Experiencing a historic heatwave in Italy with no AC is not the end of the worldBy Charles Gasparino
August 5, 2023
SANTA MARIA DI CASTELLABATE, Italy — I’ve been reading a lot that it’s hot out, but there aren’t many places as smoldering as southern Italy in summer. It’s the so-called Mezzogiorno region that I just happened to pick as a vacation destination during what’s being billed as the deadliest heat wave since Vesuvius exploded and covered the area just a little north with molten lava.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been hanging in and around Naples and met with family in the hills far south of that tourist trap known as the Amalfi Coast. For the unacquainted, these destinations are pretty south — and really hot. Upper 80s, into the 90s and sometimes close to triple digits during the summer even before so-called global warming set the world on fire.
Yet as we sat down at a restaurant outside the small mountain town of Laurito, I noticed something. It’s not just the sweat that’s pouring down my neck; it’s the air conditioning — or total absence of it. And no fans buzzing either.
That’s the way they do things here. Always have. During the summer, the folks in this hamlet and throughout much of the south have their midday meal (their version of dinner) without the AC blasting, or fans circulating.
When they mangia inside a restaurant or their own homes (I did both with relatives), their AC is an open window and an occasional cool breeze. They call it naturale. I call it crazy but I come from a generation of Italian Americans that shunned much of this amazing culture. I never learned the language — nor many of the traditions except pasta on Sunday and a few curse words.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/08/05/summer-slice-of-italia-taking-heat-in-stride/
