Skating on the Katzensee in my new coat

It has been mostly cold and grey in Zürich since we returned from the States, a damp, lingering, foggy, overcast kind of cold. This is a feature of Zürich - fogs that linger for some weeks, and even when the sun breaks through in the afternoon, the fog reforms at night. It's actually rather like the Central Valley of California when the tule fog comes.

One side effect of the cold is that I decided I would finally buy myself a topcoat - a mantel in German. LGG and I headed out to some nearby stores to look for something suitable. After a bit of searching, I found just the thing - a knee-length dark charcoal double-breasted topcoat with some nice pocket space, that will go well with either a suit or casual clothes. It was even on sale for less than an equivalent coat in the States (even after you factor in the exchange rate)! My fashion consultant LGG approved the style, and the deal was done.

The other side effect of our lingering deep cold is that some of the smaller lakes in Zürich canton have frozen over. I saw a story in one of the local free papers noting that the Katzenseen, two lakes just down the road from our place, might freeze heavily enough for the ice to break the magic 14 cm thickness. What's so great about 14 cm thick ice, you ask? Keep reading...

The last bit of the puzzle is we had a very bright, sunny day today, with temps just around freezing. Definitely a day to go outside.

What do these all have to do with each other? How 'bout a picture:


That's me in my new coat, holding LGG's hand while we ice skate on the Unterer Katzensee under mostly clear, bright blue skies. The more-than-14-cm-thick ice was great, and covered with a thin layer of snow that helped LGG by giving just enough resistance to her skates. ZMG and LGG also had some solo skating fun; here, she is 'flying' (a Flying Tiger? Sorry.):


It was also nicely bumpy which gave some fun to zipping around a lake we visited several times this year.

While we were out, we ran into two of LGG's school friends with their parents, and the teacher for a music and dance class LGG took over the summer. I also recognized a number of folks from our neighborhood out there.

After we skated, we met some friends who live on the other side of the Katzenseen and played a bit on the smaller of the two lakes. Then it was off to their place for some homemade hot chocolate - yum! - accompanied by artichoke dip and chips - yum! - and other snacks while LGG and their kids alternately played, watched a movie, and played some more, and the adults talked and played pass-the-baby. It was a fun way to end a casual day out.