Flashbacks

Trapped in a hotel in Milan as the Covid-19 pandemic takes hold – how would you cope?

It seems like I’ve read a lot of books this year that take me back to 2020 and pandemic times – it’s hard to know whether I’ve chosen them to be reminded, or it is just a quirk of timing; all the books written in that strange time finally published and making it to the top of my reading pile in 2025, at that the same time as social media reminds me that it is five years since I… hopscotched in the backyard, made a lot of soup, played mini-golf in a book, got Mr T to check the length of the benches in Hanley Park, and cycled a lot of kilometres without going anywhere.

Sometimes, it’s a casual reference which play a minor part in the plot – mask wearing, strange queueing systems in the supermarket, hunting for covid testing kits, cleaning out cupboards, home exercise, sourdough starters, and outdoor dining only.

Sometimes, it’s the language of the pandemic – lots of words and phrases were new or took on new meaning in that period and seem to have stuck around – social distancing, Zoom and the dreaded “you’re muted”, bubbles, “next slide please”, hybrid working (that’s really a thing now), virtual races, staycations (don’t get me started on that one).

With Hotel Milano, the pandemic was a central part of the narrative. The fear, the uncertainty, the confusion, the isolation. When will life be back to normal?

Sometimes flashbacks can be painful.

It was a strange and confusing time. For a while, it did seem like we would never have normal again. Never meet up with friends again. Never parkrun again.

But there are good memories from that period too; things that pop into my head when reading books like Hotel Milano.

Like the blossom on the trees… I remember taking a lot of photos of the cherry blossoms in 2020. I couldn’t wander too far from home, but it didn’t stop me walking a little loop just to see the blossoms (pictures all taken in April 2020 – look at those blue skies).