Reporting back - still in Italy

Thank you for the report Mike...
Gosh... I'm just itching to go there...
Quick question, how was the train ride?? Did everybody social distance in train? Did everybody wore mask?
Is there indoor dining in Rome now??
Just to edit, is entrance to Vatican and Colisseum increased in price due to Pandemic? or remained the same.
thanks again.

Excellent. Enjoy!!!

hi - and in response to Gene,

I'm not sure if you have travelled in Italy / are familiar with the trains, etc, so please forgive if you are - here goes:
without wading into politics of any kind, i will put out to the forum that although we are careful and respectful of rules, culture etc, we are not particularly 'firghtened' by this virus, otherwise we would likely not be doing the kind of intensive travelling we have/are doing right now.
The airlines and trains are doing their bit with masks and everything you would expect. People here for the most part (outside Italy we found people to be less rule inclined) wear a mask as required. Despite the media (!) mask wearing in the street, regardless of the time of day is rare. Mercifully, there is a lot less signage with long lists. They keep it simple here - a picture of a mask and a pretty strict expectation that it is worn indoors in public places.

Indoor dining is very much happening and it is wonderful. other than wearing a mask to your table and if you are moving to the restroom, life is normal.
I hope this answers your questsions, but if you have more, I will do my best to answer them. People on this forum seem to be very helpful and I wish to be as well.

forgot to answer re Vatican.
We were there a couple of days ago. Sadly, there is virtually no one there. As nice as it is to walk in (free to enter the Vatican itself), it is a bit eerie. A mask is required, but pictures can be taken with ease.
We also took the necropolis tour, which is limited to a maximum of 6 people per group and 165 people per day. This is due to the fragility of the excavation/oxygen rather than Covid-19. For the same reason, it is necessary to buy a certain type of mask from the office - 4 euros each. Very worthwhile and fascinating but not for anyone who is unable to stand for 2.5 hours or who is in any way claustrophobic. I don't believe the prices have increased.

Thank you Mike,

I think you may be confusing Vatican museum with St. Peter's Basilica which has always been free to enter, but Vatican museum always have entrance fee associated with it.. And they enforce no Picture taking inside Vatican museum..
Just wondering if the must see places like Vatican or Colisseum's entrance fee has changed fee to accommodate increase expense associated w/pandemic.

mikes dream; thank you.

Just a correction to a post above: Photography is very much Allowed inside the Vatican Museums. And what I would give to be there now to do so without the crowds (although the reason for the lack of crowds is extremely sad). What is Not allowed is the use of flash (harmful to works of art) and photography inside the Sistine Chapel.

To Gene,
thanks - I had meant St. Peter's rather than the Vatican (museums), which I was using in a generic sense. In any event, I did not notice any identifiable increase in prices anywhere related to Covid. If prices have increased (my impression overall, including restuarants, etc, is that they have not at all) they have been included in the price.
Hope that helps

Mike this is awesome. Glad you are able to do this. Don't know if you could elaborate on the 14 days you spent in Europe before entering Italy, but that would be interesting to hear, in terms of what you were able to do and see at that time and whether you had any enforced or suggested quarantinish downtime at the start.

Mike,

It's great to hear you're having such a wonderful time on your trip. Reading your comments makes it very tempting to book a flight and head over there. However in my case there's still the issue of travel medical insurance, which won't be available for me until after the government removes the Avoid All Travel restriction.

As someone else mentioned, I'd be interested to know where you spent the two weeks prior to entering Italy.

Ken, that's interesting. I bought a policy, US of course, that covered COVID before and during, as well as all the other suspects. Canadian law makes this impossible? Not questioning it, just interested.

