Coronavirus: Surviving lockdown blues in an Italian village

My six-year-old daughter said something which perfectly sums up the current mood here: "Mummy, I didn't realise how much I like school."

We're in our sixth week of lockdown, but for schoolchildren it's been two months. They miss their friends, classrooms, text books.

Teachers have been wonderful, sending fun activities interspersed with worksheets and videos. But the novelty of e-learning has well and truly worn off. They miss the reality of school. Not to mention birthday parties. Singing Happy Birthday on the class WhatsApp group just doesn't compare.

It's the same for us adults. A few weeks ago we were organising tea parties on Skype, aperitivi on Zoom... but virtual meetings are more awkward and our enthusiasm has petered out.

We grown-ups can't wait for the day we'll be able to greet each other again with the traditional Italian kiss on both cheeks. Our kids can't wait for the day they'll be able to moan about having to get up early for school.

With four supermarkets for 17,000 residents our village near Bologna is one of the few communities that never has long queues outside.

And Italian supermarkets have never run out of toilet paper, though yeast is hard to get hold of if you want to make bread.

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