It was snowing all morning in High Park… Let’s go out and shoot: enjoy the moment and capture the beauty of winter!

A winter wilderness escape in the middle of big city Toronto: photos and quotes.

The polar vortex is making its way into Canada from time to time, bringing Arctic-like temperatures. This year the polar air is  expected to reach Eastern Canada at the beginning of February.

One of the harshest and coldest winters in Canada was the winter of 2013/14 – with a Christmas ice storm that downed trees and hydro lines, cutting power to half million people – and a series of polar vortexes. The polar vortex from the beginning  of January froze the Niagara River and the two smaller waterfalls, creating an unusual winter landscape.

The year 2023 started with a memorable day trip to the MGS (Mountain Guide Sibiu) Hut, in the Cindrel Mountains (the Carpathians, Romania).

It was a beautiful, sunny day, with unusual warm temperatures for January (+12 degrees C, at over 1,000 meters altitude). Normal temperatures for this time of the year should be below zero, to -10 degrees Celsius, and snow.

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” – Norman Vincent Peale

It is the time for Christmas – a time for joy, celebration and reflection, a time to look back to the year that has passed and prepare for the year ahead.

Looking back many years, the Christmas caught me in some unusual places such as in a deserted lounge of the Lagos airport, near the bridge over the river Kwai in Thailand, on the top of Carpathian Mountains or at a cabaret show in Havana.

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all other seasons.” – Jim Bishop

The best time to visit Canada is in the fall. Warm weather and beautiful autumn foliage, with gold and red coloured leaves.

Get a glimpse of a Canadian fall through photos and quotes.

Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m), Mont Blanc

One day trip from Geneva, Switzerland, to Chamonix in France. Chamonix is one of the oldest ski resorts in France and the site where the first Winter Olympics took place in 1924.

One of the main attractions is the spectacular cable car trip from Chamonix to Aiguille du Midi 3,842 m (12,605 ft) – the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world. There is a change of cabin at 2,317 m.  From here, the ascent is steep and directly, without any support pillar for a length of 2,867 m. (data from Wikipedia).