Fun

Italian Vacations : The great benefit of living in a civil country

Having moved to Italy back in 1992 I did not grasp or understand the mentality and philosophy that Italians have regarding the sacred concept of “ferie” or vacation.Living in Miami before coming here and working in one of the cities biggest architectural firm where vacation time was handed out with an eye drop approach.

At that time back in Miami I could only take a maximum of 7 days off in one year and even have worked with the firm for 12 years the maximum that I could accumulate was 10 days off but it was a major hassle to be able to use the allotted time when you wanted.

Here in Italy, it is a totally different story. In Milan, everybody works hard but when that heat wave starts arriving in mid-July, the nerves start rising parallel to the heat, and folks start talking about vacation locations and the fact that finally, August is here!

The month of August is the clue month in which most companies take off and shut their doors for approximately 3 weeks. In the last 5 years some companies rotate the time frames and do combination vacation shifts but it will be close to impossible to contact anyone for work related stuff in the two middle weeks of that month.

As I write this, I have just started mine and as I wait for Betti to arrive from the country and we start packing our bags to head off to Lisbon this Tuesday, the quiet sounds of an empty Milan are a gift to my ears. Even if the temperature is in the low 90s I still love this time of the year when we can recharge and get ready for the second half of the year.

Enjoy the Summer and baci from Casa Chiesi!

Above photo: @toscaradigonda

Nazim

[socialWarfare]