ALL of Italy Is Now on TOTAL LOCKDOWN

Tuesday, 10 March, 2020

The situation in Italy got MUCH more serious late last night.

I sat down at 9:20 p.m. as planned to turn on the TV and tune into RAI 1's broadcast of the much newest and anticipated Inspector Montalbano episode.

"We interrupt this program for EXTRAORDINARY news . . ."

Extraordinary indeed!

It was a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to discuss the current government response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

When the Prime Minister was done, the Montalbano show began and it was a dandy!

Still, the P.M.'s message was both simple and far reaching . . .

ALL of Italy was going on

Total Lockdown

effective immediately!

This drastic step would last until, at least, April 3rd!

In a nutshell, here are the rules

of the Lockdown courtesy of FIDAF,

our Italian National

American Football Federation

Desperate times require desperate measures.

Some view these measures as Draconian. Personally, I'm perfectly OK with a government willing to be safe rather than sorry.

The Italian decision puts its trust in the, hopefully recently washed, hands of doctors and scientists not in some lunatic politician's "hunch."

How serious are things in Italy, you ask?

Serious enough that now Serie A

calcio/soccer is stopping play until

the next review date on April 3rd

No, not games without fans

in the stands, NO GAMES AT ALL!

Things just got REAL in Italia!

So, now armed with all of this new data, my first thought was to head to the Varese Public Library to pick up a few English language books to aid in my next 25 days under siege in the Bunker.

Formerly known as the Villa Skorpion II, the Bunker is the new name for my venerable home built in 1410 reflecting the times we live in today.

DAMN!

The Library was a victim of the Lockdown and will be closed until April 3rd.

Undaunted, I visited the la Feltrinelli book shop to buy a couple of books instead. 

Varese's main pedestrian street

was EMPTY!

The sign on Varese's Basilica said

that it was closed until further notice

UNPRECEDENTED

IN ITALY!

This means no weddings, no funerals, no baptisms, no Masses . . . nothing!

The last time something of this magnitude happened in Italy was just before the 313 A.D. Edict of Milan when Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity.

Lines

Only two people in this one waiting to go into this pharmacy. They are comfortably farther apart  than the suggested One Meter Rule.

At the pharmacy closest to the Bunker there were about five people in line outside and again about two meters apart. The reason for these lines outside is that small businesses like these must now limit how many customers are inside any one time.

Is there a silver lining to these gray clouds . . .

. . . why yes, restaurants that

are open are empty so one can

score a good meal at a usually

difficult to get into dining spot

Not sure why this scale was

on the sidewalk but it's a nice one

With Robert Bloomhuff before

last year's Skorpions-Hammers

game at Skorpion Field

Robert, who hails from San Diego, is the Wide Receivers Coach for our league rival Monza Brianza Hammers.

He relayed a story to me today about a friend of a friend of his. The man in question ran afoul of the Lockdown's restriction of travel having to be for either "essential" or "work" related reasons only.

It seems the young man in question was driving to see his girlfriend when he got pulled over by the police.

They asked why he was out and about, given the new Lockdown rules. His answer about visiting his significant other did not fit the Lockdown parameters in the view of the policemen, so he was given a ticket that requires either the payment of a €400 fine or three months in jail.

I think he should fight it all the way to the Italian Supreme Court!

I mean, is there really a red-blooded Italian judge anywhere in this historic country that believes that a man seeing his girlfriend is NOT "essential?"

So how am I getting through all of the trials and tribulations that we face now in Italy?

Well, my daily phone calls to this

young lady bolsters my spirits

Thank goodness for the Face Time feature on my iPhone!

Communicating with our two sons,

Andrew and Michael, helps too

They are a little older now than they were in this photo.

Then there are these three rapscallions

that are our Grandchildren and bring

us great joy constantly

Kevin, the Vegas Golden Knights fan

Mary, dressed up for one of her

Dad Michael's Civil War reenactments

Jacob, who is a happy, goofy child

A strong family and a corps of good friends to talk with on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are a great comfort in surviving life in the Bunker during this Siege.

I watched two BBC Father Brown

episodes today while enjoying a beer,

parmesan cheese, salami and some

crunchy, traditional Taralli bread products

The Lockdown is no reason to stop enjoying the rich Italian lifestyle.

In the evening, Santa Barbara dropped by the Bunker to deliver some distressing but not wholly unexpected news about her husband Giorgio Nardi.

Giorgio last year, on the left, with

WR Riccardo De Michelli and

RB Player/Coach Cristian "Bumba" Bianchi 

Giorgio, like many Italians who live this far north in Lombardia, works in Switzerland. In large part, the reason to endure the 90 minute daily commute each way is the high wages paid in Switzerland compared to Italy in order to deal with the high Swiss cost of living.

Santa Barbara related to me that Giorgio left for Switzerland at the crack of dawn on Monday as usual.

In the evening, he was not allowed to recross the Swiss-Italian border due to the Lockdown. Works travel is OK inside Italian borders but not outside the Boot as it turns out.

Seven of Giorgio's co-workers also live in Italy and are similarly homeless for the moment.

When will they be allowed to come home is anybody's guess.

Hopefully, it will be before April 3rd.

Stay tuned . . .