My summer after the lockdown

Welcome October. Autumn has now arrived, leaving behind a unique summer season. Needless to deny, Summer 2020 was not like all the others. Between masks, social distancing and self-certification, we knew for a long time that our post-lockdown summer would taste quite different from the previous ones.

Until the day before my flight to Naples, I admit that the fear of not being able to leave was there. After months of delayed journeys, cancelled flights and unpaid refunds, I really feared I had to spend my post lockdown summer in the torrid Paris. Arousal was a thousand as for every trip, but at the same time anxiety was felt more than usual. After daily and obsessive controls of the flight tracker I only breathed a sigh of relief on the morning of departure, seeing that the flight was confirmed. I would finally embrace my family, see my friends again, take a bath in the clear sea of Abruzzo again this year.

I was worried but happy at the most. And never like that I felt grateful for life and to the opportunity of power, once again, to take flight.

The airport

According to friends, I imagined a ghostly atmosphere at the airport. But I was still in the middle of a torrid August preceded by months of confinement. Parisians, just like me, were dying to leave.

When I arrived at the departure area I found the chaos to which I was accustomed and fond of: long queues to check luggage, bulky trolleys to drag, travelers in crowds. In the eyes of people I did not read fear; their gaze, partly blurred by masks, seemed nevertheless serene.

Paris-Orly didn't seem like an airport in the middle of the pandemic for a moment. Everything had remained the same last time. Time seemed to have stopped in March, and then resumed to turn gradually in August.

First stage: between Campania and Abruzzo

Next stop: Naples. And unlike Paris-Orly, here the impact of the pandemic has been felt.

The small airport of Capodichino has gone from being a meeting of colors, scents and pleasant buzz to looking like a desert. Closed shops, empty corridors and no froth of friends and relatives to the area arrive, inaccessible so as to avoid any assembly. My family was waiting for me at the entrance, equipped with masks and well spaced even by me, that I narrowed shy hugs after eight months of distance.

It all seemed strange, absurd and surreal, but I quickly realized that I should get used to that completely new situation. At the end of the day it was not even so difficult: beyond the security measures and the rare manifestations of affection, I would have had my summer, and I was very happy.

I would have had those little, priceless joys that no lockdown would have taken away from me: the Abruzzo sea, the sun on the skin, the barbecue in the garden, family laughter.

Ten days of vacation, spent between Caserta and the city of Vasto, have so flown.

Compared to the other years it was a much less lively summer, marked by the slow and relaxed rhythms of the beach, the walks to the sea, the afternoon yoga and the long family chats. Closed rooms, canceled events, some dinner at the restaurant and little social life. But this has not been a boring summer; indeed, perhaps one of the most enjoyed in recent years. After the strong tensions linked to the lockdown, never like this year I needed a timeless summer, without hours, under the banner of slow and lightness.

The pandemic made 2020 a year too fast and hectic: months have passed without realizing it, every single precious moment of life has passed almost unnoticed. During this summer post lockdown I decided instead to maximize my time, enjoying it moment by moment and without taking anything for granted. And so a short holiday, in a place to me well known, seemed intense and exclusive as a trip to the Maldives.

It is amazing how our perception of things changes when we really learn to value our time.

After August, with the most tanned skin and the most pulsating heart, I then took flight to the next stage of my adventure: the enchanting Sicily.

Second stage: Western Sicily

Another ride with the shortest flight I've ever taken. Not even the time to fasten my seat belts in Naples that I found forty minutes later, in the beautiful Palermo, ready for a journey to discover Western Sicily much more beautiful than I hoped.

Like all the best things, this holiday was born by chance, in the most complete improvisation and just following the lockdown. A group of nine friends scattered between France and Italy and with great desire to see each other again.

Between cancelled flights and possible restrictions, we risked our Sicilian dream shattered. But then fate played in our favor, of course always in full respect of the rules in force.

Nine friends, two cars, a little music, breathtaking views and nothing more: enough to make a trip unforgettable.

Adventure on the road started at crystalline Bay of the French of Mongerbino, then continue towards Cefalù, Trapani, San Vito lo Capo and the incredible Zingaro Reserve. Not even the kilometres on foot, the forty degrees in the shade, the obligation to mask and the low pressure were able to hurt so much joy, especially in view of the Sicilian delicacies that every evening were waiting for us at dinner.

Backpack on shoulders and flip flops, it was then the turn of a memorable boat trip between Levanzo and Favignana, under the banner of relaxation and diving in the clearest sea I have ever seen. Following a great lunch in Erice, a jump in the Greek magna in Segesta, a last dive in Capaci and then return to the beautiful Palermo, last stop before saying goodbye to Sicily and returning to everyday Paris.