Two weeks since the lockdown was lifted. Austria has had 16,358 cases, and 635 deaths, There are 190 in hospital right now, 31 of which are in the intensive care units. Figures taken from the official update Friday 22 May. No second wave right now.

Masks are everywhere. The most popular place to keep them seems to be hanging from the rear view mirror, followed up closely by in the pocket, or hanging around the neck, or pushed down under the chin. All the restaurants and bars have reopened, and life is moving on. The hospitality staff wear masks or visors. I had to laugh yesterday in Linz, I walked by a waiter serving on the terrace with his visor pushed up onto the top of his head in a kind of duck bill way. I fully understand. Talking with one of those plastic sheets in front of your face is awful. Still people are making the best out of it and not wearing them when you don’t have to. Except those that do, and these are the ones you see driving their cars with their masks on. Really? Folks are social distancing of course, to the best of their abilities. That did not include a huge group of leather-clad bikers at a burger stand yesterday. I guess there were around fifty of them, and at least thirty huge bikes. Definitely all one family.

Conclusion? Masks on public transportation, in supermarkets and shops, banks and post offices, gas stations and the like? Everyone is doing it. Still, I do not see it catching on long term.

The countries around Austria will open their borders over the next month, that is the plan. And I cannot wait to go down to the beach in Italy for a few days. I am also planning a few days in Switzerland mid-summer, and will go on the train. Scotland was on the cards but I don’t see a trip to the UK happening this year.

Restaurants are slow, business is not back to usual by any stretch of the imagination. Shops the same. Economy suffering. I cannot imagine how bad the tourist industry is gonna suffer. The government is really pushing the “Holiday in Austria this year and help the industry” theme. Fair enough.

Cookie Kitchen is back in swing, but not as busy as usual. Yet.

MEANWHILE ……………

I have never had a Holy Grail anything, that is until now. Fanfare. Tara introduced me to the NARS Soft Matt Complete Concealer a couple of years ago. It is amazing stuff. However, she also gave @b.londeswuder a sample of the IT Bye Bye Under Eye Full Coverage Anti-Aging Waterproof Concealer. Well I tell you, the IT stuff is incredible. It’s amazing. The texture, the consistency, the coverage, the colors, the tube it is in. The tiniest amount is all you need. My daughter is as blown away by it as I am, we bought our tubes together. Superb stuff. It stays put, does not melt, does not dry out, and I have ordered back ups. The NARS comes a very close second, but second is not quite enough.

Malle’s Rose & Cuir has been my Scent of the Post-Lockdown.

So where y’all at?

“Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” Monty Python. Life of Brian.

CQ.

Saturday 2 May – Friday 8 May.

Life is pretty normal for me now. The restaurants re-open next week which means I am back to my cookie prep this weekend, and on Tuesday I will have the first Cookie Run (my weekly delivery to Salzburg) in about eight weeks, I will be wearing Malle’s Rose & Cuir. The longest break I have had from work since we started the business some twenty years ago. Despite it being a bit weird at the beginning it has been a pretty relaxed time. I know the I am both privileged and lucky to be able to say that. So many people have lost their jobs, are still in lockdown, are having to teach, feed, and keep kids happy. People have died, people are sick. I am aware.

I delivered some cookies to a store in a huge shopping mall just outside of Linz. As you know masks are mandatory inside shops and buildings, public transport and so on. We spent a good hour walking around the mall and I tell you this. There is no way I am gonna do that again. By the time we left we were ready to freak out. It’s like you can’t think properly with the mask on. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not against masks in any way. They serve a purpose and were necessary to get us out of the lockdown. We drove on into Linz city. I have no problem going into a shop on the high street wearing a mask, when you come out you can take it off. That is doable. But a shopping mall? No chance, I hate them at the best of times.

In the Linz harbor, there are a lot of warehouses, containers, and cranes. The whole area has been pimped up by turning into a graffiti gallery. Some of the artworks are enormous. The artists came from all over the world, and it is quite a hotspot. It was not really open when we were there, but that has never stopped my husband and we were on our bikes so we just biked through the whole area. Very cool.

I am trying to call it physical distancing now, and not social distancing. Makes more sense.

