January 6, 2026

Torino, Italy

January 6th is Epiphany and it is a public holiday in Italy. In theory this is the day the magi visit Mary & Joesph and the baby Jesus. However, again it is a marketing thing. Depending on which calendar or church you follow it can fall on different days. Here in Catholic Italy, it is January 6th.

Italians don’t really have Santa Claus. Babbo Natale, or Santa Claus, is a 19th century marketing campaign. It really has nothing to do with Christmas, except of course to get people to overspend and give gifts. In fact, Christmas is really just Saturnalia. Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honor of the god Saturn.

Saturnalia was generally held on or near the winter solstice. Christians adopted the holiday to make Christianity more universally accepted. Basically, replacing a pagan holiday with Christian one.

And so, it is with Befana. La Befana is an Italian folklore figure, a kindly old witch who delivers gifts to children on the Eve of Epiphany (Jan 5th). It is a blending of ancient pagan winter solstice traditions with Christian legends of the Three Wise Men (Magi). Which probably evolved from the Roman fertility goddesses Strenia. According to one legend, the magi stop to ask directions of an old woman on their way to find baby Jesus. She couldn’t be bothered with them and sent them on their way. Later she regretted that she didn't join the Magi to find baby Jesus, now searches for him by visiting children's homes with sweets for good kids and coal for bad ones. Her name probably derives from Epifania, and she flies on a broomstick, leaving gifts in stockings, embodying winter's end and the promise of the new year. 

Now we get down to the problem of the new year. Originally the next year began on March 25th. That is really close to the Vernal Equinox or the first day of spring. It was in 1582 with the change to the Gregorian calendar, by Pope Gregory VIII, that new years was moved to January 1. Of course, the protestants did follow until 1752. The Russians waited until 1918. Nothing is as it seems. Nor is anything simple.

I woke up early, about 02:30. Did one last load in the washer. Folded up the ironing board and put the iron and board away. When the washer was done about 04:30 I went back to bed. Something I haven’t been able to do.

Then it was 08:30 when Mary woke me up. We were supposed to be at Serra & Pietro’s at 08:30 to watch the girls open their stockings from Befana. We managed to pull ourselves together and head over there about 09:30. We watched the girls open their stockings. Serra and Pietro cooked breakfast. We ate breakfast, played with the girls and got ready to head out to Malpensa on the bus.

We have 15:00 tickets for the bus to Malpensa. This should get us there by 17:00. The girls were getting tired and ready for their afternoon nap, so we headed downstairs and over to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele to catch a taxi to the autostatione on Corso Bolzano near Porta Susa. We got to the bus station just after it had gone 14:20. It would be a forty-minute wait for the bus. Nothing was open because of the holiday, so traffic getting here was light.

Well, the good news is that the bus pulled into the number one slot just about fifteen minutes before 15:00. When we first arrived at the bus station there were just a few people, as the time grew closer to the departure time the number of people grew. After all who would be stupid enough to stand in the cold, it was after all 2° C (about 36° F). Honestly, it didn’t feel that cold. There was no wind chill factor to deal with.

There was a small issue with reading the tickets on my phone. The bus drive kept saying “luce”. Luce means light, like light bulb. I didn’t understand at first but then understood what he was saying we increase the contrast, “make it brighter.” Luminoso or più luminoso I might have understood. I handed the phone to V and asked him to increase the contrast. Walla, it worked, the driver was able to read the tickets.

We got on board, found our seats and we were on our way to Malpensa. It is just about a two-hour ride, longer of there is traffic, but today is a holiday so there isn’t much traffic. Sleep came before the bus left Torino. After an hour-and-a-half nap I was awakened by the perfume of the woman next too me. Apparently, it took that long, or perhaps I was just in need of a nap.

We arrived at Malpensa just before it was about to go 17:00. We gathered our bags and headed to the hotel. Staying at the Sheraton either just before a departure or just after arrival is very nice. It gives you an opportunity to relax and prepare yourself for what is coming up. The only one that was even a little hungry was me. So, I dragged Mary over to the terminal and the McDonalds. I know it sounds awful, but I just needed a little something, no big meal, no hour-and-a-half production. Just an order of chicken nuggets, fries and a coke. Such a simpleton.

Afterwards, back at the hotel I was able to take a nice warm bath and relax. Finish reading my book, and headed off to sleep. A fun day with the grandchildren and Le Befana. Looking forward to tomorrow’s beginning of the Jordan and Egypt adventure.

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria