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17 February 2008
You guys? It's snowing like crazy in Athens. woo. →[More:]
A rarity, I presume? We often think of Athens and the rest of the Mediterranean as being much more tropical than here in the continental US. But Athens is just about on the same latitude as my home town of Lewes, Delaware. (Athens: 37.981551 vs. Lewes: 38.763855)
And, while we do get snow here, our winters are usually just cold and miserably wet. But not quite as snowy as I would like. I assume that your climate is more influenced by the Mediterranean itself? And warm air blowing in from Africa?
Just to be sure, I did a rough scroll on Google Maps and it looks like athens is about exactly even with Crisfield, Maryland. Stick with Athens.
I always laugh when I read that the Pilgrims chose to land in Massachusetts because it was the same latitude as Rome, and they assumed they'd be landing in a tropical paradise filled with palm trees and citrus fruits. Bit of a shock when they got there, I'd imagine.
What pretty snow! We have no snow here, and the cherry trees are in bloom. I keep having a bit of cognitive dissonance when I come to MeCha and see all the pretty, snowy sidebar art.
It's not that shocking, but I fully expected no snow at all, or a few light flurries, melting midair. In Thessaloniki, 500 kilometers North, it usually snows once or twice a year, but it's fairly iffy (last year, no snow), so this much further south, I didn't count on much.
There are, though, many, many places in Greece at higher elevations that get plenty of winter white - ski resorts, and everything.
Gorgeous! I remember friend's amazement when I told them I learned to snow climb in Spain. Happy times!
Although I didn't expect so much snow to settle.
As EJ says it is gloriously sunny on the south coast of the UK, we eat outside today (wrapped up in coats, gloves and hats!) and I had to roof down on the car yesterday.
Also, too, plus - for both Athens and Thess., I'm talking about right downtown, in the centers, not the whole areas. We didn't see any snow last year in downtown Thessaloniki, but the suburbs probably got some, and areas around definitely did.
How come the "Mediterranean-like" Central California Coast can't have anything like that. We rarely even get temperatures close to freezing (so our farmers usually feel safe in growing veggies year round). Right now I'm wi-fi-ing my laptopper in the sunshine in a t-shirt and slacks.
It's beautiful, taz. Of all the times it has snowed in Florida I have pics. You can't see any snow. Tiny little flurries that don't even make it to the ground, but it's still exciting.
Wow, it's been shorts weather here in Georgia all weekend. It rained and stormed this afternoon, and it felt like spring, having the windows open and the smell of the rain all through the house.
Whoahhhhh! Update: Athens is shut down. The snow kept falling, and night came and went, and we awoke to some alternate-universe Athens. There is no traffic anywhere, which is just totally surreal. Schools closed, government offices closed, businesses closed, all public transportation except for the metro closed; trains, planes and automobiles all grounded ... the TV images of the silent (Athens!), empty city are mad weird.
I'm so glad we did power shopping for groceries on Saturday. But I want BoPo's fireplace, damnit. Cold, however, we ain't; good, good heating system in this house.
and... it is over. The city wakes from its Viking dream, shakes its hoary head, wipes the crystalline visions from its eyes, and looks around... "where am I?"
The sun has returned in an incandescent triumph of impatient glory, and the snowdrifts are melting into memories before our eyes. A no-nonsense, let's-get-this-place-in-order Helios has reasserted dominance, replacing mists and muffled silences with a blazing blue sky swept ruthlessly bare and a symphony of dripping icicles punctuated by cymbal-crashes of reluctant snowmantle lurching down from slippery rooftop tiles.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
