Milan in the time of Coronavirus: Thursday 27th February: To stockpile or take stock?

Today’s stockpile

To stockpile or take stock of myself – I’m caught between the two. There’s no doubt about it, people are stockpiling, (interesting to read this in the Irish Times, re my fellow Irish men and women here in Milan) but is there actually a need? From what I see, everytime I go to the supermarket there is absolutely no need. However, sometimes I drop into worry mode.

For example, what if, in a couple of weeks, there’s no trains, planes or trucks entering Italy? I heard someone talking about it yesterday and it touched my worry nerve.

So today I went to Carrefour, my closest supermarket. I usually go to Esse Lunga, but it’s further away and as I’m not using public transport these days, I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk back with the huge stockpile I’d planned on.

Everything was the same as usual bar empty shelves where the good quality pasta is usually found, tinned tomatoes and tomatoe paste were also in low supply as well as things like breakfast croissants, sliced white bread and long life milk. As for “l’Amuchina” (hand disinfectant) – not a whiff of it to be had, although I did get a giggle out of this video – a take on the song Ciao Bella, Ciao Bella, Ciao, Ciao, Ciao – it’s ciao bella to the Coronavirus with “l’Amuchina” but it costs the same price as an iPhone.  Other than these, all was normal, just a bit quiet to be a regular day.

By the time I’d finshed aimlessly walking around, picking up things I’d never usually buy (tea for a flat stomach – that’ll keep me going if there’s a famine, olive and almond paste likewise) the sense of anxiety I’d had about starving to death in Milan had completely subsided and my stockpile came to 13.08 euro.

Mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala, has the right idea. I love this clip he posted earlier today on Instagram plugging Milan. Hashtags #milanononsiferma (“milan’s not stopping”) and #forzamilano (“go Milan” or “power to Milan”) are the way forward. Meanwhile, everyone’s dealing with the situation in their own individual way. I’m trying to roll with it, stay practical, rational, stiff upper lip, but once in a while it gets the better of me – this calls for a bit of the old Wim Hof method I think. Here’s some insight into how friends currently feel:

J (English, based in Milan): It’s no big deal, everyone’s probably gonna get it and get over it, just look after yourself and eat well.

N (Italian, based in Milan): This is serious, stay calm, be patient, everyone must do what they feel is best; better if you don’t go out.

I (Belarusian, based in Milan): These things happens, I’m out and about.

C (Italian, based in Milan): Call me when it’s all over.

E (Italian, based in Turin): It’s a cover up job for something bigger; the martians have landed.

Local Rabbi (Italian, based in Milan): Moral of the story – keep kosher.

 

Milan in the time of Coronavirus: Wednesday 26th February: “la cultura è vita” Beppe Sala Mayor of Milan

Cialde & Capsule, Gambara, Milano

I ventured out today, first time since Sunday. I took a stroll down to Gambara to GP’s shop. He sells coffee capsules and vinyl discs. There were people about, but very little traffic. We had a coffee, chatted and listened to a few tunes: the Cranberries and Thin Lizzy and Lucio Battisti, Fabrizio De Andre and Enzo Jannacci. One customer came in and jokingly said to GP, ‘You’re not wearing a mask!’

The press is still on full throttle but it’s not all plague and misery here, people are having a laugh. Things like this video  I CONSIGLI DI NONNA sul CORONAVIRUS (Grandma’s advice on Coronavirus) are good for a chuckle. The quintessential Italian grandmother (down to earth, tough as nails) gives 10 pieces of advice on how to avoid the Coronavirus. Advice number 3: hugging and kissing should be replaced by winking at each other! Meanwhile, the usual form of greeting and saying goodbye – hugging and kissing – HAS been replaced, to some degree anyway, with blowing kisses, or jokingly sticking a foot out, or something silly like that.

And what about dating apps? Are people still using them? I’m not. And I wonder what type of effect this Coronavirus will have on the birth rate this coming November / December? I remember the aftermath of 9/11, in New York; it was as if Manhattan had been sprayed with a magic love potion. Strangers hugged each other on the street, love for your fellow man and woman filled the air. I’m sure the number of babies born the following June must have been higher than usual for the New York area – the human instinct to keep the race alive. Who knows, maybe a study’s been done on it. Here, people are reaching out to each other via whatsapp and FB, (even guys I met on Tinder just reach out to say hello), but it’s a very different vibe to anything I’ve ever experienced before.

Lucio Battisti and Fabrizio De Andre

Mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala put this speech on his Instagram profile. He opens by saying that he was asked to talk about being mayor during the Coronavirus. He answers by giving a run down of his day: he’d visited two day care centres for the disabled, spoke to Prime Minister Conte on the telephone asking him to come and visit us in Milan, he’d also spoken to the Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Roberto Gualtieri, asking for more help, and to the Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini regarding the possibility of reopening cultural institutions because, as he said, ‘culture is life’.  He’s right, culture is life in Milan: musuems, art galleries and cultural institutions are at the heart of this amazing city. I like his attitude. Going back to 9/11, I remember Bloomberg, mayor of New York at the time, urging everyone to keep going out, keep going to your local restaurant, bar, movie theatre. Don’t let the bastards win. Yes, this is different, but we still need to keep Milan kicking. I think it starts with the right attitude.

 

Vinyl disc Enzo Jannacci