Author: crouchfamilydownunder

This week we are on tour as a family in Italy. We had to make a decision about what to do for our summer holidays as it didn’t appear that the UK were going to change the rules about vaccinated expats / tourists being allowed in without quarantine. We decided to go back to Verona, where we have been twice before to the same agriturismo. We knew that the owners of the agriturismo would handle the situation really well and the standard of accommodation is always excellent.

I filled out our online digital passenger locator form and we set off just after 6am on Monday morning. Sat nav reckoned it would take us 5 hours and 20 minutes but this route was going through the Gotthard Tunnel which we were going to avoid. Driving through the San Bernardino Tunnel does add on around 50km but we have never had to queue there and the views at the southern end are stunning.

The journey was going well until just before we got to the Italian border. Sat nav was telling us to take an exit into Chiasso itself instead of staying on the motorway. At this point the motorway looked clear and the traffic was flowing well. We made the decision to ignore sat nav and carry on along the motorway – bid mistake! The traffic came to a standstill just passed the motorway junction. If we had been a few minutes later we would have seen the queueing traffic. We were now stuck in the queue!

Going across the border itself was no problem. There were no passports checks and, more worryingly, no Covid certificate checks. The border police were just standing around looking bored.

The main hold up came in the roadworks just south of the border as one of the tunnels was closed and everyone had to move into one lane. The rest of the journey went well and we were going to be early arriving at the agriturismo. Check in was anytime after 3pm.

We stopped for a break in the small town of Pescantina and found a cafe to get a drink. After this we drove to Negrar but stopped on the wat at a shopping center with a Lidl as we had been told that Italy was great for gluten-free food. Lidl was a complete let down, but in the same shopping center there was a pharmacy that had more gluten-free food than we had ever seen in one place. Bethany was very happy and immediately picked up a number of products she had never seen before.

We also decided to stop at our usual supermarket, Famila, as we were still to early for check in. This supermarket also had a great range of gluten-free food including donuts and muffins. Bethany was in seventh heaven!

We made our way up the winding road to Agriturismo Canova and were warmly greeted by Francesca, even if we were still 10 minutes early. Our rooms were ready and she pointed us in the right direction. This time we were in the new section of the building and had two interconnecting rooms on the first floor.

As always the rooms were excellent and we had a bathroom for each room (both were large and ours even had two sinks). This made the whole ‘apartment’ bigger than the ones we had stayed in before and Bethany had a huge double bed instead of having to fold the sofa bed out every night.

There is a small kitchen area in the bigger room with a two ring hob and all the kitchen equipment needed to make stove top meals. Both rooms had fridges so Bethany had somewhere to store her food purchases too.

We unpacked and had a quick dip in the pool to cool off. Unfortunately practically as soon as we got in it started thundering and lightning. It looked like it was getting closer to us so we beat a hasty retreat.

The weather brightened up pretty quickly and we managed to get out for a quick walk so I could top up my step tracker. Difficult to do 10,000 steps after spending most of the day in the car. Not too much of a chore with the stunning views.

I had already done some online research into local restaurants offering gluten free items on their menu and had found a pizzeria / restaurant in a nearby village that offered gluten free pizza. We had already decided to order to take away on the first night so we could relax. After discussing with Francesca, I also found out that the pizza takeaway in Negrar also offered gluten free pizza across its whole menu. We arranged for Francesca to order the pizzas for us so we could collect at 7pm.

When we arrived at the takeaway at 7pm our pizzas were ready and smelled really good. We drove home quickly to ensure we could enjoy them while there were warm. We had ordered one with sausage, one with ham and the third with grilled vegetables.

They tasted really good and it was definitely the best gluten-free pizza base that we have had so far. As we had had a long day it was time for an early night to be ready to enjoy our holiday.

So it’s been a while since I’ve written a post but that’s because of the dreaded word – Coronavirus 😷 We haven’t left Switzerland since we went to Majorca last summer and looking back we were really lucky to get that trip in before everything started locking down and borders closed again.

We had hoped to be able to go to the UK to visit family during the summer, but although fully vaccinated UK residents can now return from ‘amber list’ countries without quarantining, the same doesn’t apply for people vaccinated outside the UK. The UK government are still looking at how this could be possible and an announcement is ‘imminent’ – so we are not holding our breath!