we are still in Rome at the moment, and have thankfully not needed to use our Covid policy. We are Canadian and with the current travel government advisory, Canadian insurers are prohibited from issuing travel insurance, or rather the government restrictions nullify the insurance.
I realize this forum is mainly Americans, but the principles are the same I believe in the U.S.
We did in fact find coverage that is valid only in Europe and does specifically include protection for covid. This is printed on the insurance certificate. Check out heymondo.com or search for the app if you like. The insurance is issued by AXA which is a huge multi national. The limits are alot lower than you would be used to seeing, but as you may know, health care costs are much lower to begin with. In reality, if you had the bad luck to catch covid (and who would necesserally even know what that's what it was), many hospitals in Europe are not geared to a private insurance model, so billing is not top of mind.
Anecdotally, hospitals and the facilities are rumoured to be best in northern Italy (seemingly consistent with the allocation of funding in the country). Germany has the highest per capita hospital beds in Europe from my understanding.
In any event, realistically, anyone travelling, especially at the moment, is likely to be pretty healthy - self selection. The biggest risks we have found in Italy are the usual suspects: risk of twisted ankle or broken bone from uneven cobblestones, weight gain from delicious gelato, neck strain from gawking at the overwhelming beauty of the art work, or being run over by 3 police (real story) that were chasing someone - we didn't see their lights as we were looking around, and they had their sirens off.

For perspective, we are a husband and wife couple in our early sixties, pretty fit and experienced travellers as far as Europe goes. We plan to see as much as we can while we are in good shape. We extended our trip once while over here, as the airline ticket allowed it at no change. If we had more time, we would go and see Venice again without the crowds. It is perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity to see sights that are usually so crowded. Walking around the basilica in peace was something of a miracle.
Will write more later about route before Italy.

hi again, as requested, more info on our pre-Italy travel:
we departed from Toronto to Munich. This will be round trip as Air Canada isn't flying to/from Rome at the moment re Canada's (not very friendly) prohibition on pretty well any countries. Canada has very low virus numbers, however, there is currently a 14 day quarantine on arrival in Italy for Canadians. To avoid that, we checked the tool on the Air Canada website which is pretty clear on which countries have no arrival quarantine. (Canada requires a 14 day quarantine on returning to the country - which we are fine with, but we also understand we will be offered a free covid test at Toronto to avoid quarantine if we want one). Sorry, if there is too much detail, but trying to give as much relevant info as possible.
So - arrival in Germany (we have been many times) - we were asked how long we would be staying - more of a casual question I think - we indicated 5, which was true based on our itinerary. On day 6 we travelled by train to Prague (Czech Republic) and had a marvellous few days, with great weather. We then took a Flixbus (somewhat reduced train options at moment), which was convenient, very inexpensive and took us where we wanted to go. Flixbuses are comfortable and have a small toilet facility on board. Very inexpensive and easy way to travel. Masks must be worn, but the buses were full and no fuss was made.
We then travelled again by the bus (like a motor coach) into Poland - we toured Auschwitz and Birkenau - a tough and full day, but again an opportunity without hours of line-ups and crowds. Still quite busy but according to our driver and tour guide, a mere fraction of the ususal crowds. We also visited Dresden in the Saxony region of eastern Germany and Nuremberg - both very well worth a visit, with moderate crowds and fortunate weather.

We took a train into Italy from Munich, through Austria to Verona. For those familiar with the ease of travelling through the Schengen countries, it is seamless and without passport control etc. This time, as we passed from Austria into the Italian border (usually a non event), the Deutsche Bahn staff came around and asked everyone to sit in the window seat as this is a requirement of the Italians, who I think are simply trying to do their best with the virus. There were a bit of musical chairs as people shifted. Perhaps the ticket sales are limited such that the numbers are fewer crossing the Italian border, The police did board the train and simply walked through. Masks must be worn at all times unless you are eating or drinking and packages were distributed a couple of times with wipes and water, etc. Not really a big deal. Beyond that, once we got moving again and into Italy, all was as normal. The trains within Italy (there are many + regional) are running and seem quite full. People need to live their lives.
We travelled around other countries before going into Italy to be respectful of the Italian laws should this come up. Realistically, we could have gone in much sooner with the routes we took. You just need to get to continental Europe, be reasonably careful as always.

