Arrival

We touched down to Milano Malpensa at about 8:45 am. We disembarked and we’re shepherded to a long line for our rapid covid test. This test would determine whether we needed to quarantine or not. When I say the line was long, it is no exaggeration. It wrapped around the arrivals hall in such a way that Walt Disney himself would have been impressed. At 10:10, I found myself in front of a man at a computer who was taking my identity details for the test. I then went to the nurse who administered the mid nasal swab. “Dieci minuti” (ten minutes). She said she’d call me by number. I went into the holding area where we all were sitting, awaiting our fate. Ten minutes passed and then 15. The woman with whom I had been visiting since deplaning said that it had been far longer than they had promised and she said she was going to investigate. Sure enough, both of our results (negative) were sitting on the table in front of the clerk. We grabbed our results and departed. I assume these results are memorialized somewhere. No one said two words to me after my test was taken. And, not a single person has asked me for the all important passenger locator form. I still can’t figure out why it was so vital that not having it would’ve derailed my trip.