There are those who travel at Christmas to see markets, those who chase the most beautiful lights, and those who escape the cold by choosing Caribbean destinations.
And then there are those who travel with their palate, following familiar scents that smell of home, but also of discovery, but above all, of festive ringing of wishes and good intentions.
In Italy, Christmas has two precise compasses: pandoro and panettone.
Two sweets, two cities, two different ways of experiencing the holidays. Just follow them to outline a small travel route, all winter, all delicious, all Italian.
The first stop takes us to Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet, the “gateway to Italy” (because it introduces those coming from the north to the face, beauty, and substance of our country). But it is also the place where Pandoro was born.
Verona in December has something muffled. The lights reflect on the ancient stones, the air is cold but gentle, and time seems to slow down, and it is no coincidence that it is here that a sweet that needs no introduction finds its home.
No candied fruits, no raisins, no surprises. Just a golden cloud of butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. The pandoro is like Verona: elegant, measured, seemingly simple but cared for in every detail.
Walking through Piazza delle Erbe, the Adige, and the windows of historic pastry shops, Christmas takes on an intimate rhythm. The pandoro is eaten slowly, perhaps for breakfast, maybe with homemade cream. It is the sweet of lazy mornings, of still crumpled tablecloths, of quiet conversations.
Here, the journey is not frenzy, but waiting. Just like the yeast that makes the dough rise.
In winter, Verona changes its face. The lights illuminate squares and alleys, the markets smell of spices, and the thermal baths become a warm and romantic refuge. The city seems wrapped in a sweeter and more intimate atmosphere, inviting you to slow down. This is the best time to discover it without haste: walking along the Adige, chasing fairy-tale glimpses, entering museums, letting yourself be surprised by Christmas events, and, why not, choosing it as the perfect backdrop for a romantic getaway.
And, always in the series “I fear not the blood sugar,” the other stop of this journey kneaded with sugar and yeast takes us to Milan. Indeed, from Verona to the Lombard capital, the step is short, but the change of atmosphere is clear. Milan at Christmas is bright, crowded, full of different voices.
And it is here that the panettone enters the scene, a sweet that does not go unnoticed.
Tall, rich, generous, full of stories to tell. Candied fruits, raisins, orange peels, even though contemporary narration, like for the pandoro, offers a series of variants: with chocolate chips, without candied fruits, filled with all kinds of cream, from hazelnut to pistachio, each slice is a small journey within the journey.
The panettone is Milan: a city that welcomes, mixes, experiments, without forgetting tradition.
Between historic pastry shops and contemporary bakeries, the panettone becomes almost a mandatory souvenir. It is given as a gift, brought to dinner, shared. It is the sweet of long tables, loud laughter, homes full of people, an ambassador of Italian tradition.
Following the route of pandoro and panettone means crossing two different ways of living Christmas: one more intimate, golden, essential; the other fuller, urban, convivial.
Of course, this is not a competition, there is no need to choose a side, even if inevitably, in the family, one sides with one or the other. The beauty is precisely the imaginary (but not too much) journey that unites these two poles of goodness and beauty. Take a train, a winter weekend, a suitcase with space for a few fragrant boxes, and you can create a new experience to be counted among the dearest memories.
Because sometimes traveling does not mean going far, but looking with new eyes at what we thought we already knew.
