The new year started with the vaccination campaign for covid19 in Italy too, and as Befana came and took took away our Christmas decorations, in Turin we are keeping our Winter Lights on exceptionally till well after Mardi Gras. One of the Turin city council members explained that given the current circumstances, 'we all need to be cheered up'.
Nothing much has changed in Italy in the past weeks as we couldn't do anything over the Holidays and we are still living week to week with the ski resorts + gyms + museums + theaters closed, and a new set of local regulations that will manage the covid19 restrictions according to the RT rate area by area.
These details apart, we are indeed in the Mardi Gras season so our bakeries and pastry shops are filling their windows with fritters of all sorts and naturally Gianduia candies, one of the Turin symbols and best souvenirs available only now!!
Not to mention, we are getting close to the ice wine harvest here in Piedmont! Yess, we make it too 😜
These are also the coldest days of the year and we are expecting the big snow storm that has just hit Spain... so in the meantime, we are taking full advantage of the seasonal delicacies - read: artichokes, all possible ways!! - cooking and eating to our heart content, knowing we'll burn everything off as soon as we set foot outdoors. And then... of course, we'll have to rechange with some hot chocolate with whipped cream or even vin brulé or mulled wine.
In fact, courtesy of covid19, this is the first winter that also in Turin, we find vin brulé and zabajone dispensers stirring outside our coffee shops next to the different hot chocolate ones 😋 Ho the perks of the pandemic 😂
Frankly, no matter what our temps are, as long as we can sit down with our friends, and sip something while catching up, Italians will be happy!
Typically, this would be the time of the year when most restaurants and coffee shops close for renovation and to rest after the winter break, but not this January 2021. Instead many coffee shops are now selling farm veggies and fruit sourced from the country, providing extra options to detox, support small producers and stay in business to more people.
Naturally, high school teachers (kindergarten and k-7 teachers have always taught in schools) worry about catching covid19 on the job, and are pushing the government to get the vaccine, but as of today, Italy is lacking doctors and nurses to speed up the vaccination campaign. of course, each one of the 20 regions is in a different situation and for once, Piedmont doesn't seem to be in red zone... yet.
This is also our big winter sales season, as in Italy the sales are regulated by the government and most shops haven't sold anything 😰 ... just imagine how the Italian economy is doing...
Depending on the hours we have long lines outside the shops and stores, as only a limited number of people is allowed in depending on the size of the shop.
Given the weather many people knit or crochet, so we visited THE knitting supply shop of Turin for you. Here you can find all you need for your projects, from regular wool to alpaca, chashmere, merino and mohair yarns, needles and lots of suggestions 😍
As for us we have resumed all our online classes, so if you are interested:
- in learning Italian from scratch, keeping it fresh for your next travel over, improving or just chatting
- yoga, yogalates, pilates mat private classes, both in English and Italian
On our youtube channel you also can find some sample videos.
Keep an eye on our online schedules for: Italian and yoga, yogalates, pilates mat.
Are you ready to go back to normal?
In Turin, indeed we are!
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