Mardi Gras season

In Turin though every season is a great season to visit and currently, we are in full Mardi Gras season aka il carnevale 😆

The Italian Holidays officially end on January 6th and that's exactly when in Piedmont we announce the beginning of the Carnival weeks. This is a traditional Roman Catholic celebration that officially ends on Mardi Gras or Martedì Grasso as the local say.

Coffee shop and pasticceria Tamborini, Via Garibaldi 31

the new year in Turin

Ideally the Holidays in Turin should last at least 2 weeks from around December 21st to January 7th to have enough time to do some Christmas shopping and organizing some days. Always consider that on the holidays and national days, most Italian businesses and museums are closed 😟

As we have already given you a preview of our very own Turin Christmas this post is about the days that straddle the old and the new year with a link to La Befana day aka January 6th, nobody would want to miss her, right?

in a downtown 18th century palazzo courtyard

Turin Holidays

Up here in Torino we get into our understated 'Holiday mood' on November 1st when, since 1998, we light up our luci d'artista - the open air art installations made of lights designed by 25 local artists. Understatement is a key word here because the Turinese dread 'like plague' (yes, that bad!) the showing off and boasting of the nouveau riches 😳 that have no manners 😂

Piazza Castello, one of our Christmas markets is on  the left

Winter lights

Living in the Mediterranean area means that starting in November our day light hours get shorter and it gets dark earlier. Since 1998, in Turin, we have an artsy tradition to light up out streets and piazzas all around downtown: Luci d'Artista.

the Roman Palatine Doors or Porte Palatine in 2015: 'vento solare' or solar wind

pumpkin galore

October and November in Turin are the months of the pumpkin but no matter when pumpkin season is where you live, whether you celebrate Thanksgiving Day or you just like its flavor, do it like us and make one of these amazing recipes of ours. You'll surprise and entice your family and friends and most definitely, you'll gratify yourselves 😋

Porta Palazzo market: the farmers' section

galleria Lux

One of Milan's symbols is their one and only galleria near the Duomo, Turin on her hand can brag about her beautiful 3 super gallerias: Galleria Umberto I near the Porta Palazzo market, in the Roman Quadrilatero area, Galleria Subalpina in Piazza Castello between Caffé Mulassano and Caffé Baratti Milano, two royal coffee shops and Galleria San Federico in Via Roma!

Lucia Hannau, photo by Alberto Bonis

ginger carrot gnocchi

Fall is the best time to get back to the kitchen and cook, and what's more therapeutic than working with your hands? What gives you more satisfaction than something you can share with your family and friends and that you can make into a large batch and freeze to keep handy for any occasion and impromptu feast?

Our answer is gnocchi!! 🙆