Quarantine in Fano
We arrived in Rome on the 7th of May, a sunny day and had absolute perfect ease clearing customs - this despite many forms and personal declarations we had to give regarding our quarantine location and Covid tests. One (scary) form pertained to our luggage contents and as we had 4 massive dive bags full to the brim with all sorts of kit, some of which could be deemed prohibited, we were concerned this would be a problem. And we listed everything we thought might be trouble, i.e. full medicine kit for Waiata amongst other things. Yet it was not. At the bag check point the man checking these forms first asked where we’d come from. When we replied New Zealand he just waved us through without even looking at or taking them. Grazie Italia!
Our 10-day quarantine location is Palazzo Rotati in Fano, an historical building converted to a lovely hotel. The proprietor Gabriella and her team have been exceptional. While this hotel does not have a restaurant attached to it, she cooks for us and it is amazing! Just when you think you’ve had the most exquisite meal, the next night something equally delightful arrives. As many who have done a quarantine will attest to, the most exciting part of the day is getting your meals! Initially we tried staying wine free but we’ve slipped on that stance, the food is too good to go without. And the wonderful team at ITA Catamarans had left us three delicious bottles of wine, so, well, we had to.
The room is spacious and we overlook the quintessential Italian brick tile rooftops and a church whose bell rings quite often. We look down on cobbled streets, the citizens all masked walking about. There are four flights of wide stairs that we have built into our daily work out, 10 x up and down. Also plenty of room for yoga and stretch. There’s a nice garden area where we can take some sun (good for Covid protection!) and the resident pooch Jack is fun to observe and play with. So all in all, we haven’t got it bad. We’d be lying if we said we’re not itching to walk the 10-minutes down the road to meet Waiata, but there will be time for that once we’ve completed our quarantine. Today we will take a at home Covid test to track our status. Day 10 we meet with the health authority for another and then we’re free!
