Baby, it’s cold outside

So today was a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. Only it was -6^oC (21^oF for you folks on the imperial system). That’s pretty cold. Freezing in fact. And it’s been that way – and worse – for the last week and will continue in this vein for at least this week. Thursday and Friday were the worst days, with temps around -8^oC, but with fierce 40 – 50km/h winds straight from Siberia, the windchill made it feel it was more like -20^oC. It’s even colder in Ukraine, where over 100 people have been killed from exposure to temps as low as -30^oC (that’s -22^oF!).

Nice day for a walk?

These are the coldest temperatures I’ve ever experienced. It’s freezing! The wind blowing on my face feels like tiny little knives making tiny little paper cuts on my skin. It’s somewhat of a novelty – which is why we went for a walk this afternoon. But we weren’t the only ones. The Swiss love a walk in fine, sunny weather. And it seems sub-zero temps are no deterrent. Unfortunately, my phone that I had taken some photos on doesn’t seem to like very cold weather and seized up, otherwise there would be a photo here of the boulevard by the lake in Nyon, full with people and families strolling along.

It hasn’t been just cold – the snow has been falling too, much more than last winter. That, too, still holds novelty value for me; I still give a small squeal, to the amusement of my work colleagues, whenever snow starts falling. The streets of Geneva were blanketed with snow during the week, making walking to work in snow boots or Wellington boots necessary to get through all the slush.

Geneva a winter wonderland

Once it stops snowing though and the sky clears, the scene is breathtaking, with everything, including the trees, turned white. Very pretty. Winter in Switzerland is not quite over yet, but it’s been fascinating.

    

P.S - Oops. It has been awhile since my last blog. Well, merry Christmas and happy New Year! Christmas in Switzerland really deserved its own blog, but with my parents over, I didn’t have the time. This Christmas I’ll try to write one. It’s also been just over a year now since I arrived and I’m conscious that I need to write a post on a full year of life in Switzerland. I’m still full of ideas for blogs, but life catches up sometimes and doesn’t leave me much time for writing. I promise I’ll blog more this year.