The funny time of year

October here in Italy is quite odd climate-wise. You get up in the morning and find that it is quite 'fresh' as my dad would put it. This means that it is neither warm, nor really cold. Still, it's best to put some sort of coat on in the mornings, or so I find. I'm sure my compatriots would not find it necessary to don a coat, but, well, my body is getting more and more tuned in to the Italian climate. Anyway, after slight shivers in the morning, you actually find youself sweating at around midday and the coat ceases to be a comfort and becomes an annoyance.

As the title to this entry states, it's a funny time of year. The heating system has only just been switched on – a few days before what I understand to be the official heating switch-on in all the appartments here: October the 15th. The only thing which is worring me about real cold weather is the price of heating oil, which is famously stratospheric in this period. That, and our block's rather antiquated boiler, could make for an expensive winter.