b'symptoms of contracting the disease is the loss of taste and smell. When you pour a glass of Rieslingandyoudontsmelldiesel,orsipthattwenty-year-oldAmaroneandittastesbland, chances are, you have Covid. I recently visited Spain to meet with my business partner there. He was the last person I met prior to the lockdown in March this year. I was flying back to Europe from Singapore and prior to our meeting, had asked him where he would prefer to meet: Barcelona, Paris, or London. He said to forget Barcelona because they have started the lockdowns and there were curfews. Paris was just as restricted and the U.S. had just announced banning Europeans from entering the country that day. However, London was still open for business with its prime minister still in denial mode about the pandemic and thus, it was decided that London would be the best place to meet. ItwasaThursdayafternoonwhenwebotharrivedinLondonandwebothventuredtoour favourite restaurant, Pied-a-terre, for our dinner meeting. We enjoyed a full food and wine tasting menu that we thought would probably be our last supper for the year. Little did we know that our assumption would be prescient as, since that evening, restaurants have been restricted in most parts of the western world. We both flew back to our respective home countries the following day and found ourselves arriving into our hometowns in full lockdown mode. I checked myself into a hotel to isolate myself for 14-days with only room service or delivery while my business partner checked himself into a hospital a couple ofdayslaterafterexperiencing difficultiesinbreathing.Hetested positive for covid-19 and lost his sense of smell.Herecoveredafteramonthand eightmonthslater,wemetupinSpain withlockdownsstartingtohappenyet once again. Travel has been very challenging during the pandemic. Not only are the perceived riskshighbutnavigatingtheever-changingrequirementsduetoCovid-19 areconfusing,evenforthepeoplewho aretaskedtoimplementthose restrictions.AirCanadahadinitially deniedmefromboardingtheflightto Germanyafterassuming,lastminute, thatIneededaspecialletterfromthe Page 49 NP - Holiday 2020'