Cold Climates

[Michael Z]

Not quite. Tuscany in Italy is one of the hottest places in Europe. It is also the hotbed of Italian communism.

The further you go south in Germany, the colder and more conservative it gets. Hamburg, the farthest city up north is recknowned for its liberalism wheras Bavaria, especially the southern part, makes Texas look like San Francisco. (Bavaria, after all, is the place that gave birth to Nazism.)

Similarly in France, the further you go south the warmer and more socialist it gets (with the exception of Marseille, a city infamous for its association with Le Pen's Front Nacionale).

[Michael Z]

Ah touche'! Emilia Romagna and Tuscany have the coldest winters in Italy, apart from the Alps. I went to Bologna in January and it was @*&%ing freezing! :-) You're right, they're very left-wing, which is also odd as they're also very rich.
Sicily & Campania are the most conservative bits and also the warmest!

I went to Tuscany in August and it was boiling. The strangest thing is as you drive in from the Alps, where the temperature was roughly 15 degrees Celcius, you're an hour into Italy and once you reach Modena the heat really hits you. I went from 15 to 35 degrees in roughly sixty minutes and I was shaking from the sudden temperature change.

Wonderful place though. You can't beat Italy for sheer natural beauty.