Last Thursday, it was the sixth of January, a day we know as the day of the Three Wise Men. For Italian children, it’s a joyous day because La Befana comes along, the kindhearted witch on a broomstick who, on that dark and cold January night, pays a visit to the houses of all Italian children and fills their stockings – hung by the fireplace – with sweets. Well, if you have been nice that is, otherwise you get black cabbage. A kind of combination between the tradition of the Northern-European St. Nicholas and Santa Claus indeed (read my blog #7 “The Three Kings versus La Befana” of 6 January 2020 to discover the origins of this typical Italian folk custom).
Luckily, there was a prospect on the horizon last Monday that made the start of this new working year a whole lot easier
However, this year the benefits of the day weren’t exclusively felt by the children, for whom the Christmas holidays last until the Monday after the sixth of January anyway. Most working adults in Italy are not so lucky. This year, most offices resumed business again on the third of January. Oh, that very first Monday of the year. After two weeks of having absolutely no clue about what day it is, plenty of spontaneous get-togethers with friends and family, and ignoring all healthy diets and bedtime routines, it’s a reality check that always comes too soon, no matter how much you love your job. And that’s no different for the Italians. But luckily, there was a prospect on the horizon last Monday that made the start of this new working year a whole lot easier.
And so, for most of Italy, the dreaded first working week of January suddenly became a three-day week followed by a four-day weekend
Traditionally, the sixth of January is a day off in Italy, and this year it was the perfect day for another typical Italian tradition that is loved by young and old alike: fare il ponte, literally translated to the making of the bridge. This simply means that people take an extra day off – and sometimes even get it from their boss – immediately before or after a holiday in order to “build a bridge to the weekend”. This year, Three Kings Day fell on a Thursday and so, for most of Italy, the dreaded first working week of January suddenly became a three-day week followed by a four-day weekend. The perfect opportunity that people have eagerly seized to go skiing or to escape the city for a few days. Four days off after three days of work, to me that seems only fair in those very first days of the supposedly most depressing month of the year.
Completely in line with the Italian tradition, I am using my own ponte to make a quick escape too
And me? I am still in The Netherlands. A few times a week my Italian friends ask me when I will return to Rome. It’s most likely going to be somewhere in the second half of January – the perks of not being expected in an office – and to the Italians I joke that I am also making a bridge. A bridge from the holidays to the end of the month, that is, to that moment when the days are getting longer again and the earth starts to warm up in preparation for spring. And completely in line with the Italian tradition, I am using my own ponte to make a quick escape too. I’m going to Paris for a few days, together with two of my best friends. Because once you are at an age that La Befana no longer comes round your house to fill your stockings, you just have to treat yourself to some sweets, right? And let those delicious petit fours and macarons from one of those beautiful pâtisseries in the heart of Paris be just what we were dreaming off these days… Because don’t forget: now more than ever you have to create your own magic.