Saturday, 23 December 2017

Snow in the air but not on the ground

After 40 Christmases in Greece I thought finally I was going to celebrate a white Christmas.  The greater part of greece has been snowed in.     A few weeks ago the headlines were 'Heavy snow in Europe, Sunshine in Greece'.  Well, the icy front finally hit us.

 14 kilometres north of Athens roads closed due to heavy snow. City slickers heading north to their villages for Christmas were stranded for hours as they waited for snow ploughs to clear the way.


Strong winds and high seas have stopped many ferries from sailing.  Our car ferry kept on chugging across the narrow channel though a few of the water taxis tied up because of the very choppy water in the strait.



The mountains around Athens should have a covering of snow and the ski resorts in the mountains will be happy with this Christmas snowfall.

 We woke up this morning to a very cold but sunny day so no white Christmas for us.  The temperature at midday was around 9oC.  Freezing for us, an all winter phenomenon for a lot of you in the northern hemisphere.
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10 comments:

  1. angela23 December 2017 at 12:21

    Many many years ago. When I was five. We spent Christmas in Athens. It snowed that year. Although it didn’t last long. Was gone very quickly. But it was fun for that little while
    Stay warm.

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    1. local alien23 December 2017 at 22:50

      The sun is out again today. Xmas Eve. We have sun with teeth as they say here. Most of my xmases here have been warm and sunny. I must not complain!
      Kronia polla Angela.

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  2. Rachel Phillips23 December 2017 at 12:26

    I trust you have lit the fire and you are warm inside. It is quite surprising to hear of this weather so near Athens.

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    1. local alien23 December 2017 at 22:53

      We were beside the fire and very warm thank you. Most of the snow must have melted by now. At least the roads are open. All Greeks want to go home for cams, to village or island.

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  3. Amy23 December 2017 at 21:02

    My cousin who grew up in NZ has just travelled back to Greece where her daughters are, think she's in Thessalonika? Anyway no doubt she'll have the winter woollies out too.

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    1. local alien23 December 2017 at 22:56

      They'll certainly be well wrapped up there in the north. Our weather has changed for the better but supposed to be changing again later today.
      Thessaloniki is a beautiful city. We've been up there twice in the good old days.
      Hopefully we'll go again to northern Greece.
      Merry Xmas to you and your family.
      Kronos is polla

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  4. Cro Magnon23 December 2017 at 21:05

    Rather dull weather here. Cool, mostly cloudy, and dampish. Not much to do other than chop wood, eat, and wait for spring.

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    1. local alien23 December 2017 at 22:58

      May St Nick bring you a little sunshine.
      Sounds like you'll be inside beside the fire tomorrow enjoying your hamper!!

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  5. Maria23 December 2017 at 23:46

    I have been reading your blog for some time (I've come over from Rachel and Cro). I enjoy reading about your traditions and find that so many are very close to ours in Italy.
    I wanted to wish you and family a Happy Christmas.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. local alien24 December 2017 at 03:42

      Thank you so much Maria! Hope the sun shines on you all on Christmas day. Have a wonderful day.
      I can imagine our traditions are very similar. Your delicious panettone is very popular here. I haven't tried to make one yet, there are plenty in the supermarket.
      I feel like I know already from reading your comments on Cro and Rachel's blogs. Nice to hear from you

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