So, it’s August, the hottest time of the year to be in Italy. I am one of those people who can’t stand the heat. Despite growing up in South Florida, spending years baking on the beach, the idea of heat and humidity simply exhausts me!
In Florida, I strategically move from an air-conditioned office to an air-conditioned car, praying to the AC Gods not to fail me!! All non-air-conditioned places were avoided; beachfront anything was a no-go, notwithstanding the incredible tropical views.
My apartment was always kept at a frosty 73 degrees, requiring blankets at night; the only way to ensure a good night’s sleep in summer!!
But here I am in Italy! In August! There is no AC in most places. Certainly not in my wonderful apartment set in an ancient medieval town. It’s August, yet, I am in a long-sleeved top, and feeling a bit chilly.
How can this be?
As I am learning, in Italy, there is an art and science to just about everything. And I have discovered the art and science of wind, air, and heat.
In the early morning (I wake up at least by 7:30 with the clanging church bells of the Church of San Giuliano)
I make my way through the house opening all the windows wide. The air is so nice and cool and fresh! Cool air is propelled through the house by a gentle breeze. In my place, the sun is on the southeast side of the house, so the windows in the front can be wide open with the shutters open wide.
The east side sunny side can be open but not fully so to avoid letting too many blades of warming sun cut through inside. At around 10, the march begins again to close the brightest of the sun-filled windows, leaving open only at the top (the windows open in two ways, fully open at the side or only at the top, which allows for these adjustments.)
This procedure allows the house to be cool because the morning cool air has been let in and circulated naturally throughout. Closing the sunniest windows and shutters keeps the interior cool air preserved. The windows can now be adjusted to let the cool breeze in at the top while keeping the full sun out.
After 12 noon, another walk-through is needed to adjust the windows and shutters so that they are all closed to protect against the intense midday sun shining through the windows. After lunch, around 2.30 or so, another adjustment, to begin opening the windows at least from the top to let the afternoon breeze in. It’s a cool breeze and comes through from the north side. This makes for a late lunch on the terrace a bit challenging, because it will swoop up your olives and bread and carry them across the rooftops! But that breeze is so lovely. Mixed with the warmth of the sun, it will just brush over me during my afternoon repose. Delicious!
After awakening from the repose, around 4-5 pm I can now begin opening the windows more fully. Take care to consider possible rain or the intensity of the wind. (never leave the windows open unattended, as the weather changes without warning and a calm gentle breeze can morph into an intense blast, taking the shutters and windows for a big crash!)
Other hazards of open windows include the admission of the occasionally lost bee or annoying fly. Neither are worrisome and usually find their way out the same window they came in without incident (I try to avoid murdering winged creatures unless necessary!)
Once the sun sets, the nighttime air is significantly cooler, even on the hottest nights. So, once again, wide open go the windows. For bedtime, I usually opt for fully open windows! It’s cool and invigorating, and way better than the artificial 73 degree ac in Florida!
Warning, nightfall begins the serenade of barking dogs, marauding teenagers, blasts of motorcycles and loud cars, or crowing roosters who can’t seem to tell time. All this noise has become part of my auditory canvass, I have come to appreciate it, tune it out, or find it a soothing way to fall asleep. I think of it as Italy’s white noise
It takes a bit of art and science to master the Air, Wind, and Heat process, and now that I have figured it out, I no longer miss the air-conditioned lockboxes I desperately sought refuge in Florida. As I sit here in my long-sleeved top, with a shawl at the ready, I am noticing that it’s almost 10 am, and I must go close out the bright streams of warming sun that are beginning to invade my cool space.