Since writing my post on travelling to Italy during the coronavirus outbreak on Saturday, things have changed in Venice. As I said in the previous post, circumstances could change at the drop of a hat. We woke up on Sunday morning to the news that Venice was on lockdown. Obviously, this was an issue for us as on Monday we were travelling from Italy back to the UK.

Was Venice on lockdown?

The first thing we did was go down to reception to speak to the staff there. We could see part of the road from our hotel window and cars and buses were going by regularly. We could also see and hear people walking past. At reception we asked what was going on as the only information we could find online was from the British media who seemed to be exaggerating somewhat.

The receptionist that we spoke to said that we were not allowed to travel to other regions outside of Venice but we were still able to go into the city. As we were staying in Mestre, we needed to get a bus to the main island.  There  wasn’t anything for us to do around our hotel, so knowing we could still go into Venice itself was a relief. At this point British Airways hadn’t said anything about our flight, it hadn’t been cancelled. As far as we knew, travelling from Italy was not a problem.

What was Venice like whilst on “lockdown”?

On the Sunday we spent the day wandering around Venice as normal. We caught the bus onto the island and then got a ferry over to Rialto. From here we spent the majority of the day on foot, walking around the canals and popping in and out of shops. In one independent souvenir shop, the shop keeper told us to stand one metre apart from each other. Although we’d been sharing a hotel room for the previous 3 nights so this wouldn’t help us, we obliged anyway as it was a rule out in place by the prime minister all over the region. Apart from this, nobody else asked us to stand apart. 

There were a few signs up saying that we have to keep a distance from other people. We also noticed that a few places had said they would be closing early, Hard Rock Cafe being one of them. However, Venice was no quieter than any of the previous days. In fact, there was a demonstration going on at Rialto Bridge. A group of women were raising awareness of rape culture in Italy.

In the afternoon, around 3pm, we came across a cafe we’d noticed before. We both wanted to try one of the massive green biscuits we’d seen, so we went in. These pistachio flavour biscuits and the coffees we both had were quite filling. With our full bellies, we decided to continue walking around and would find somewhere to eat around 7pm. There were plenty of people around at this point.

The shutting of restaurants 

There were a lot more restaurants closed than the previous days but it was Sunday. We had read that many places generally did shut on Sundays, so it was no surprise. We went past a few nice restaurants that caught our eye at around 6pm but we weren’t hungry at that point. When we started to get peckish at around 7pm, we turned around and headed back towards the restaurants we saw earlier however we found they were all closed.

Everywhere apart from some takeaway pizza places which didn’t look very appetising were shut. By now, we were so hungry we decided to walk another five minutes to Burger King. Guess what? That was shut too! Knowing that there was a McDonald’s next door to our hotel in Mestre, we checked the opening times (it was open until 1am) and decided to head back. 

We said our goodbyes to the beautiful streets and canals of Venice but were looking forward to a Big Mac and a McCafe tiramisu. However when we got off the bus we could see that even McDonald’s was shut. Our last option was Spar next door but with no kitchen facilities we ended up with another sandwich and Pringles. At least they were a flavour we couldn’t get at home – silver linings and all that. 

British Airways cancelled all flights from Venice 

Back in the hotel, we started to pack up our belongings as we believed we would be travelling from Italy back to the UK the next day. Our flight wasn’t until 16:30, but we wanted to get there quite early in case there were any problems. We had checked in for our flight as soon as check-in opened and we’d had an email from BA saying everything was fine. They advised that if we felt unwell to stay where we were, otherwise we could fly. 

At 21:40 on Sunday evening we received a text and email stating that our flight was cancelled. As I’ve had a cancelled flight before, I knew it was best to start by calling the airline. We immediately called British Airways who didn’t really understand the situation. He said that all flights out of Venice were cancelled until the 15th with the possibility of them extending it.  The person we spoke to told us that if we could drive to Bologna or Florence, they could put us on a flight from there. As you can imagine, neither of us wanted to drive in a foreign country, especially when the journey was over 100 miles. Travelling from Italy seemed almost impossible at this point. We had no information and BA were no help.

Our next idea was to go down to reception to see if any other guests from the UK were in the same boat. We thought that if we did have to hire a car, it made sense to go as a bigger group. There’s also the fact that neither of us wanted to drive. The receptionist couldn’t get hold of any of the other guests, so suggested we try again in the morning. 

