent table, positioned, of course, exactly one metre away. The three little girls wander just a little bit too close to us, and mamma arrives quickly to chivvy them back to their seats. Most of the customers unmask as soon as they sit down, other stay masked as long as they possibly can. Everybody, evidently, is having a good time, enjoying the early evening summer sun in that blessed period before it becomes too hot. And yet, it’s evident that things are not quite as they should be.
That’s to be expected, of course. Things don’t feel normal. Not yet. That’s going to take some time. But things are, perhaps, normal enough for now. And that’s enough to be going on with.
And it was also a hell of a good spritz.
Phil and Caroline live in an apartment close to the San Basilio vaporetto stop.
Two days ago I went to buy a newspaper, a sandwich and a book. Things that would have seemed banal at the beginning of March now seem like a bit of a privilege. I needed to stretch my legs and so I walked along the Zattere to what passes for Walter’s edicola these days. You might have heard about Walter. His newspaper kiosk was washed away into the Giudecca canal by the acqua grande last November. It’s since been recovered but, until it’s properly patched up again, Walter’s operating out of a space belonging to the church of the Gesuati on the Zattere.
I stop by Al Bottegon to pick us up a couple of panini for lunch. They’re famous for some of the best cicheti in Venice, and do some of the best filled rolls as well. Getting to the bar is usually akin to a contact sport, but there are no such problems today. The floor is marked out with tape, indicating the obligatory 1m of distance, but the bar is quiet anyway. It would be nice to stop and have a drink, but Caroline isn’t with me and I don’t think it would seem quite right. The first drink outside our apartment in ten weeks is something, I think, we really need to do together…
Libreria Toletta is the largest bookshop in this part of town. They’ve never stocked my books, but I forgive them (it’s an issue with the Italian distribution system, and there’s nothing they can do about it), and so I think it would be nice to stop off and browse. One door has been marked out as a dedicated entrance, the other as the exit. There are no formal restrictions on numbers, just a request to be patient and respectful. In the event, there is just one other customer. We dance our way around each other, leafing through books as best we can in our thin latex gloves, always mindful of maintaining a minimum distance from each other. I buy a book by Gianrico Carofiglio that I haven’t read – I don’t know why, but there’s always a book by Gianrico Carofiglio that I haven’t read – pay (contactless, of course) and make my way home along a not-quite-deserted Calle Lunga.
That evening we go out with a friend, for a Spritz at Nico’s on the Zattere. It’s a slightly odd feeling. Everything feels normal and yet – like everything else today – anything but normal. We are at liberty to remove our masks. The waiter, however, is not, which makes conversation between us feel just a little awkward, unequal. A family of five are seated on the adjacent table, positioned, of course, exactly one metre away. The three little girls wander just a little bit too close to us, and mamma arrives quickly to chivvy them back to their seats. Most of the customers unmask as soon as they sit down, other stay masked as long as they possibly can. Everybody, evidently, is having a good time, enjoying the early evening summer sun in that blessed period before it becomes too hot. And yet, it’s evident that things are not quite as they should be.
That’s to be expected, of course. Things don’t feel normal. Not yet. That’s going to take some time. But things are, perhaps, normal enough for now. And that’s enough to be going on with.
And it was also a hell of a good spritz.
May 22nd, 2020, 01:38 AM
#135
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"I booked last fall for some time in Alta Badia and Verona in late August and early September. I don't know if I will be able to go but hoping that by end of summer, we have some good news about vaccines or drug treatments"
Alta Badia wouldn't be a problem at all (no positive cases since weeks) if the area wouldn't get invaded by Lombardian tourists in summer.
Actual situation in Lombardy:
about 27 000 people actually in hospitals or in home isolation, some 330 new positive cases every day. Add Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna and you will get 50 per cent more.
There may be good news aboout vaccines in September, but good news would mean that big test series with human beings could begin at this time in oder to get the homologation at the end of the year and to start the production at the beginning of 2021.
Alta Badia wouldn't be a problem at all (no positive cases since weeks) if the area wouldn't get invaded by Lombardian tourists in summer.
Actual situation in Lombardy:
about 27 000 people actually in hospitals or in home isolation, some 330 new positive cases every day. Add Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna and you will get 50 per cent more.
There may be good news aboout vaccines in September, but good news would mean that big test series with human beings could begin at this time in oder to get the homologation at the end of the year and to start the production at the beginning of 2021.
May 23rd, 2020, 09:12 AM
#137
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Love Lake Como but I've visited it in May and had some of the worst hay fever in my life. All the plants that places like Villa Serbelloni imported makes it difficult for people suffering from hay fever.
I took day trips to Bergamo and Lugano and the symptoms would clear up. But when I returned to Varenna, they came back.
Not that people outside of Italy could visit right now.
But just as well, since you're not suppose to touch your face, which would be difficult when your nose is running and your eyes are burning.
I took day trips to Bergamo and Lugano and the symptoms would clear up. But when I returned to Varenna, they came back.
Not that people outside of Italy could visit right now.
But just as well, since you're not suppose to touch your face, which would be difficult when your nose is running and your eyes are burning.
May 25th, 2020, 08:28 AM
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