Due to the restrictions we made a decision a couple of weeks ago to book a midweek break in our favourite agriturismo near Verona for the second week of our holiday.

Bethany is currently at Camp Adventure in Walsrode, Germany having flown there with a friend of her best friend. Her best friend was also supposed to be with them but she unfortunately contracted viral meningitis two weeks ago and has had to stay at home to rest. Bethany was extremely disappointed as this is the last time she will be able to go on this camp. She did, however, meet up with the other girl before they left and they get on extremely well together. We had a phone call from Bethany yesterday and she is having a great time.

So while the cats away, the mice can play! This left us with a few days between Michael’s work appointments to do something on our own for the first time in 16 years. But what should we do?

Coincidentally an advert appeared on my Facebook feed for a spa in Austria 🇦🇹 that looked amazing. It is around 3 hours 30 minutes from home. Staying at the spa itself was outside our budget so I looked for a nearby hotel and found a small chain of hotels which are relatively cheap and reminded me of Premier Inn in the UK – no bells and whistles but comfortable. We’ll find out tonight if it is any good! We will only be away overnight and are booked into the spa for the day tomorrow.

We are currently on the motorway on our way to the Austrian border and hope to arrive at the hotel around 2pm. I look forward to reporting on our adventures later.

On arrival at the hotel we could already see how well prepared they were. The hotel had only opened the same day so we were among the first 170 guests to check in this season.

1) Reception

We followed the instructions and disinfected our hands before following the arrows on the floor to walk up to reception.

The reception desk had plexiglas across the whole desk with three service points. After handing over our passports (without the covers), we were given a form to fill in with our home address. I was given a pen but asked to place it in a bowl on reception when I had finished so it could be sanitised.

We were told that we could go to the restaurant to eat but usually we would need to book our meals in advance. The staff member also explained which restaurants and activities were open and how we could see and book everything on the TUI BLUE app.

2) 40% occupancy

We didn’t know at first, but after talking to staff members we found out that the hotel will currently run at a maximum of 40% occupancy. We had noticed that there only appeared to be guests in two out of eight of the buildings and this would appear to be correct – buildings C and E are currently occupied.

This means that the hotel will have a maximum of 800 guests instead of 2000. This has an impact on the facilities that are open and the number of TUI staff.

Last year there were up to thirty five TUI entertainment staff at the hotel and they stayed in TUI apartments around twenty minutes from the hotel. This year there are currently ten staff, which will increase to twelve next week, and they are staying in building H on site.

There is one main restaurant open instead of two. The Spanish speciality restaurant is only open on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We’ve booked for Wednesday and expect it to be busy.

The take away and a la carte restaurants are also not open.

There are two bars open – the pool bar during the day and ‘The Bar’ by the evening entertainment in the evening.

3) Room / area capacities

All round the hotel are signs saying how many people are allowed to be in an area at the same time.

There is also a limit of 8 people in the gym. We were supposed to book online but we hadn’t been able to find a time where three places were available. In the end we just went down and as there were only three people there we decided to chance it.

As the hotel is only at 40% occupancy none of these limits seem to be an issue. The maximum number of people at the fitness classes has been four!

I think perhaps the activities for younger children get booked up quickly. Luckily this doesn’t affect us anymore.

4) Wearing of face masks

In Spain face masks must be worn in all indoor public spaces, plus in outdoor public spaces where social distancing cannot be maintained.

This means we have to wear our face masks when walking around the hotel, in the restaurants to be served and at the bar when ordering drinks. While seated the face mask can be removed.

This means when we are sitting by the pool, at evening entertainment or at our table in the restaurants we don’t have to wear them. Having to wear them to order food makes understanding what is said a bit difficult and I’ve occasionally been served something when I was asking what it was but that’s a small price to pay.

They can also be removed while taking part in organised activities outdoors – fitness classes, shuffleboard, quoits etc. They also don’t have to be worn in the pool.

In our own room or on the balcony we don’t have to wear them either.

The TUI and hotel staff tend to have masks on all the time unless they are teaching fitness classes or performing at evening entertainment.

We have been for a couple of walks along the beach and most people are not wearing masks while they are walking so we didn’t either.

I went for a run this morning and didn’t wear my mask on the street but I passed a number of other runners who also weren’t wearing masks. I finished my run in the hotel grounds but didn’t put my mask back on as I was trying to get my breath back. There was no one, except the cleaners, around that early anyway.

