And Where's the Snow?

It's a conspiracy. Every winter, in most parts of Austria it snows well before Christmas and also when you are already in full spring mode and have put your ski gear away. Predictably enough, Tauwetter (literally "thawing weather") sets in a few days before Christmas and it's bye-bye snow, hello fog and headaches. Some parts of Austria experienced crazy spring temperatures this Christmas, but this did not apply to the South, where it was freezing as usual, just minus the snow. Due to its geographical situation Klagenfurt is (in)famous for its fog during the autumn and winter months and the town has pretty much been covered in fog every day between Chritmas and New Year's Eve. In order to escape the fog and in particular to let Dad, who is suffering from a chronic respiratory condition, get some fresh air into his lungs, we took a digestive walk on Radsberg almost every day. There, it still did not look remotely wintery, but at least it was sunny. Here's the shadow of me (in the middle) and my parents:

There's a spot up there where you can see all of Klagenfurt covered in that big down blanket of fog. The smaller source of cloudy fog that sticks out of the blanket is the refuse incinerator's chimney:

On the one day when it was not foggy in the valley, we took a walk by the lake, which likewise did not exactly provide a wintery scenery and was not covered in the tiniest sliver of ice:

  

If I had not been skiing twice with my Mum, I would not have seen any snow other than tiny heaps nearby houses. However, we managed to get our dose of snow (partly artificial, but let's not nitpick) and fresh mountain air. How about that picture?

Wishing all of you a great New Year's Eve and Happy and Healthy New Year!