Mirror brings winter sun

We love this story from the BBC about the determination of a little village in Italy to capture some winter sunshine: Italy village gets 'sun mirror' . Through the cunning placement of a large mirror on the hillside, Viganella can now direct the sun's rays into the town square. Sunshine and an outdoors social life are crucial to the Italian way of life, although one would have thought the villagers would be used to their winter gloom by now. Still, 'Progetto Specchio' (Project Mirror) will doubtless brighten Viganella's winters as well as giving the village some international publicity. The village is in the north of Piemonte, in the shadows of the Alps, and the nearest tourist town is Verbania, on Lake Maggiore.