When visiting my family near Berlin, we have the chance to experience really cold weather —at least during Christmas or New Year's Eve—where lakes freeze over. This does not last long and is a rare beauty in the surroundings of Berlin.

West of Berlin lies Falkensee (falcon-see) with two lakes. One of our favourite walking tours takes us around these lakes. The picture was taken as the light had already faded, leaving not a lot of distinction between the sky and the frozen surface of the lake, where the ice already showed signs of cracks.