I guess we all get the holiday blues when we come back from foreign climes, having experienced a slice of what is not the true reality of living in that country. We have just spent four days in Torino, Italy with some of Nadia’s cousins, I have to say that we had a truly great time with them, and the hospitality they showed us was second to none. The whole weekend made me think very hard about how we treat family and friends in this country compared to there. I am not saying all is doom and gloom here, but there seems to be a much stronger family bond, and long lasting friendships count for so much, as I will explain shortly. 

It was not my first time in Italy, and it won’t be my last. There are many things that I love about how they live and just the attitude they have to life. We arrived late afternoon on Saturday in Milan Malpensa, and were met by Nadia’s cousin Dario. First thing that struck me was that when he took us to the car, it was just parked outside the terminal – no problem. There were lots of police about because Berlusconi was arriving, but it was all very relaxed. In the UK, you would have to have parked about half a mile away and paid £10 for the privilege! So off we went and after half an hour he said he needed to stop for petrol and while we were at it, we may as well have a coffee. The motorway service station was a fairly old building, but inside it had the most tremendous array of freshly made foccacia and pannini’s all being made as we were there. Not a hint of plastic packaging! Why can we not do that here? Our coffee was served in true Italian style, and was as good as anything I have had anywhere. We can learn some things about service stations!

When we arrived at Dario and Federica’s apartment, they showed us round and said this is where you are staying. There was only one bedroom so we were slightly confused. It turns out they were giving us their apartment for the weekend and going to stay with Fede’s father. Now that is way above and beyond our expectations and we protested, but they were adamant this was the arrangement. We were so humbled by this.

The weekend continued like that. We had to forcibly or sneakily pay for any coffees or breakfast as they would not let us pay for anything. On Sunday, Nadia’s other cousin Fabio had arranged for myself, Matthew and Candace (Nadia’s nephew and his girlfriend who are on a trip from Australia) to go to a Juventus match. Again, we asked how much the tickets were, but there were no tickets. Fabio is in the police and he had arranged for police visitor passes for us. We were ushered in to the stadium for free. Big thanks to Fabio for the wonderful experience, especially since he is a Torino fan and it was hard for him to watch Juventus!

More hospitality continued on Sunday with a barbecue at Stefano and Lia’s lovely house. Again, we were not allowed to contribute a euro! 

On Monday evening, it had been arranged for us to meet with some of Nadia’s Dad and brother’s old friends from the town. We thought we were going out to meet them for a pizza, but they had arranged a special meal for us in the sporting club, with Nadia as guest of honour as a mark of respect for her dad who passed away last year. The food and wine was marvellous, and it was a very touching and moving evening. The friendship that extends through the family and friends never fades and is something that has made me think about how we would have approached something like that in this country. 

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the gist of it all. Families are close. Friends are forever. They will do anything for you. Respect it, love it, live it.

It came to an end all too quickly and we are back to the reality of life in Edinburgh. Not that there is a lot wrong with that, but I do hope I have learned something from our trip.

Thank you again to Suzi, Corrado, Dario, Federica, Fabio, and Virginie for the great time. We look forward to seeing you all again soon

If you are interest, there are some pictures if you click on this link

Ciao a tutti.