My cat continues to be fine, and I continue to find lurking bloody sneeze drops in the bathroom.

That is really about it. The drama of the last few weeks has died down for me, back to business as usual. Well, not quite. Gyms are not open yet, that will be at the end of the month. But I have done at least four proper workouts a week over the last eight weeks and am dead chuffed with myself. So —– I will pop back in a fortnight with an update and see how it is going with all of you in different countries. Anything dramatic should happen just drop it into the comments here at anytime, Tara and I wanna keep up.

Lockdown Free Perfumes of the Week.

Chanel 1957 and Boy. Frederic Malle – Une Rose. Vero Profumo – Mito Extrait. Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur Extrait and a ton of Bombay Bling.

“And you may ask yourself, well how did I get here?”  Talking Heads.  Once in a Lifetime.

CQ.

Tomorrow at 07:30 I will be at the hair salon. And taking brownies for the reopening.

Saturday 25 April – Friday 1 May.

It is Friday morning and I am writing this update a little earlier than usual. It’s my radio show tonight and wanna get ahead of myself. Today is May Day and a national holiday here. It is also the first day of no lockdown. That ended at midnight yesterday. Seven strange weeks.

The rest of the shops will open tomorrow, the shopping malls, etc. I am guessing that the fire brigade, or police, or army, will be patrolling the parking lots of the bigger complexes. After living with the same furniture for seven weeks, IKEA would be your first stop huh?

Restaurants will open on the 15th, which is what I have been keeping my eye on, as my cookie business depends on that happening. Four adults will be allowed at a table, along with their kids if applicable. There will be social distancing between tables of course, but not at the table you are on. Obviously. Waiters and waitresses, and the cooks, will wear masks. You cannot choose the table you want to sit on. I think you may have to put on a mask if you get up to move around the restaurant or go to the bathroom, but don’t quote me on that.

Churches and some schools will open at the end of May, as will hotels and swimming pools. There are certain rules accompanying these openings, just ask me in the comments if you really wanna know. Universities will stay online for the moment.

We can meet up with friends again and legally go hangout with Oma and Opa for hours. Masks will remain mandatory in all shops, and on public transport. I will update you on theaters and cinemas and stuff when there is information.

Life has felt much more normal the last couple of weeks, but then when you look around in the supermarket and everyone is masked you know things really have changed. I mean I now keep a mask stash in the car. As one does.

This is my cat before the drama and after the drama and when there is no drama tbh.

CAT DRAMA

Tuesday evening the cat suddenly got a nosebleed. And by that I mean the blood poured out of her nose and it did not stop for 20 minutes. We called the vet who told us to put her in her carrying box to calm down, and to go to the vet in the morning. The bleeding slowed down as she sat in the box, and if a cat can look green, she did. So did we. She started to rub her head on the bars of her box, and I chose to let her out as I was sure that would start it all up again. I Googled it and then stopped as I did not want to read about cat tumours. She went out and hung out on the balcony most of the night, and appeared normal enough in the morning. Until she went into the bathroom and sneezed. It looked like a scene from Carrie. I put her in the box and headed to the vet. We got seen immediately. He checked her mouth and teeth and throat and ears, took her temperature and all that was okay. He did say that if it was a tumour in the nasal passages he would not be able to detect that and we would have to go to a specialist. She got an antibiotic and cortisone and who-knows-what-else shot and we went home. Yeah well, three days later and she appears to be fine again. I know it could recur but hope it doesn’t as that would indicate a bigger problem. I went and bought her some special cat treats and some new expensive gourmet cat food, She rejected the lot. So far, so good.

(Last week of the easing up) Lockdown Perfumes of the Week.

Frédéric Malle – Portrait of a Lady and Dans Tes Bras. Vero Profumo – Rubj EdP. Chanel – 28 La Pausa. Neela Vermeire – both of the Mohurs.

No lockdown, semi-lockdown, who-knows-when-it-will-end-lockdown? Update us all please.

“You keep me running round and round, well that’s alright with me, nothing, nothing, nothing’s gonna step in my way. Living on the ceiling, no more room down there, things fall into place, you got the joke, fall into place.” Blancmange. Living on the Ceiling. 1982.

CQ.