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Village in Italy Builds a Giant Mirror to Light the Hamlet of Viganella

In the far northwest corner of Italy, in a quiet valley dominated by steep hills, is the tiny hamlet of Viganella.  It is about 120 km (74.5 miles) northeast of Turin, Italy. It’s situated at the bottom of a steep-sided Alpine valley, right up against the Swiss border.

It is predicted that in the next fifteen years, the population of Viganella will dwindle from 100 to fewer than 30. For the inhabitants of this village, the empty stone houses point to a very real fear their town is dying and it may soon be a village of ruins.

The mayor of the town, Pierfranco Midali, knows this. So he's going to try and realize an incredible, if crazy, dream - to revive Viganella by building a giant mirror on the mountain behind the village to reflect sunlight into the town square.

From November through to February, the town of Viganella is in permanent gloom. The mountains to the south block the low winter sun and for almost three months, there is no place in Viganella that gets any sunlight. Pierfranco is going to change this.

The Mirror is a documentary about bringing sunlight to a forgotten village and how this extraordinary idea affects the lives of the people in the village and the surrounding valley. Touching and whimsical, its about the light and the dark and the things in between a documentary film about some extraordinary people and their extraordinary dreams of light.

Directed by
David Christensen
Produced by Vivo film (Italy) & Agitprop Films (Canada)

and . . .

 source: http://twistedsifter.com/2012/02/village-builds-giant-mirror-to-combat-darkness/

Ice Skating the Famous Canals of Amsterdam

More pictures at the SOURCE: http://twistedsifter.com/2012/02/ice-skating-famous-canals-of-amsterdam/

As the deep freeze spreads across Europe, one country that is embracing the cooler weather is The Netherlands. With temperatures dropping to around -7 degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit) earlier this week, many of Amsterdam’s iconic canals have frozen over, allowing residents and tourists to skate the city’s famed waterways. Popular canals such as Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht and Brouwersgracht have all frozen enough for people to skate on.
While skating on frozen canals is an annual occurrence for cities like Ottawa in Canada (on the Rideau Canal), it is a rarity in places like Amsterdam. So when the temperatures are right, the people flood to the ice.
The Dutch are optimistic that the temperatures may stay cold enough for the famous “Eleven Cities” aka “Elfstedentocht” speed skating race to occur. The last time the weather was cold enough for the race to happen was 15 years ago in 1997!
Elfstedentocht is the world’s largest speed skating competition and leisure skating tour at almost 200 km in length (124-miles). It is held in the province of Friesland, Netherlands and only happens when the entire course is at least 15cm thick. Approximately 15,000 participants took part in the last race. [Source: Wikipedia]