Victory

It is not an April Fool joke, but a hard-won victory for a country that suffered more than many during the last 26 months.

Italy on April 1 exits its national state of emergency.

As of that day, Italy drops many of the regulations that have been in place for so very long.

Italy has been much more cautious than many countries, allowing science to drive its policy.

Close to 90 percent of people in Italy aged 12 or older have completed the vaccination cycle.  A third of children aged 5 to 11 have also been fully vaccinated.

Surgical face masks must still be worn in all indoor public places. The Green Pass — or its equivalent, your CDC card — is required for indoor dining and for long-distance transport.  FFP2 masks are worn on all long-distance trains through April 30.

Vaccinated travelers from any country (those who have received one or two doses within the past nine months or those who have received a booster shot) no longer need a negative COVID test to enter Italy.

It all begins to feel like normal.

And now: Italy needs travelers.

Travelers need Italy.

You need Italy.

One of our most divine southern Tuscan villas is available June 26 to July 2.  Come to walk, swim, to explore hill towns, Siena and Florence. Come to do nothing and everything: come to be in Italy.

Another of our most loved villas, this one in Chianti Classico, offers a  20% discount for any of the weeks from May 14 to June 4.

What a wonderful time of the year it is to be in Rome and to admire the light shining through the oculus of the Pantheon!  It settles you and brings a troubled world back into focus.

Come to see the poppies blooming in the lesser-known archeological sites we include in your Plans.

Come before the artichoke season finishes.  We know all of the best places to eat them.

And to enjoy the wisteria in its spectacular Italian show.

What are you waiting for?

www.insidersitaly.com