White Easter

It's late March, and Köln enjoys a fairly temperate climate. All the same, today is our fifth day of snow in a week, and by far the most substantial snowfall we've seen this winter. And the forecast calls for three more days of the same! This morning, even though we'd been up late watching East of Eden the night before, the cottony clumps drifting down from the sky had us perking up bright and early. I am utterly powerless against the beauty of a quietly falling snow, and insisted that we go for a little Spaziergang through the neighborhood while it was still coming down soft, slow, and thick, and before the blanketed sidewalks became pitted with footprints. We wandered for maybe an hour, while most of the city slept in.
For me, the walk was worth it just to hear the rubbery sound of snow compacting under our shoes. I think Kelly was glad to get out in it too, but as the below picture attests, she felt that it was a little on the chilly side for such an early morning.
Ah, and why no school or work today? Although a little snow doesn't bring this city to its knees, a Christian holiday slows everything to a grinding halt. Easter is a four-day weekend in Köln. One couldn't even buy milk Friday, Sunday, or Monday (Saturday becoming a shopping day of some urgency and driving us, helpless, toward Ikea). It's been a nice little break. Thursday was particularly hedonistic, with a visit to our coffee shop, a trip to the movies, and a round at the infrequently-open Schreckenskammer Brauhaus.

And we still have most of today left before the long weekend finishes. We were thinking of hopping a train to Düsseldorf or some other nearby locale, but this snow sure does make a warm couch and a nearly-finished book appealing.