Friday, March 11, 2011

For nearly two straight days, a very light snow fell in Istanbul.

Today, as I look outside my window, I see little evidence of the snow. A few small patches here and there. We may have received an inch or two.

Yesterday, I discovered a miniature "melting" snowman near our apartment. It was so adorable - with Turkish black olives for the eyes and mouth!


However, in Ankara, this capital city received more than it’s fair share of snow - an estimated 14+ inches. News reports says its the heaviest snowfall in Ankara in 10 or maybe 24 years. (Maybe I’d get better accurate news reports if I could read Turkish better.) Citizens were trapped on roads and were criticizing the municipality. Schools were shut down. See photos of Ankara here. It sounds like the city wasn't prepared for this amount of snow.

I’ve actually enjoyed the snow and have been hibernating in my apartment. It was the perfect time to read a book and plan future trips. I did venture out to get groceries and meet some friends for coffee, but that’s about it.
This is what the outside looked like on Wednesday. Cold and windy!



When I went outside, I was lucky to have my heavy-duty snow boots. The streets were a bit slippery and the wind was fierce. I didn’t think I would ever have to use the boots here. Thank goodness I actually packed them in our shipping container. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

In some places, you can still see a little snow.
But Istanbul’s 10-day forecast is foretelling temperatures of the 40s and 50s F. Maybe spring is just around the corner!

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2 comments:

Julia said...

We're convinced spring is just around the corner! We live in hope. A friend of ours in Ankara posted some photos to Flickr. Amazing. Everyone was on sledges in the street. :)

Joy said...

I can't even imagine what it would be like if you're not prepared for all that snow!! Last winter we were living in Baltimore, MD, we received 36 inches in about 2 days. The city was closed for almost an entire week!

I'm ready to see the lale start blossoming here! I've heard the gardens are amazing!