First Proper Snowfall

On Saturday the 2nd of December there was a large downpour of snow in Vienna. There had been a little bit of snow a week ago, but this Saturday was different, it snowed for the entire day and most of the night. Now I have seen snow before but for me the snow has always been a destination. If I wanted to see snow or to experience a snowfall I would have to go to where the snow is, usually to Kosciuszko or Namadgi National Park. I had never in my adult life experienced snow coming to me. So for me this day was an absolutely wonderful experience; it still felt incredibly strange to just look out the window of my residence and see snow.

I took this picture in the morning when I first woke up, looking out from my kitchen window. I was already fascinated and gleefully excited but I had no idea this was just the start. By tomorrow morning there would be about 20-30 centimeters of snow.

Walk to Church

Since it was a Saturday I went to church (Adventists worship on Saturday) and while some might have wanted to stay home on a snowy day I was super excited to make the 15 minute walk. I rugged up, wearing my ski jacket for the added protection and warmth, and I made my way carefully to church. I was a little late because I simply had to stop and take pictures, I didn't have my Fujifilm camera with me so I was just using my phone.

These were some of the pictures I took. I had walked this route a number of times before but today the snow completely transformed it. Part of the walk to church involved going on this walkway passed a sports school and this is where I took the pictures above. The snow enhanced what was already a nice walk into something even more beautiful.

I spent the entire day at Church, there was a lunch and an afternoon program. The entire day the snow continued to fall and I was often looking out this window to observe it. Throughout the day I saw the snow on the adjacent roof getting thicker and thicker.

By the time I left church, the snow was significantly deeper. The above photos are some of my favourites that I took on my way back to the apartment in the afternoon.

Before and After

In looking over my photos from the day I noticed that I took some of the same scenes both on my walk to church and on my walk back. I have curated these below. The first/left image was taken in the morning, the second/right image was taken in the afternoon. The difference in snow all occurred while I was at church.

These images were taken not far from my place in Vienna. The street that my apartment is on has a t-intersection with the pictured street, at these lights.

This is some sort of community garden along the walkway that went past the sports school.

This is the street that leads to the church. Unfortunately I didn't take these images at quite the same spot but you can still get the idea of just how much snow fell.

Back at the Apartment

I spent the rest of the day indoors but I still took quite a few photos of the snowfall from the windows.

This one is perhaps the nicest one and shows how the trees outside the apartment were absolutely covered in snow. I basically was able to watch this view all evening and night in between doing other things.

The video above was taken from a window in my apartment. It's hard to see because capturing snow on video is hard, but I loved how the snow flowed in the wind. There were even times where it looked like the snow was falling upwards because of how the wind pushed against the building.

Outside my apartment is a lamp that is suspended over the street. I was on the second floor so the lamp was pretty much level with my windows. During the night the snow continued to fall and these icicles began to form on the lamp. They captured the light and glowed transcendentally as if from the inside. As the night wore on the icicles lengthened and I kept taking the same picture again. The last/right most picture was taken around 1:00 am, just before I went to bed.

This is basically a video with the same frame as the previous pictures. This video gives a better sense of what it was like watching the snow falling from my apartment window.

I know for anyone familiar with snow this entire post may seem rather ordinary. For me though, I found the day wonderful and simply had to share. Also, I have now since seen snow quite a few more times in Europe, and each time I have found it just as enjoyable, I must conclude that I really love snow and I am so happy that I was able to experience it in this part of the world.

Thanks for reading – Edward

Written 28th of December 2023

Please comment below if you have any questions or thoughts on any pictures.