In the first days of January 1954, northern Italy is enveloped in heavy snowfall, which in some areas the wind turns into violent blizzards. For days, the snow falls incessantly, trains come to a halt, the road network is disrupted, mountain areas are isolated. On the 8th, the blizzard subsides: while elsewhere the damage is counted, in Bologna Romano Olivo and his family go out into the street in front of their house to play in the enchanted landscape. We are in the closest hills of the city, but it feels like being high up in the mountains. Little Giuliana and Mario run and sink into the snow, mother Adriana enjoys lifting them into the air and plunging them into that soft whiteness. While it was snowing, a government crisis was unfolding in Rome. On the 8th, President Einaudi began consultations to form the new executive, which was entrusted to Amintore Fanfani and lasted just 22 days: to date, it remains the shortest in the Italian Republic. Without having obtained the support of the Parliament, it will melt away like snow in the sun.