The intense cold of the past few days will be with us until at least Wednesday according to our resident meteorologist David Sesto. Temperatures dropped down last night to bitterly cold and numbing -- 7.4 ° but it looks as though the mercury will be rising again shortly.
This gives us an opportunity to present some interesting photographic evidence of just how cold it was this past week around Barga.
The images in this article show the impressive waterfall and stalactites of ice that can be found along the road to Sommocolonia, just above Ponte Catagnana.
Facing the bend in the road is a true spectacle of nature that will probably still be visible for a few more days yet.
Above the road a small stream, the Roncagliana has completely frozen over forming a solid ice waterfall several meters high.
There have been many visitors to the Roncagliana to see for themselves this beautiful shimmering vision, including most of the local photographers eager to capture the scene before it once again returns to just a small stream unnoticed and passed by without a second look, but this afternoon just as dusk was falling arrived somebody a bit special.
no images were found
None other that the Minimalist Santa put in an appearance with a brief rendition of his theme song before once again disappearing off … to wherever he lives… who knows?
So just who (or what) is the Minimalist Santa ?
To explain a little of the fascination with Santa it is important to realise that the whole concept of Santa Claus with his trademark red fur lined coat and large white beard is a new phenomenon for this area. Until very recently it was the Befana who brought children their Christmas presents. It is only in the last 20 years or so that the figure of Santa Claus has been known and widely used – mainly through the power of advertising and television.
Stripping that figure down to the bare minimals – removing the red coat and beard but still making it recognisable as Santa is a testament to that power.
Minimalist Santa has been a regular visitor to Barga over the past three years turning up when the weather is at its worst as the following videos show:
17th December 2010
March 8th 2010
19th December 2009
Christmas Eve 2009 in Aristo’s with members of Emma e gli Aristodemo’s