Finding an alternative route back to the UK from Venice

We couldn’t get hold of our travel insurance until 9am GMT on Monday morning, so we called the FCO for advice. They were quite useless – we wanted to know if we were allowed to get a train or coach over to a different country. If that was possible, we also wanted to know if we would need to self isolate when we got there. The only thing they told us was to check the government website and sign up for updates.

We decided to try calling BA again, just in case they had any more information. We spoke to a different man who did have some suggestions for travelling from Italy. This time, we were told that there was still a Vueling flight leaving Venice Marco Polo airport at 9:30am going to Barcelona. From Barcelona we could get onto a flight to Gatwick. Unfortunately, as he was booking us onto that flight, it was cancelled.

He then told us that another BA customer had been to Venice train station and had found out that trains were still running. With this information, we knew that we could get down to Bologna. We were booked onto a flight from Bologna to Heathrow at 12:40pm on Monday. We were advised that we’d need a letter from our hotel which states that as British nationals, we are allowed to travel as we were returning home. Our hotel receptionist (a different one to before) knew nothing about this and said we should just travel and show our passports should we get stopped. 

Travelling out of Venice during the lockdown 

We made sure that we booked our train tickets straight away so that all we needed to do in the morning was leave the hotel. We found out that Mestre train station was a 10 minute walk away. There was a train leaving to Bologna at 6:53am and it cost €12.99. 

The receptionist had told us that people were allowed to travel out of and into Venice to get to work, get to hospital and return home. As British nationals, we were allowed to travel as long as we were on our way home. With this in mind, we only expected to see a couple of people around. However, when we left our hotel at 6:20am, the streets were surprisingly busy. There were a lot of people wishing for the buses and the train station was also busy. 

The train to Bologna took just under 2 hours (1 hour 57 minutes) and nobody checked our tickets or asked for our reason for travel. Once we got to Bologna Central station we bought a ticket for the Aerobus which was €6. The journey to the airport took another 20 mins. We arrived at the airport at 9:40am, three hours before our flight ready for any extra checks.

Flying back into London from Italy 

The airport wasn’t very busy when we arrived. We checked in our baggage straight away and we’re told our flight was 20 mins delayed. There was no queue for security, so we went straight through. Our flight already had a gate, so we went and sat there to wait until we were called to board. There were no additional checks of temperature or anything else. 

Whilst sat in Bologna airport, I saw more masks than I’d seen all weekend. There were a lot of Asian people waiting for a flight to Moscow and they all wore a mask as is normal in their culture during times like this. A couple of people even had full on plastic face coverings. Although a lot of people were wearing masks, there was no sense of panic. In the airport, there were no signs about Coronavirus at all.

As we boarded our flight we were given a piece of paper telling us to self isolate if we had been to any of the areas highlighted. Venice was not in that pink area. However, things were changing constantly.

Landing into Heathrow

As we were getting off the plane, the pilot asked us to inform him if we had any symptoms of the virus. There were no other checks in place once we were off the plane. I was expecting temperature checks like we had when we arrived into Venice. We were through passport control, had collected our baggage and left the airport within 20 minutes of landing.

The same poster that we had been handed at Bologna airport was up just before passport control. Apart from this, there were a few people in masks and nobody seemed to be panicking. The poster advises that you call 111 once you are back in the UK from an affected area. I gave them a call as soon as I could. I spoke to somebody from the COVID-19 response team. They explained that I was fine to travel home and once there I didn’t need to self isolate at all. He said that there had been a glitch in the system earlier on in the day. Apparently the wrong information had been given to people travelling from Venice. Although this advice came from the NHS itself, I decided to isolate anyway as a precaution.

Spending two weeks in self isolation

If we had travelled out of Venice yesterday afternoon, we definitely wouldn’t have to self isolate. However, the guidelines changed when we were in Bologna waiting for our flight. Once I got home, I emptied my suitcase and put all my clothes in the wash. Even the ones I hadn’t worn as they were all in there together. I have had a shower and wiped down everything I took with a Dettol wipe. If I get any symptoms of COVID-19, I need to call 111 again. Then they’ll book me in to be seen. Apart from that, I should be fine after 14 days to carry on as normal.

This is a bit of a pain for me, but as I lost my job three weeks ago I don’t have to be anywhere. I had been putting off applying for jobs until after my trip just in case this happened. My plan is to start applying for jobs next week as long as I’ve had no symptoms, so I can arrange any interviews. I’ve cancelled my physio and doctors appointments.

For now, my plan is to continue with my blog – it’s now my main source of income. I also have a wall to paint, clothes to sort out, books to read and a blanket to knit!