Indeed!
Keeping with the "Cold Snap in Italy" theme, this morning the frigid air came to Liguria. We woke up to a cold driving rain that left snow on the upper elevations behind Chiavari. Not unusual.
But.....
Who knew this morning when I left Chiavari for Genoa that I would find weather even more brutal. I was going to a coffee morning hosted by one of the fine ladies of the American Women's club. I phoned ahead and inquired about the weather conditions. I was given the all clear. So, I gave Sam a peck on the cheek and off I went in the mini. I got on the autostrada and thought, ok, this is doable. There was snow on the hills but the roads were clear, on I drove. The closer to Genoa, the heavier the rain was falling. As many of you know, the autostrada in Liguria is a very narrow highway that snakes along the mountains and is only a serious of tunnels connected by bridges. There is no room for error. As I exited one very long tunnel in Nervi the skies suddenly were white!!! It was a blizzard. The heavy rain had turned to heavy snow. As I exited from the highway, which incidentally is perched above Genoa, and descended into Nervi, the wind was blowing and the snow was falling even harder while the thermometer in my car (which registers the outside temp) started to drop. In less that 5 kilometers the temp went from +5C to 0C! By the time was in Genoa, it was -1C! I never made it for coffee, I turned around and hightailed it home. This was no weather to be out in and it was only getting progressively worse. As I crawled in the traffic to get back on the Autostrada the snow was quickly accumulating. I was driving on very icy and slippery slush. I was somewhat safe in my car, but people were out driving around in their scooters! In this weather! Insanity!
I finally made it safely to the autostada. As I left Genoa the snow turned back to rain by the time I got to Recco, about 10 kilometers from Genoa. I got home made myself a cup of tea and thought of how happy and lucky I am to live in Chiavari. Liguria is coastal land bordered by mountains and the weather is driven by the mirco-climates created by the unique Alpine lay of the land. Chiavari seems to be at some advantageous position and for some meteorological phenomenon stays relatively mild. At least most of the time. The snow did finally arrive, and when it did, it looked much more beautiful sitting from the comfort of my office chair looking out the window with my warm cup of tea in my hand. Click here and see the beautiful snow in Chiavari.
The kids will be happy tomorrow, due to the weather, the schools are CLOSED! The whole region (equivalent to a state in the US) has announced that due to the icy road conditions it is too dangerous to ask the students to go to school. Hmmm tomorrow is Friday. I smell a 3 day weekend for the teachers!
Now those of you who live in wintery climates may think this hysteria over such a small amount of snow silly, and you might be right. But.... think of this.... Imagine if somewhere in Florida, or sunny San Diego where it hardly ever snows - suddenly - had snow. They would be paralyzed too. What city invests in snow clearing equipment when it never snows? Not one. Including Genoa. Which according to the latest eyewitness report (Sam on a train heading for Milan), is far much worse off than Chiavari.
The upside to a blizzard on Northern Italy. It is finally snowing in Torino, the host city of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. The organizers have been praying for snow for it hasn't fallen all month, now their prayers have been answered! Fresh snow right in time for the big games
A tardi!
Krista
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment