Rome – travelling in COVID times

I hereby reported I have returned from a foreign trip. My two recent holidays were in spent in homeland, either at the seaside or into the mountains. It was my first flight since the onset of the pandemic; I crossed the border of Poland for the first time since June 2019 and spent a few days abroad for the first time since May 2018 (which was a memorable journey).

The pandemic at first was associatied with a stay-at-home order and absolute ban on travels. Nineteen months into it, travelling has been tamed. It involves some limitations, but is utterly doable.

Some more hassle is necessary before you set out. Provided you have been fully vaccinated and can download the Green Pass, the only other formality which needs to be handled is filling in Passenger Locator Forms (PLFs) for everyone crossing borders on board of an aircraft. The one necessary to enter Italy is bothersome, the one filled before returning to Poland, less complex.

At the airport in Warsaw nobody bothered to check neither the Green Pass nor the Italian PLF. Consequently it seems anybody can enter Italy. At the Fiumicino airport in Rome also nobody took the trouble to inspect anything.

While in Rome, Green Passes came in useful five times – to enter Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, The Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica. Besides, I have seen no single eatery / restaurant where Green Passes were checked. The other story is that we always dined outdoor and walked in only to use toilets.

In terms of wearing masks indoors, the Italians exhibit exemplary discipline. In the underground less than 1% of passengers had their mouth and nose not properly covered, same in shops. In crowded outdoor places more than 50% wore masks. It seems the trauma of spring 2020 is still alive, although except for face-covering obligations and limits on number of people in various places, no other restrictions are in place in Italy. The locals live it up as before the pandemic, respecting the social distancing and masking rules. For such reason Italy has seen new infections dwindling from late August by over 50%, while in Poland they soared since then.

Back at the airport in Rome our Green Passes were controlled twice (once before going through security, then before boarding) and then, to my surprise the staff at the Warsaw airport checked them again.

The biggest nuisance is having to wear a mask for several hours (airport, flight, transport to and from the airport), besides I see no major drawbacks of travelling during the pandemic. We have no choice, but to learn to live with the virus, trusting in science (get the jab!) and hoping it does not mutate to escape the vaccine-induced immunity.

A photo round-up is due next week.