Il Grande Freddo

photo Luke Bauner

I’ve posted about how the kids (Conor, Lily, and Owen) were in Rome with us over Christmas, along with my sister, Ger. We had some great times with them, including a four-day trip to Vienna (more on that later). Lily stayed after everyone else left, and her boyfriend, Luke, joined us in early January. While they were here, we toured Rome and also made trips Florence, Venice, and Orvieto.  

One of the defining features of late December and all of January was the freezing cold weather. Il Grande Freddo, as the media called it.

In the walkway to our house, just before the frigid weather (and Lily) arrived

The weather had several impacts. For a few days, the fountains in Rome were frozen and even the Tiber looked about to ice over.

Little courtyard fountain

Fountain at Vittorio Emmanuele II monument

Fountain at Piazza della Repubblica

We stopped for a lot more coffee than usual, just to get out of the cold. 

The French fleur-de-lis is also a symbol of Florentine Medicis

We also had to improvise with lots of random layers of clothes, since none of us had true winter coats. I think it was the first time I thought about wanting a fur coat, which so many of the women were wearing. (Sorry, little warm animals.)

In Vienna: Annoyed at lack of family cooperation in taking selfies ;-(

In Florence, on top of the Duomo 

Lily at rooftop bar of Hotel Raphael, Rome

At the Duomo in Florence

It actually snowed in Venice the day before we arrived there by train. So strange to see some remaining snow (and a snow man) beside the canals...

We climbed the campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore church, which sits on an island in the Venetian lagoon, and the views were spectacular ...

San Marco and the Doge's Palace in Venice, with snow on the Dolomites

Sunset over Venice

We could also see the cloisters next door with snow in their garden mazes ... 

In general, there aren't many tourists here in January, but this year's cold really cleared them out. One fantastic advantage was that the streets and museums were practically empty. At times during our visit to the Accademia in Florence, it was virtually just me and David ... very few people have experienced that, I think.  

St. Mark's Square empty in Venice 

Coffee shop halfway up the Dome of St. Peters, Rome: Just us and the guards ... 

Candles in the virtually empty Stephanskirche cathedral in Vienna

At nearly empty San Pietro on Epiphany with Lily's friend Sidney, visiting from Spain

The weather has some really terrible impacts as well. You may have read about the 29 people killed by an avalanche at a resort in nearby Abruzzo. And when we were in Florence, we encountered riot police pushing back a group at a government building. They were protesting the death of an African immigrant, who froze to death because he wasn't given the government housing he was entitled to. 

I am most grateful for warm places of refuge from the cold and for all the other blessings we enjoy of peace, prosperity and good health. 

Winter shadows in Florence ...