Items

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  2022-07-09

  A New World: How Covid-19 affected my anniversary trip.

  Originally, I always had the idea of taking my wife on a Mediterranean cruise for our 10 year wedding anniversary. However, it seemed as if Covid-19 would make those plans impossible to carry out. Thankfully, vaccines became available, and the Mediterranean countries would begin to open up to tourism again with some restrictions. On July 2022, we flew out to Rome, Italy to spend a few days there before the cruise itself. Even going through the airport was an entirely different experience, since this was our first time seriously dealing with the restricted rules(we had previously isolated ourselves for over a year and did everything online). We had to wear masks everywhere in the airport, our tram was partitioned into sections by barriers, and airplane boarding took longer since the boarding groups were made significantly smaller. When we arrived in Rome, we still had to wear masks inside of buildings(which was consistent with our experience all throughout Europe) and transportation(some buses enforced it, some didn't). In addition, as we visited restaurants, shops, and tourist locations, there were only a limited amount of people allowed in each location since there was a priority in having space between different groups. The restrictions continued as we embarked on our cruise a few days after. If you were vaccinated(as we were), you only had to take one antigen rapid test before you entered the ship to make sure that you did not have Covid-19. If you were not vaccinated, you had to take two tests, one a few days before you entered the ship, and one on the day of embarkation. This was unique, as a lot of other cruise brands were not letting anyone who was unvaccinated aboard their ships. When we boarded the boat, each group was given their own table and their own serving team(with masks on). This was possible because the allowed capacity that was on the boat was severely reduced. This allowed for us to have a more intimate experience with the serving staff, which was still at a relatively high capacity as compared to the population of the customers. As it comes to the picture itself, it is very important because we were only allowed to take off our masks for pictures inside of buildings. In addition, that picture was inside of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, which is a place that I have always wanted to enter due to its Christian symbolism. The walls and the statues tell the story of Christianity that has spanned over thousands of years.
• 2021-02-07

  Italy's Coming Out

  Two links to news articles talking about how businesses in some Italian cities and provinces are defying the lockdown orders. This document shows that the questioning of COVID-19 restrictions in a worldwide phenomenon.
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  2020-05-04

  "Phase 2: First Day at the Park"

  As Phase II begins in this lovely sunny day of the late Spring season, in the heart of Italy, Rome, people from all around take their first breaths of fresh air after 2 months of strict quarantine in the biggest park of the city: Villa Pamphili. As I find a large space where dancing respectfully of the social distancing normative is possible, or to simply hear the sound of nature, I acknowledge the beauty of our mother earth, taking a moment to breath in, even if through a face mask, the gifts that she offers us and that are often forgotten about. How wonderful it is to return to this small piece of life.
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  2020-03-14

  Food Traffic

  The Economist reports that residents of cities affected by covid-19 heeded advice to stay at home during the week of March 4th through March 11th.