God's own garden

In Basel, Switzerland, it is as cold as a nuns nasty, and I have only a wood burner in the corner of the room to stop my more vital personal organs becoming frostbitten and snapping off.

The hills surrounding the city are sunk beneath a metre of snow, and the whistling wind makes going outside as enjoyable as watching re-runs of the 5th day of the 2006 Adelaide Ashes test.

I don't know what it's like back in Blighty but i bet it's not as good as this - Golden Wick summer of 2006 anyone?