Snowcropolis! Monster blizzard brings sun-loving Athens to a chilly standstill
KA-POW! Yes, that was the sound of snow thunder over the Greek capital
The snowstorm dubbed Elpis descended on Athens Monday January 25 with wild white fury, bringing frigid temperatures and dumping several inches of snow in the city while stranding hundreds of motorists on the Attiki Odos motorway, a major highway.
With traffic in Athens itself grinding to a halt because of the snow, Tuesday and Wednesday were declared public holidays, with schools likely remaining closed through Thursday.
Beyond the aesthetic dimension—snow on the Acropolis, yay!—obviously there was a political one too, and you can read more about that here.
The initial spate of power outages and flight cancellations is over but traveling around Athens whether by car or on foot was still challenging as of the end of the day Wednesday: obviously a city where orange trees blossom even in January isn’t accustomed to storms that pack a wallop like this one just did.
Still, it’s not so bad that you need to break out the skis—and it probably beats Moscow right now.