The day after our party, on 1 March, Sander and his friend Leo leave for Italy with the first, smaller, transport. The virus is not yet in our future province of Liguria, but to be on the safe side, they spend the night in a hotel in France (just near the border), drive on to Pian del Nasso (about 350 km) the next day in one go, drop off our stuff there and then drive back to the hotel in France to drive back to the Netherlands the next day, Tuesday 3 March. Upon returning home, by now there is real panic in Italy and some panic is starting to trickle into the Netherlands. Multiple infections have now been detected near the border with Germany and Limburg. An additional increase is expected as holidaymakers return from abroad. Since Sander has been in the north of Italy anyway (may or may not have been in THE area and has not been in contact with people), when he returns home he stays away from everyone and so do I (because if he had the virus, I could have it too). On Tuesday 3 March, we hear that fortunately the inheritance deed is in order except for one formality and that the transfer can go ahead on 16 March. Pfff, another load off our minds.

The rest of the week we are busy further clearing out the house and garden and packing up all the paintings, lamps, etc. We make an extra separation of things that will go with the removal van (and we can do without for a longer period of time) and things we will really need for the time ahead. Now that the Corana virus is also hitting the Netherlands, we are seriously taking into account that the moving van might arrive at our place much later than in a month's time....

That weekend, Italy's government decides to lock up a large number of provinces. Including the province of our advisor and estate agent who lives and has offices in the province of Allessandria. Enquiries with him revealed that the transfer could go ahead on 16 March, but that he would not be able to attend because his presence was not necessary compared to the buyer/seller and the notary. In the meantime, I took the plunge and e-mailed Johanna that we understand that we are not allowed in the house yet, but whether we might be allowed to officially rent the Mulino (as always)? Johanna immediately responds, that this is such an absurd situation, that of course we can move into the Mulino! A block of concrete falls off me. The knowledge that we don't have to roam at times of Corana but can go straight on to Pian del Nasso is a blessing!

At 7.30 am on 9 March, the removal van is at our door. It actually goes off without a hitch and by noon our house, garden and garage are empty. Which is nice, because we still have to clear our garden, trade in our car and then pack up. And we also still have to transfer the money to IT (and that can only be done in small portions due to a limit). In short, at 9.30pm, we are finally at our hotel. Sander's brother is there briefly to say goodbye to us when Sander receives a news pop-up that IT is now completely locked. HELP! At that moment, I experience a moment of panic for the first time. We have just transferred our money and now we might not be able to go to IT to take our house away. After a restless night, in the morning we set off from our hotel first to our dear friends Rob and Ymke where our fully packed car was allowed to park in the driveway this night (against burglary). They have placed torches with stars everywhere to welcome us, so incredibly sweet, and I am in tears because I keep thinking we can't enter IT. But all this hospitality and a delicious breakfast make me snapped up completely. It heralds a good end to a bad morning, because an hour later, we hear from our real estate agent Nicolas in Italy that we can enter the country with a statement prepared by him! Moving to Italy appears to be among the reasons why you do get to enter the country. Yay! A concrete block falls off our shoulders. Italy here we come!

When we fill up in Baarn a little later, I hear passers-by muttering, looking at our car: “that's another case of: I'm going on holiday and I'm taking it with me” Inside myself I have to laugh a little, understanding how it must look, such an idiotically packed car with the ski box on the roof. But at the same time I think you guys should know: it's more ‘I'm going to emigrate during the Corona virus and I'm taking with me’. During the drive towards the French border, I am still a bit tense, because suppose we are not allowed in after all? My sister apps that she thinks we are like the Von Trapp family from the Sound of Music who have to flee over the mountains. Well, maybe it's a bit like that. Fortunately, me and Sander have never been to war (and you can't compare it to that either), but I can imagine that it has a slight hint of this because you don't dare to cross the border. Like Sander and Leo a week before, we sleep in the hotel near the border. The next morning we leave for Italy around 09.00. As we drive out of the toll tunnel near Frejus and into Italy, we are stopped by the police after about 15 minutes. We hold our breath, but after reading Nicolas' statement we are allowed to continue! We spend the next 160 kilometres armed with our passports and Nicolas' statement, but without being stopped again we reach Piana Crixia and then Pian del Nasso at 12.30pm! What a relief: we have made it!

Now that we are here, everyone asks us how it is here. “Can you do any shopping?”, we are asked a lot. Honestly, once here at Pian del Nasso, it is lovely and we don't notice much of the C virus. We are here in our own 8-hectare valley in the middle of nature. The first neighbours are 1 kilometre away. Coincidentally, Sander and I just met them while walking our dog (and we've been here for three days) and they too keep a proper distance. We are just allowed to go to the supermarket and there some walk with mouth caps and there are stripes on the ground, behind which you have to stay at the checkout to stay far enough behind your predecessor. What is weird is that while we would normally go somewhere for a bite to eat (the restaurants are closed), we cannot go to shops and or meet friends who live here. And on leaving, we couldn't physically say hello to some of our relatives to avoid the C virus. We cannot buy paint or building materials to renovate our house, but we can probably do that online. So we will try to figure that out now. Fortunately, we have had internet since two days! First, let's get the handover behind us on Monday (then we'll be really happy) and then the rest will come. I say: to be continued....