Roman Quarantine – Day 34
Tweet Today is Easter Sunday, and this morning the bells pealed loudly across Rome. And because it’s Sunday, and a special one, we had our great treat, a delivery from SantoPalato. We ordered three Easter lunches, so M could take one to his mother who still lives in...
Roman Quarantine – Day 33
Tweet I took another #tinywalk today, along another stretch of a deserted local road pulsing with Neo-Realist vibes. The aqueduct is the same one mentioned in Day 23’s walk, but this time I went in the opposite direction. Wisteria, poppies, and prickly pears; a tangle...
Roman Quarantine – Day 32
Tweet This evening, as I was making risotto with broad beans, the Prime Minister officially announced that in Italy the lockdown will continue until 3 May (he seems always to make announcements when one might be cooking). Another three and a bit weeks, strategically...
Roman Quarantine – Day 31
Tweet Today marks a month of the Roman Quarantine, and there is still no definite end date in sight. Giuseppe Conte, the Italian Prime Minister, mentioned the possibility of loosening some restrictions at the end of the month in an interview with the BBC today, though...
Roman Quarantine – Day 30
Tweet My Instagram account shows that today I had lunch, and then I had dinner. And that was about it. On either side of these events I mostly sat on the terrace and read the letter written to Leo X and attributed to Raphael and Baldassare Castiglione (for an English...
Roman Quarantine – Day 29
Tweet In January, on a whim, I went on a midweek jaunt. I wanted to catch an exhibition about Raphael’s circle in his home town, Urbino, before it closed and that seemed a good excuse for a road trip during the quietest period for tourism in Rome (insert hollow laugh...
Roman Quarantine – Day 28
Tweet Today is the twenty-eighth day of the Roman quarantine. Exactly four weeks have passed since the extraordinary announcement of the shutdown. When I started writing these posts we here in Italy were in an anomalous situation. Now most of you are in a very similar...
Roman Quarantine – Day 27
Tweet This morning I woke to the sounds of bells ringing for Palm Sunday, announcing a mass no one would go to. In accordance with the measures currently in place in Italy to contain the spread of COVID-19 – measures fully supported by the Pope who is, I think we can...
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