When I read press and comments about deferring travel to 2022 and even 2023, if that is the case, think of the pent up demand and how crowded things will be - never mind expensive. Each person must assess his risk tolerance and desire to travel.
We still work a bit, so were able to attend to some emails, a couple of zoom meetings etc and still see plenty. I wish each of you the possibility of safe travel.

one more thing - the whole issue of quarantine on arrival, etc is not related to citizenship, it is the issue of having been in certain countries (higher or lower risk) for the two week period before entering Italy that counts.
Buon viaggio

Thanks Mike for the report!
About trains there is a limit of people can enter into each coach, if I'm right the 75% of total seats. On long distance and bullet trains is easy to control, because you purchase your own seat number. On local trains is more difficult, because you purchase a free ticket (the one to be obliterated before go on board). The same rule is valid on buses and coaches.
One important think to be kept in mind: this laws are valid usually one month! Often are confirmed and extended again, sometimes are changed. Depends how the epidemy evolve. Is possible next month are allowed more people on trains, or less. For example some days ago some Regions decided to make mandatory wear masks even outdoor.
In general we can say that everything is allowed and if you wear a mask you can do what you could before Covid. The bigger restriction are on mass event (fairs, exhibitions, sport matches...). There are still a lot of controls but at the moment everything is evolving smoothly (and we are not experiencing the high increasing rates are happening in France and UK).

social distancing in Italy - 1 metre (approx 3 feet)

social distancing in Germany - 1.5 m (approx 4 1/2 feet)

for anyone who is interested. Europe is densley populated and I think people are doing quite well with here the pandemic in terms of being out and about - great to see

If possible Could you post some photos using Google Photos or Instagram? Thanks

James E,

"I bought a policy, US of course, that covered COVID before and during, as well as all the other suspects. Canadian law makes this impossible? Not questioning it, just interested."

To put it succinctly, in my case "it's complicated". It's not as much a question of Canadian law as it is the products offered by the various travel insurance companies here. Getting travel insurance was much easier in the past but now I have to deal with the added aspects of age (late '60s) and existing medical conditions.

In my case, I was provided with a medical insurance policy for a specific amount as part of my retirement benefits, but that amount is on a declining balance. As the benefits are used, the available amount reduces. This is something that was negotiated in the collective agreement for my specific employment, and not something that is common in Canada. The amount provided is reasonable for typical travel medical needs, but if something serious occurred in some countries such as an M.I. (involving ICU or other specialized care), that coverage could be depleted very quickly. For that reason, it's a very good idea to get a supplemental policy that covers anything above that policy.

When I researched insurance companies to get the supplemental insurance from, it quickly became apparent that many insurance companies will tap into whatever other benefits I have before ever paying a nickel on the travel insurance. Based on my experience on a past trip to Italy where I had to use the travel insurance, I know that to be a fact. They wanted information on my provincial health plan, credit card medical coverage and anything else I had.

Of the companies researched, I found one that would "interface" with my existing coverage. The most critical benefit I'm trying to protect is my retirement extended health coverage, which is also provided on a declining balance basis. Many travel insurance companies will drain that also when paying off a medical claim, whereas the company that I'm dealing with now won't touch it. That insurance company has stated recently that they won't provide coverage until the Canadian government removes the Avoid All Non Essential Travel advisory.

The other issue at the moment is that I can't afford either the time or money to spend two weeks in quarantine on arrival in Europe, in addition to the actual trip. I'll also probably enjoy the trip more when there are fewer "complications" such as wearing masks, etc.

On a somewhat related note, one of our local travel experts here provided some interesting facts on her usual Thursday morning segment on the morning news. Three of the Canadian airlines have recently partnered with insurance companies to provide "Covid Insurance". However as usual, it pays to read the fine print. In some cases, the maximum amount they will pay is $200K. If one contracted Covid and required ICU, ventilator or other specialized care, that could be depleted in a few days. More importantly, these policies typically do not provide coverage for any other medical problems, so it's still necessary to get a medical insurance policy to cover things like injuries, heart problems or whatever.

I've pretty much given up on the idea of international travel for this year. There's also the issue of going to an area that is facing a resurgence of the virus, and is less safe than here at home. I hope to do a few road trips within B.C. but haven't managed to do that yet. At the moment, this is the "safest" place to travel.

All very complicated, but you are approaching it with great reason and consideration. So many variables in life; brings to mind another current thread about generalizations. I applaud your thinking.