Willow and Juanjo's SplashBlot

No one believed the snow would stick, because it never does here, but it did, for several hours, right during Monday rush hour traffic. The city busses were stopped, the metros packed with lines snaking down the tunnels, and the downtown streets virtually empty of cars. People had hours of traffic out of the city and many train lines were late or canceled for the evening. Snowball fights on every corner, fierce umbrellas against the wind. And everywhere a feeling of amazement, to see so much snow, here, in this city by the sea where simply seeing a few flakes fall is an event.

We went for a walk and got dinner out with friends visiting, and by the time we got home it had started to rain and melted most of the snow on the streets near our house. But the breathless expectation was still in the air. I think people will be talking about this for a while!

This is the second time it snows here this winter, and the first snow we see (we were gone for the weekend when it snowed last month). Here I am on the way to the metro after a school visit this morning. After raining all night, and this morning, I came out of the school to find big flakes drifting down and melting as they hit the ground. Considering how warm it was Saturday it is amazing it’s cold enough to snow. It won’t stick, but it sure is pretty to see it falling!