Needing a Virgil as a guide through this blizzard

When watching the motion picture 300 on DVD, I asked of my friends whether southern Greece in the Sparta region would have snow, as portrayed in an early scene.  Given that the film is about hyper-realism that may seem a mundane question but it should be forgivable as the movie had just begun to unfurl its style.  Jon Williams, who had an on-of relationship with a Greek girl for years said he knew the mountains of the north endured such weather.  Well, yesterday and today, it became apparent that the seat of Greek and Roman government and the Sublime Porte could indeed be engulfed by the white stuff despite being on the seafront, so it is entirely credible that Sparta could test the mettle of its young warriors in such conditions.
The climatic conditions in Istanbul became noteworthy because it forced the postponement to the next day of a crucial Champions League match between Galatasaray and Juventus.  Given that Gala supporters bring out banners saying 'Welcome to Hell', it could be said that the proverbial snowball had a very good chance of surviving.  The match was replayed again today from the point at which it was abandoned yesterday, though 'play' may be an exaggeration as Gala's solution to the blanket of snow was to deploy a tractor which ploughed in more ways than one, chewing up the pitch as if it was digging up a potato field.  On churned turf and in swirling snow, somehow a football match broke out, won for Gala by Wesley Sneijder scored from a Didier Drogba cross (what chance Drogba facing his ex-employers Chelsea in the Last-16?).  Carlos Tevez and Andrea Pirlo must now contemplate the exhausting Europa League in preparation for next year's World Cup.  Roberto Mancini has done with Gala what he could not with Manchester City and taken them into the knockout stages of the Champions League.  He will not face Man City given Manuel Pellegrini's incompetence in calculating goal difference when facing Bayern Munich, something that has hurt Man City (and South Africa's Bafana Bafana national team) in the past.  The phrases 'cold day in Hell' and 'when Hell freezes over' are utterly redundant after this match.