It has been snowing since late morning and there are no signs of letting up. The streets are deserted and the air is thick with snow.
Later on we will be heading out to an outdoor mulled wine party. We were supposed to bring folding chairs – I guess we can forget about those. Dressed in a snowsuit seems more reasonable and being armed with a hip flask of whiskey (to keep the mulled wine warm) is crucial.
We will be celebrating Julfest (winter solstice). In the old days, people used to set cartwheels on fire and let them roll down the hill, which was meant to fertilize the fields.
We won’t be doing any of that today as we will only gather around a bonfire in somebody’s back courtyard.
Actually it turned so cold (-15°C in Cologne apparently) that we can to keep clearing the windscreen on our journey to Calais – the screenwash was not frozen, but the nozzles were!
Sadly it was all gone by Christmas…