Kate Langbroek, who relocated to Italy with her family last year, has found herself on lockdown, as the whole country of 60 million people remains closed to combat the spread of coronavirus.
The radio and TV host, who moved to the city of Bologna in January 19 on what she called an “extended gap year”, has spoken to Australian media about the conditions in Italy at the present time.
Earlier this week, she went on Sunrise and said that the normally vibrant country has “suddenly got a a chill” about the spread of the disease. She went on to say:
“Until last night we were living relatively normally, then the Premier of Italy declared the whole country a red zone and everything changed overnight. Supermarkets are only open Monday-Friday during the day, everything has to close at 6pm, there’s no school and we’ve been told this will continue until April the third.”
In the days since then, Kate Langbroek has taken too Instagram to share a number of photos of Italian life, maintaining a weary yet hopeful outlook as she and her family remain on lockdown.
A friend invited the family to his restaurant, where they sat a metre apart to eat the last of his pasta and meatballs before he shuts down.
“The food was delicious,” she wrote. “Then the boys kicked a ball in the concrete courtyard for an hour. The sun was out. Bellies full; hearts full. Life is good. Challenging – but good. And so precious.”
She then shared a somewhat eerie photo of an empty church and piazza in the normally-bustling Bologna:
Alongside a photo of a “a glorious Italian spring day” seen from her bedroom window, she said that days seem long and that everyone is starting to feel “threadbare”, but it’s best to stay home to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
In recent days, Italian citizens have been gathering at their windows to sing, as they can’t publicly congregate. She said:
“Tonight there was a “flash mob” across bologna… at 6pm everyone gathered at their windows and sang or played an instrument. Our neighbour’s daughter sang like a nightingale. It was a lovely way to be together in a city that is now not allowed to touch each other.”
Kate Langbroek lives in Bologna with her husband Peter and their four children Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jan. She is anticipating a return to Australian radio later this year.
