Toronto’s Chinatown didn’t disappoint me. It was colorful, messy and it smelled of exotic and spicy food. I observed the people attending their daily business: biking around, shopping, cooking and chatting.

In Toronto, most of the party takes place downtown, in Nathan Phillips Square, at the corner of Queen and Bay. There is a small skate rink (small by Ottawa standards – remember, we have the 7.8 kilometers long Rideau Canal!) and skating seemed to be the number one activity.

After the great freeze, we woke up to the great melt. The weather was a bit warmer and all the ice accumulated had started to melt.

Trees were literally shedding ice. Every blast of wind shook the tree limbs, coated in ice — it sounded like a wind chime. We were lucky: no power line snapped in our neighborhood.

We got a bad winter surprise today when we woke up to heavy freezing rain this morning. Yuck.

Freezing rain is pretty unique to very cold countries. When surface temperatures are below freezing, raindrops freeze upon impact with any object they encounter. The resulting ice accumulates to a thickness of several centimeters and it coats just about anything.

Merry Christmas!
Joyeux Noël !
¡Feliz Navidad!
圣诞快乐！