I'm. COLD.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
but the fire is so delightful,
and since we've no place to go,
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!


I could not disagree more.





Welcome to winter in Italy, where the houses aren't insulated and there exists no infrastructure for snow removal!


Yesterday, I actually smiled while taking the above photo, thinking, "Isn't this magical?" It wasn't til three hours later, when the snow still had not stopped and I had arrived at home to take this photo, that I realized what a problem snow is for this city.





This amount of snow (about 10-15 cm) is a nuisance in Toronto or Montreal, but it does not bring life to a screeching halt, and it certainly does not bring about a state of crisis like it does here. The news last night was nothing but reports on the terrible gridlock, the condition of the rail tracks (trains didn't go), the lack of public transportation above ground, the terrible ice. It was about -6 and it snowed, like I said, no more than 15 cm. Of course, this part of Italy never gets this kind of weather, ever; what did I expect?

Well, I certainly didn't expect the pipes to freeze.

Houses here are not insulated like they are at home. In fact, the room I stay in has three walls to the outside of the condo and those three walls are made from something resembling aluminum siding, and you can bet there is not a scrap of insulation present. Needless to say, without my little space heater, I'd put my room at about 12 degrees at its coldest. I actually had a really terrible revelation the other day; I had my bed against these walls and my suitcase, and I pulled my suitcase away from the wall to clean and revealed a lovely crop of mold; the walls accumulate condensation because of the difference in temperature when I heat the room, and if there is anything cloth against the wall, you can guess what happens. Obviously this is no longer the case, and I keep the room cooler, much to my chagrin.

I digress. Because there is no insulation, the poor pipes don't stand a chance; I really had not thought of this, because it would never happen at home at -6!!! We have no hot water today, so if I would like a shower, I may as well go take a dip in Lake Como, because it would probbaly be about as warm.

As for infrastructure -- I have seen salting trucks here but nary a snowplow in sight, and let's be honest, these roads ain't built for 'em. The news was showing people clearing their sidewalks with gardening implements, like hoes; not a spade or shovel to be found. So I'm not too sure how they are going to deal with the snow we got overnight. I know they've closed the schools; ATM, the public transport company, is insisting that service will be as good, if not better that usual; still, I can't wait for Wednesday, when it's going up to 6 and the rain will wash this mess away, and we can pretend it never happened.