Long ago, in the days before passenger ships featured climbing walls, ice rinks, on-board zip lines and nonstop gastronomic gorging sessions, stately ocean liners plied the transatlantic route between London and New York.

FORBES: Captain Bernanke At The Helm Of The QE2 Hopes To Avoid A Titanic Outcome

The National Center for Traffic Information described the snowfall as "remarkable" for the Paris region, where heavy snows are unusual, and warned motorists that the wintry conditions could "turn roads into real ice rinks".

BBC: Severe weather batters France

Home to two ice rinks, 18 badminton courts and 10 regulation-size basketball courts, the complex is one of the only legacy buildings - Olympic facilities built specifically to remain after the Games end - that hosted competition.

BBC: Vancouver after the Games

In winter, when the sun is only an occasional visitor, the town squares are strung with lights and ice skating rinks are full.

BBC: Living in: Stockholm

To entice students to pay top dollar, developers are adding upscale amenities including tanning beds, resort-style pools and ice-skating rinks.

WSJ: Big Real-Estate Firms Are Going to School

This is a customer rep at Custom Ice, a Burlington, Ont. company that builds refrigerated residential rinks.

FORBES: Magazine Article

And that is, of course, on the ice -- as players dashed, dipped and scored around pro rinks around North America on Saturday, the first day of the league's now abbreviated regular season.

CNN: After long labor standoff, NHL players finally back on ice