What a peculiar summer this is: if it weren’t for the unbearable heat, it wouldn’t feel like a summer at all. Don’t get me wrong, Italians didn’t renounce to their Ferragosto-by-the-sea tradition, in fact, they’ve been letting loose a tad too much, if we look at the mild yet steady increase in Covid-19 infections of the past couple of weeks.
It’s the atmosphere that is different: you walk around with a smile on your face, in a cloud of sunscreen-scented air, but the heavy, thick stench of anxiety lingers nevertheless. It’s not only a matter of psychology, though. It’s an economic issue, too, of course.
