We took a very crowded boat trip this week to a very crowded Cinque Terre. My theory is that everyone who wanted to go there over the past 3 years descended on Monday. It was truly a sea of unmasked people on sea and on land. It was pretty much all outdoors, but still!
That brings me to the ‘pandemia’ (pandemic in Italiano). I’m sure that everyone remembers that Italy, particularly Northern Italy, was hit hard early on. Over 80% of Italians are now fully vaccinated. And, fortunately, everyone traveling to Italy by air also needs to be fully vaxxed.
Italy has done away with almost all COVID restrictions. The Green Pass (proof of vaccination for all indoor venues) has gone by the wayside. Just before we left the US, they stopped requiring the EU Digital Passport Locator.
As I noted in earlier posts, masks are required on all forms of Italian transit. The compliance varies, but rarely exceeds 50% of travelers who wear masks that cover their NOSE and mouth! And there appears to be no enforcement, just signs and announcements.
We do see people with masks in restaurants or walking down the street. However, the masks rarely cover their noses. ‘Chin/neck masks’ are a fairly common sight!
Our Italian friends are fully vaccinated and boosted. Two have also had ‘il COVID’. We had dinner with 4 of them and talked a bit about the ‘pandemia’.
Early on, it sounds like the Italian government was a bit heavy handed. Our friends talked about taking a walk outside in a nearby park. They were given a warning because they had ventured a few meters too far from their house. If it happened again, they would have been ticketed.
They aren’t fans of wearing masks at this point (despite some health risks).
We continue to wear masks indoors here and try and eat outdoors when possible – but it isn’t always possible.
And speaking of us. We will be returning home soon. We will need to take rapid tests within 24 hours of departure (we are flying out of Amsterdam). So far, knock wood, we have been COVID symptom free during our travels.
We just need to hold out a bit longer…….
Allene
Travels with Allene 