5) Hand sanitiser

Hand sanitiser is available everywhere around the hotel – entrances to restaurants, by all the bars, by all entrances to reception, by the entrances to the blocks of rooms. We are encouraged to use it while waiting to be seated in the restaurants and at the bars. They are regularly replenished.

6) Food and beverage offering

There is one main restaurant, Green & Grill, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with the Spanish restaurant also open two evenings a week.

Before entering the restaurant everyone has to sanitise their hands and wait to be seated. All serving staff wear masks at all times.

There is one entrance to and one exit from the serving area which is clearly marked and there are distance markings on the floor.

Green & Grill would normally be a buffet restaurant where everyone could help themselves. This would result in lots of people handling the same serving utensils and queues forming at popular sections. Instead the dishes are all behind plexiglas and the staff serve you what you want. There is still a great selection of food for every taste. They would also usually offer themed evenings but these are not taking place at the moment.

Due to the restrictions of the number of people allowed in the restaurant we are asked not to spend more than an hour for breakfast or more than an hour and a half for dinner. As the food is already prepared we would have to want to eat lots or take long breaks between courses to get anywhere near this length of time. I think the longest breakfast we have managed so far was forty minutes and dinner fifty minutes.

Drinks in the restaurant are ordered via the staff who seat us and are usually served in jugs or carafes.

At both bars there are clear markings in place showing where to stand, where to queue and which way to go once served.

The bars also have plexiglas and the staff all wear masks.

7) Cleaning

The team of cleaners are busy all day. As well as cleaning the rooms they are also cleaning the corridor floors and all the handrails in the buildings.

Yesterday we were sitting by the activity pool and the lifeguard was cleaning the handrails by the steps with disinfectant every thirty minutes.

While we were checking in the reception staff were wiping down the desk between each guest and the bar staff do the same.

Today Bethany and I played Can-Jam which involves trying to throw a frisbee into a plastic bin. Emma, from the entertainment staff, was pleased that we were from the same family as it meant she didn’t need to disinfect the frisbee between each throw. They have been given stringent guidelines that they have to stick to. She wasn’t even allowed to pick up the frisbee for us and hand it back.

8) Sun beds and pool use

The sun beds are laid out in threes with a side table and umbrella per group. These three sun beds are in marked areas with 1.5m between groups. As the occupancy is only at 40% there are always free sun beds available all day.

When we arrived we were given a letter from the hotel making recommendations for pool use. This splits the pool day (9:00 to 19:00) in two – 9:00 to 14:00 and 14:00 to 19:00. It then recommended that odd number rooms used the pool for half the day and the even number rooms used it the other half. The halves alternated between mornings and afternoons. We’ve not noticed the staff checking room numbers but we suppose that if the pool got busy they may start checking.

We have mainly been using the activity pool which is so quiet that we often have the pool and surrounding area to ourselves.

9) Directional signage

Across the whole hotel there is directional signage where necessary showing which way would be best to go to help with social distancing. You will already have seen photographs from reception, the restaurant and bars.

At evening entertainment there are lots of markings in front of the stage. There is an area marked within black and yellow tape which the guests are not supposed to be in. There are also crosses on the floor showing where people can stand to dance during the disco section. TUI guides tend to patrol this area to ensure that social distance is maintained.

10) Reservation system and TUI BLUE app

TUI BLUE have an app which contains all the information about the hotel. In the app we are able to book all our meals and also sign up for activities that have a maximum number. This means the hotel staff have an idea how many people will be arriving for meals at different times during the day and the TUI staff know how many people are turning up to their activities. Henry, who is the fitness class trainer, only gets out enough mats and equipment for the number of people registered as he has to disinfect everything before we start and after we have finished.

The restaurants don’t appear to stick to the reservation times as we have never been asked for our reservation in Green & Grill. When we went to The Taverna last night they did check us off on a list. We assume this is more because we are only allowed one visit during our stay.

We had difficulties trying to book in to the gym during the first couple of days so we decided to just go along and see if there were too many people there. The maximum number of people allowed in the gym is eight – the first time we visited there were three people already there so there was plenty of space for us. The other times we have been there was no one there. I mentioned this to one of the entertainment staff today and she managed to book in, so it was perhaps just a glitch in the system.

As soon as the activities are fully booked it shows on the app that it is no longer bookable. This happens regularly with the kids clubs.

