Travel post lockdown-a weekend in Tuscany

So as the world is still gripped by the awful pandemic of 2020 things are (very) tentatively and slowly opening up in the travel industry and I am penning a few of my thoughts and experiences here.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’ve missed flying and missed views like this

Is it ethical?

I am not here to judge, I am not here to say what is safe…….I feel since COVID-19 took over everyone’s lives early this year there seem to has been so many people that have struggled to make decisions on what to do, how to behave-this is not helped by the British (and worldwide) media whipping up constant fear and doom just adding to anxiety, the governments around the world posting conflicting rules and advice and generally we are fighting an invisible enemy which makes it a scary time. I think the main thing is to do what’s right for you and do what you feel is safest.

The thing we weighed up when looking to travel was mainly about weighing up the personal risk and considering our impact on the destination we would be visiting. Living close to London and having been into the city and working in retail, therefore seeing 1000’s of people each week (albeit at a distance) my nerves about travelling on a plane felt similar to that of visiting London and going on a tube. In terms of our destination my thoughts on travel and tourism is this; 10% of the worlds population gains revenue from tourism, this is a huge dent to not only livelihoods in the west but can be the difference of putting food on the table for many communities. That is not a justification for me deciding to travel, I won’t be coming from a country with a larger number of cases and visiting a vunerable community with already stretched healthcare systems for the locals any time soon.

Italy however felt the right choice for us. I know the area well, we would hire a car therefore not taking public transport and mixing with locals, their cases are relatively under control and therefore currently their healthcare systems are coping well and they are very much wanting tourism to return it seems.

Was travelling different?

We travelled from Stansted to Pisa Friday to Monday, I have to admit (and if Stansted is your local airport you will feel me) A Friday morning flight did make me a little nervous. It was slightly different there was an extra security area installed to try and elleviate overcrowding. Security was fast and pain-free, everyone was wearing masks and nobody got particularly close.

Masks are mandatory throughout the airport and on the plane.

The airport was generally quiet but not empty, I would say typical of a day out of season at a non busy time but definately wasn’t the usual Stansted Friday morning chaos. We had some breakfast as always and that was fairly normal, duty free seemed odd as most counters had nothing on but most stores were open. It was almost comforting to see people working as usual, I feel as a person in retail the last thing you want to see is more retailers struggling but that may be me.

Flying

The Queue for the flight was normal to be honest so this is where you may feel a bit nervous, for us we knew it wouldn’t be great flying with Ryanair, equally there were barely any free seats, aside from being told to wear masks at all times on the flight (this was enforced on the way out) and having to ring the bell to stand/use the toilet it was pretty much as if there was no pandemic. I did luck out and got a window seat with nobody next to me but I was definately in the minority. Once landed they made everyone leave row by row which is definately something I feel should be enforced pandemic or not. Overall it wasn’t a horrendous experience I felt as safe as I did getting the tube a couple of weeks ago, some things made me twitchy (sitting between two guys I didn’t know on a full flight coming home ughhhh) but overall it was fine. I imagine certain airlines feel a little more careful than ryanair so if you are really anxious I would maybe go with someone else. I had a

Siena cathedral -nice and quiet

Italy

I had read you couldn’t travel on public transport in italy which in hindsight it is clearly not true. I am glad we hired a car but equally would of felt safe on public transport. I guess everything the Italians have been through means their compliance rate for masks/sanitising and distancing is really high and I honestly felt very safe throughout. Florence was pretty busy on the streets-it was the weekend and no busier than my hometown (Nottingham) but just something to be aware of. I reckon on a weekday it would be much quieter.

In restaurants you are required to wear facemasks when standing, visiting the toilet or going outside, tables were distanced everywhere we ate at and waiting staff wore masks everywhere we went, even when screens were used and takeaways only. We stayed in a BnB and an Aparthotel, the BnB were great, we communicated via whatsapp to meet the guy on reception, everything was super clean, sanitised and we were served at a distance. With the aparthotel it was also great, we visited the pool/spa and had to book a slot to ensure there are only a certain amount of people. The pool area was thoroughly cleaned every two hours and there was clearly a lot of chlorine (eyes were burning) but again felt super safe.

Travelling next…..

So in summary I would 100% reccomend going to Italy if that works for you, I know right now we are bound by mandatory quarantines/countries not opening borders/having to quarantine on arrival etc. I had booked to go to Lithuania with my Sister first weekend in October….very low case rates, very cheap etc was our thinking. Since then they have introduced a mandatory 2 week quarantine for UK citezens so that obviously squashed our plans a little. We therefore looked at where was not likely to go on the UK quarantine list/where would let us in and we have now booked to go to Gdansk so fingers crossed that will go ahead. Again all things considered I feel it is a safe and well considered option for us. I think if you are thinking of travelling to an area with low case numbers and your home country is ok with it/you aren’t high risk I would say go for it.

Sorry if this has been a bit of a boring read but would give you an idea of what post lockdown travel from London to Italy looks like. I have some brief city guides coming your way soon!

Visiting quieter towns definitely helps