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By the time February arrives, there are snow covered mountain tops on the mainland and occasionally on Ithakis highest peaks, around Anoghi and Kathara. Clear views across the Ionian almost every day, open up the horizon for the closure of January. The February chill occasionally freezes the damp into the morning road, and those who can afford it, take flight to warmer climates elsewhere for their annual holiday. Home fires burn through the night and taps are allowed to drip, so that the water doesn't freeze in the pipes. In February there are trips to Anoghi to build a snowman with the kids, frequent trips to Athens for the end of Winter Sales and mornings in Vathy to pay the bills, go to the bank and have a cup of coffee with a friend. On a windy day the roads along the bays are clear of parked cars, so that when the sea invades the bay, sometimes up to the first row of houses, it doesn't splash onto the cars, which rust and buckle so easily in the harshness of the Winter seaside. With the end of February, locals see the light at the end of the tunnel, another long Winter approaching its' end, with the many Celebrations of March ahead.
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