Overall we have been very impressed with all the precautions and guidelines that have been put in place to keep everyone healthy. We have definitely felt safe the whole time that we have been on holiday. We have however chosen not to go out of the resort for day trips or other such excursions. We considered going on a glass bottomed boat trip as there is a pick up point at the beach by the hotel but this would have meant wearing a mask all day except when eating and swimming – the weather is really too hot to wear a mask all day. We have had a really relaxing but active holiday in the resort and on the beach.

We had planned to travel to the USA this summer for two weeks. We hoped to visit friends who had moved from Chicago to St Louis and then do a bit of a road trip to New Orleans. It is our daughter’s last big summer holiday before starting work at the beginning of August. She only gets three weeks holiday this year unlike most of her friends who are going on to further education and get five weeks. The first week she spent in Germany at a sport camp with her best friend.

We thought that as the Covid cases seemed to be stabilized in most of Europe that we would travel abroad from Switzerland to get a ‘proper’ holiday rather than a ‘staycation’. We decided that we didn’t want to fly further than two and a half hours due to the need to wear face masks for the duration. For us this meant mainly the Balearic Islands, mainland Spain or Malta. Our travel agent came up with a hotel with room only in Malta or all inclusive in Majorca. We chose Majorca as it was simpler. We didn’t plan to go outside the hotel much and therefore all meals and drinks included was a great deal.

After booking we got all the information from the travel agent about what we had to do to enter Spain 🇪🇸. This meant that when we had checked in for the flight we had to fill in an online form with our personal details, address of the hotel and then answer a few health related questions. After sending this in we each got a QR code which we would have to show before leaving the airport in Palma. All that was left to do was pack.

This should be the link to the online form to be completed before arrival in Spain.

Spain Travel Health

The only difference with packing for this holiday was the inclusion of extra hand sanitizer and face masks.

We set off from home in the car and parked at Zurich airport. We were surprised how many cars were parked on the ‘holiday parking’ section. Our expectation was that not many people were traveling at the moment and more were driving to neighbouring countries rather than flying.

Check in was very quiet when we dropped our bags off.

We then headed through to security passing under the departure boards.

As my husband is a frequent flyer we headed to the lounge to wait for our gate to come up. In the lounge there were a lot fewer tables than normal and instead of self service food there was a staff member serving. Other staff were constantly cleaning floors and tables. Our gate came up about an hour before the flight and at that point it was the next but one flight due to leave. I think the people living near the airport are perhaps enjoying quieter times at the moment.

We made our way to the gate to wait for boarding and donned our face masks 😷 as required for the flight. The Edelweiss staff announced that they would be boarding business class first, as usual, but afterwards they would be boarding by seat rows starting at the back. This was probably to help reduce people having to stand together in the aisle. Unfortunately it didn’t work as well as expected – we were towards the back and there were still people behind us boarding when the front of the plane had boarded.

The flight wasn’t completely full but there were empty seats dotted throughout the plane. Most passengers appeared to be family groups getting away for a summer break like us. As we boarded we were all given a disinfectant wipe to clean around our seat – arm rests, tray table etc. The staff collected the used wipes before takeoff.

The flight crew started to serve drinks once we reached our cruising altitude. We were surprised to get a ‘butterbrot’ (a small bread roll with a slab of butter in the middle) as well as a drink. Our understanding was that there would be no food served on the flight. This was then also followed by a ‘biberli’ (small sweet roll filled with a fruit jam). We were allowed to remove our masks to eat and drink but were reminded to put them back on straight afterwards. The crew also made an announcement about the landing requirements regarding the information required and gave out forms to people who hadn’t already done it. Until 1st August it is also possible to fill out a paper form and hand it in. After 1st August only forms done in advance will be allowed – either in printed form or shown on a mobile device.

We landed ten minutes early which seemed to confuse the staff at Palma airport as we had to wait five minutes until the plane could pull onto its stand correctly so the air bridge could be connected. As usual everyone jumped to to get ready to leave, meaning there was no social distancing at all.

On leaving the plane, with our masks on, we headed for baggage collection. The rules in Spain are that you need to wear a mask in all public enclosed spaces and also in outdoor spaces where social distancing isn’t possible. Most of the travelators were closed meaning it was easier to stay away from people on the walkways. Palma airport was much busier than Zürich had been and it had lots more departures on the boards. On the way through the airport there were lots of staff asking if we had filled out the landing paperwork. For those who hadn’t done it in advance or on the plane there were tables set out with forms so they could fill it out there.

