"What do you mean 'shovel'?"

Something incredible happened in London today. Something unusual. Something absolutely unheard of.

It snowed! … A lot, actually.

More than 6 inches of fluffy, white snow fell last night and blanketed the entire city, causing utter confusion and panic among most Londoners and sheer excitement among others (namely me and my roommates … well, most of them anyways).

Aside from my family and friends, snow is one of the things I’ve missed most so far on this international adventure, so I was thrilled when I saw flakes falling outside my window and realized they were actually sticking. Kristin, her friend Molly and I bundled up and ran outside for a few minutes to take photos and frolic in the snow last night in the midst of the ‘storm’ (I use quotes because by Rochestarian standards, it’s not much of a storm at all). Apparently it was enough of one to get us on ABC News though.

It’s been amusing watching the Londoners try to cope with the new phenomenon. Since they don’t typically get very much (if any) snow, the city’s not equipped to deal with it. I didn’t see a single snowplow and the closest thing people could find to shovels were brooms. And practically everyone I passed was complaining at how cold it was. Wimps.

I wandered around the park at Kennsington Gardens just down the street from my flat and found that half of London had taken a snow day. They busted out their goulashes and umbrellas — it’s the closest thing they have to snow gear — and built snowmen and took pictures in the park. Some started spontaneous snowball fights, which seemed to break out everywhere, while others just looked in awe at the snow-covered trees, bushes and pond.

Here's a video I took while in Hyde Park of the festivities:



On my way home from the park, I decided to stop at Tesco’s (the grocery store) to pick up a few things for dinner and found the other half of the city inside in full-on crisis mode, stocking up on canned goods and water. Seriously. I can’t make this stuff up, I’m not that good. Practically every tube line was down, if not severely delayed and the buses couldn’t handle the unplowed streets.

So while Londoners try to cope with the winter weather in whatever way they choose, I’m just enjoying a little reminder of home.

Photo included in this entry: A snowman built in the park. There were literally hundreds of them everywhere!