Italy 2020

We visited some friends who live near Torino in February 2020, just as the COVID epidemic was starting. We flew to Milano and by the time we landed we were already aware of the increasing number of cases of coronavirus so didn’t spend a lot of time in the airport.

We stayed in Bricherasio and from there visited some surrounding places. Pollenza, where they have a private castle and the University of Gastronomical Sciences; the village is built on an old Colloseum so the streets follow the oval shape. Its inhabitants were not particularly keen on dogs, with bottles on many corners warning dogs off, and not very friendly signs for the dog owners. From there we went to Osteria da Gemma in Roddino where we had amazing food to eat and admired its tall benches. Next we went to Barolo where they have the wine museum and we also met Rita Barbero, an artist who paints with wine!

The initial plans were for us to go to the pre-Lent carnevale in Rivoli. However we woke up to the news that 11 villages near Milano were placed in lockdown because of the spreading coronavirus and when we arrived in Rivoli there we found out that it’d been cancelled! We still threw the confetti and paper strips, then went to Rivoli Castle and walked around the gardens before heading back home and changed our flights to fly back to Australia earlier.