When we bought the house, we asked the people we were buying from, what Istrian winters are like. “A bit like English summers” they told us – meaning damp and overcast. They hadn’t known snow for ten years – although to be fair, they weren’t here that often and we have had our fair share of English summer weather this winter. But, with a whole lot more thrown into the meteorological mix.
We’ve got to know the Bura and its effects and how to prepare for it – basically nail everything down and shut the shutters. Tight.
We’ve got to understand that when it rains here, it really rains. It’s rarely that fine Manchester rain that “soaks you right through”. Istrian rain is serious stuff – which explains why come April, everything is green and verdant. We also know now that it will pass fairly quickly, giving way to brilliant blue skies and sunshine. Even in the depths of winter.
We’re not phased anymore by violent thunder and lightning storms, which we see rumbling and rattling and flashing in either from the Adriatic or down from the Slovenian mountains. We’re even prepared for the inevitable power cuts – which clearly, so is the electricity board, as its usually restored very quickly.
But what we haven’t seen so far this winter – apart from on the tops of the mountains which we can see in the distance, across the border, from our bedrom window – is snow. Until this morning. Not a lot granted, but enough to give us a dusting – always a nice view when you’re DIYing 😉
