Central perk

You've perked up: sitting on the Ishim in central Astana.

I had a great suggestion for a fluid mechanics experiment in the rivier Ishim, which cuts Astana in half, but was shot down immediately when I was told that it had frozen! This was back in November, when the winter was still to unleash its full potential (or lack of it, if you're a physicist). Nevertheless the river was frozen and this was, to me, a curious and novel thing. My only experience up to then was a frozen stream in England, where there's ice on top, and water running beneath, and if you tap your toe on the ice it cracks and water comes streaming out.

Spritely sprite: 2D me, facing the other way.

When I arrived at the frozen Ishim I realised how different a real frozen river is. Not only is it frozen but (obvs!) it's covered in snow. So the centre of this capital city had this huge, white, empty field in the middle of it. Absurd! But it has its perks: children (and adults, who are we kidding?!) enjoyed sledging down the icy river bank, which is clad with ice bricks hosting coloured lights within them, and there was a display of ice sculptures on the river. Some fishing holes are drilled through the ice, and generally it's a nice big open space for a walk. I think someone was selling rides on a snowmobile too.

Technical note: photos taken in February