Day 349 – EU – Italy [Rest Day in Milan]

19/03/21

 Rest day in Milan (Italy, Europe)

Enjoying a beautiful Spring day in Milan, sunshine and blue sky over a truly magnificent city

Il Duomo di Milano

I woke up at dawn again today, thinking I have already covered 12,000kms and tomorrow will be my 300th marathon since I have started this journey. It’s a strange thing to wake up to this realisation whilst being in Milan, Italy, nearly exactly where I was 1 year ago when the first national lockdown in the world was declared. On one side, not much progress has been made – I’m still in Europe and all other continents are still closed. On another side, I am making ground, running, having crossed 15 countries so far… and finding freedom wherever possible.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

I went for a long walk through the streets of Milan. It seemed to me a fairly normal day. People were out in the streets (wearing masks), the roads were busy with traffic, all kinds of shops were open (clothes, cosmetics, electronics…). I stopped by the local Decathlon to buy two pairs of shorts as the weather is getting warmer. I bought a dish of pasta which I was allowed to eat at the table, outside the restaurant. Whatever this lockdown entails, it certainly has nothing to do with the strict and non negotiable lockdown of 2020.

Sforzesco Castle

The situation in Italy is: hotels remain open (for both tourism and business), outdoor exercise (solo) is authorized unrestricted, all shops are open, restaurants and indoors entertainment venues are closed. As far as the world run is concerned, the conditions are there to allow for it to continue. I will keep going. My immediate destination is south Italy, towards Napoli. I will then cross over to the east coast of Italy (Bari) and head back north towards the Slovenian border.

The statue of Hercules Rose on the Piazza del Duomo

The idea is to re-join Maribor (where I got stuck in November) and cross into Austria before taking a straight line towards Istanbul. This is just “the idea”. I have made so many plans to date that I had to scrap and I have so many times started again from a blank page… that I would not like to give anyone the idea that this is how it will unfold… this is just a possibility!