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.

“Life’s a bleach and then you die.” George Takei Tweet 24 April.

Saturday 18 April – Friday 24 April.

Life is moving along. The rest of the shops will open on May 2, including hairdressers. I am seriously counting the days! Schools go back between the 4th of May and the beginning of June. Staggered. Restaurants and hotels as planned on the 15th of May. That should have me back with some sort of Cookie Run. I am not yet sure of the new rules that will be put into place but they will include masks somewhere. I honestly don’t mind any more. If wearing them is what it takes then so be it.

A friend lost her father to C19 last week.

I baked up and delivered some cookies to one of the MyIndigo (the company I supply) stores in Salzburg. They have a new guy doing their marketing and running their social media accounts. He wanted a picture of me. Not a hope in hell with this hair. So I substituted my head, as one does. I also saw how difficult it was to have a proper conversation with people whilst wearing a mask. And it turns out that the marketing dude used to work with Zenology, Jeroen Oude Sogtoen’s brand. (Also of Mona di Orio). Seriously.

Fragrant Tidbits

It was two years ago this week that I was in London with Portia. We also met up with Neela Vermeire and her husband at the same time, at the Art and Olfaction Awards. As mentioned in my last four CV19 posts, I have been wearing NVC Mohur EdP a lot. This week has been no exception, and my daughter (@ b.londeswunder) came home for a few days and stole my Mohur travel. AND the highlight of the week? I got a travel of Mohur Extrait in the post. Richer, more condensed, deeper, warmer smoother. Sandalwood and kid leather. Good things come to those who wait. I was and still am as excited as a child. That perfume can to do that to me is a rare joy, and one I live for.

Portia filming our thoughts on Roger Dove in Harrod`s.

My girlfriend drove down to the Italian border yesterday, just to see if it really was shut.

As we move onto the next stage of opening the country back up, and there will be many, I know that a lot of you are still in stricter lockdowns. My posts may get shorter, but I will continue them until the last reader is free. So please don’t stop with all of your updates.

(Still easing up) Lockdown Perfumes of the Week.

Hiram Green – Lustre. Ormond Jayne – Woman. Mona di Orio – Musc. NVC – Mohur EdP and Mohur Extrait. Vero Profumo – Rubj Extrait. Chanel N°5 Dry Oil.

“Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town? We danced and sang and the music played in a de boomtown.” JERRY DAMMERS. GHOST TOWN. 1981.

CQ.

This is a fairly rushed idea of the week with an eased up lockdown. I had planned to take some time with it but then the radio show happened. So much for sunbathing and writing a blog post.

Saturday 11 April – Friday 17 April.

I just this second got back from doing my Baking Bad with the Cookie Queen live radio show. It was planned that I return on the 1st of May, but they called today and asked if I wanted to do a two hour show tonight. I had nothing prepared but said yes anyway. So excited to go back. A little bit of normality. I have the playlists from the last ten show so just picked a few tunes from them. Apart from disinfectant bottles in every corner, and wiping down the equipment before and after the show, it was pretty much the same.

Easter was nice. We went to my in-laws after four weeks of isolation. We had a socially distanced schnitzel in the garden, and only stayed a couple of hours. Was a really hot day which made hanging out on the lawn, with them in their garden house ideal.

Tuesday saw the reopening of all the shops under 400 square meters, all garden centers, and the hardware and building supplies stores. This included our shop. In case someone is reading this who does not know – we have a bike and cookie shop. My husband was and is absolutely snowed under. Manic. So much work. It has gone crazy. High season overnight, There is usually bit of a build up around before Easter, but it was shut then. I made some cookies for some of the stores I supply, and delivered them myself, for them to give away to their order-and-pick up customers. The restaurants and hotels will not reopen until at least the middle of May, so we all do what we can to support each other.

We have to wear masks in all the stores now and also make sure our customers are wearing them too. Everyone is just doing it though. And you could feel a lightening up in the air with the change in the lockdown. Social distancing will go on for months obviously. There will be no large events until the 31st of August, if then. I cannot imagine summer here without all their different fireworks and fests and ……. but I know that is gonna be the scene for all of us, wherever we are.

Not much else to report really. Bumbling along in this new reality. I did have one morning where I burst into tears in the shower. Not that it helped much! I should know to have coffee beforehand. I washed and ironed our cotton facemasks and no way in a million years would I ever have imagined I would be doing something like that. And yet here we are.

If you feel so inclined update us here at ABR as to how your lockdowns are going. I know I have an easier time than many others. Don’t get me wrong, it has been the strangest of months, and my old life seems like a dream, but it has not been hard, not really. You wanna know what really stresses me, big time? The USA government and the lockdown stories there. I have had to stop looking at it, as it makes me so upset and so angry.

(Easing up) Lockdown Perfumes of the Week.

Malle – Rose & Cuir. Lutens – Un Lys. Jorum Studios – Trimerous. Hermès – Galop. Neela Vermeire – Mohur. Chanel – Bois de Iles Parfum.

I have to go to bed. I nearly had a normal day.

“Those who feel the breath of sadness, sit down next to me, those who find they’re touched by madness, sit down next to me, those who find themselves ridiculous, sit down next to me, in love, in fear, in hate, in tears ….” SIT DOWN. JAMES. 1989.

CQ.