Neve!

This past weekend the city of Rome experienced some very unusual weather. For the Americans living in Rome, the snow fall seemed very normal for the beginning of February. The Italians, however, were in awe of how much snow was falling from the sky and how it was actually sticking to the ground. On Friday, February 3, 2012, the biggest snowfall since 1985 blanketed Rome with beautiful white snowflakes.

Via Marcantonio during the snowstorm.

Snow is not unusual during the Roman winters, a few flurries about twice a year is common. Snow that actually sticks to the ground is a different story. The 4-5 inches of snow that blanketed Rome on Friday was not shoveled, salted or plowed until a day or more later. The city simply sat back and watched it accumulate rather than remove it from the streets and busy sidewalks.

For those who experienced the Snowpocolypse in Baltimore in 2010, you know that the city of Baltimore is not the best at handling snow. I can understand that 3 feet is a lot of snow and a lot of problems come with large amount of snowfall, however, Rome got a mere 4 inches and went into panic mode. Bus routes were shut down and stores and restaurants closed for the day assuming that people were staying indoors and away from this strange weather. For some, this was the first real snow they had ever seen in Italy (that is if they were born after 1985).

Prati neighborhood under a blanket of snow.

This snow, while beautiful, canceled the Tuscany trip that our program had planned and paid for this past weekend. The bus that we were supposed to take was snowed into the parking lot and many of the main roads were closed. Luckily, Dr. Dawson was able to reschedule the trip for the following weekend. The positive side of this was that we still had Monday off from classes even though the trip was canceled. I can't say that I opposed to the extra sleep I got that weekend!

I find snow to be beautiful no matter where I am, but there is something about the city of Rome being covered in snow that I will never forget. The city seemed very peaceful and quiet during and after the snowfall which is something that I had yet to expereince. Rome is a very busy city, always awake. It was the first time that I had ever seen a palm tree covered in snow.

Outside of St.John's in the snow.

While the cold weather is something that I dislike everyday (Romans are not known for having a lot of heat in their homes), I am very happy that I got to experience this great snowfall that will certainly go down in Roman history. Every night at dinner my host mother puts on the news, and for the past week, the snowstorm has been the main focus on almost every channel. There is more snow in the forecast for this Friday, however, it is only supposed to flurry...that is what they said for February 3rd as well...