We were all funneled through four desks to either hand in our paper form or to have our QR code scanned. At this checkpoint there were also heat sensitive cameras set up scanning everyone’s temperature. They were so unobtrusive that my husband said “weren’t we supposed to get our temperature checked?” He hadn’t even noticed the cameras. We were then able to continue to baggage collection.

Because we had flown in from Switzerland we had to go to a separate area in baggage collection in order to go through customs. Unusually people were not crammed together collecting their bags but were maintaining social distance. After collecting our bags we went to look for the TUI rep. There were a few of them waiting in arrivals for us. My husband had booked a private transfer for us which was great. We were met at the exit by our driver and taken to a seven seater car. Having the private transfer reduced out transfer time to fifty minutes instead of the ninety minutes that we had been told – less time wearing our masks. This also meant we managed to get to the hotel, check in, leave our bags in our room and get to the restaurant before it closed.

Getting to the hotel felt safe and everyone was trying to stick to the rules. It would be good if the flights could have more empty seats to help with social distancing but I understand the economics of it all. Airlines don’t want / can’t afford to fly planes that are only 50 – 70% full.

I’m going to cover everything about the hotel’s Covid precautions in my next post.

Day 4 – Padua

Padua was another Italian city which I last visited when I was interrailing (30 years ago) but have always wanted to go back to. The only thing I could remember about it was the Basilica of St Anthony.

We arrived in Padua before lunch and after struggling to find somewhere to park started to wander towards the historical part of town. The daily market was still taking place so there were lots of fruit and vegetable stalls set up on one side of the Palazzo della Ragione and clothes and homeware stalls on the other side. Underneath the palazzo there were two alleyways with shops and stalls on both sides.

We walked through the Piazza dei Signori, which is dominated by the clock tower – Torre dell’Orologio. We then wandered behind the duomo and back towards the main square.

We came across a graffiti picture that purported to come from Banksy! but if you look at the rat in the bottom corner it admits that it probably isn’t.

We decided at this point that it was time for lunch and managed to find a restaurant with air conditioning. We all just wanted something fresh for lunch so Bethany and I went for salads which Michael chose bruschetta.

After lunch it was time to try to find the Basilica of St Anthony. We followed directions on my phone and were soon on Via del Santo so I knew we were heading in the right direction. We turned a corner and got our first view of one of the domes that the basilica is famous for.

I wanted to go and have a look inside but Bethany was stopped by a guard just inside the door as her shorts were shorter than what is permitted in the church. She wasn’t that bothered about going in, so I went in on my own and Michael and Bethany found a shady step to sit on.

Inside it was beautifully decorated and although you are not supposed to take photos I managed to take a couple.

Photography was allowed in the cloister next door so I didn’t have to do it undercover.

As I rejoined Michael and Bethany in the piazza, I noticed that it had got very cloudy and I heard a clap of thunder.

We decided at this point to head straight back to the car. As we were walking back we encountered a Padua tram. It ran on one track and had normal tyres like a bus. We had never seen one like it.

We had a short stop at DeSpar to buy something to eat for dinner on the way. The market square had also emptied.

We arrived back at the car just as it started raining. It turned out to be a pretty heavy thunderstorm which made the drive home a bit interesting for Michael.

Just a quick tip for anyone wanting to visit Padua in the future and wanting to see the Scrovegni Chapel (including the frescoes by Giotto of scenes from the life of Christ) – you have to book in advance as tickets are very limited. All visitors have to go through a 15 minute decontamination process and the following visit is only allowed to be a maximum of 15 minutes. I would definitely like to visit if we decide to come back to the area again.

As we had bought provisions in Padua I was my turn to act as ‘mein host’ and cook dinner. It wasn’t too taxing. We had bought fresh tagliatelle and meatballs in tomato sauce with extra tomato sauce because I didn’t think there was enough sauce to coat the tagliatelle. After boiling the pasta in a large pan and heating up the meatballs and sauce in the microwave, I served up my amazing pasta creation.

Bethany declared that it was as good as any other pasta she had eaten this week!

Unfortunately as we had eaten in, it also meant I then had to do the washing up 🧼🧽