Many of my clients dread visiting relatives during the winter holidays where the weather feels cold both inside and out.

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Ice palaces have been a winter feature of Saranac Lake since 1898, fitting for a quaint mountain village where winter temperatures can plunge to minus 30 during cold snaps.

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"The winter here is just as cold as in Shropshire where I used to live, sometimes colder, " Mr Marlow told the BBC News website.

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This time last year police removed protesters from the Wall Street park where they had camped for almost two months, and cold winter temperatures drove the movement's other outposts indoors.

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It is paradise without a passport (if you are an American) and it calls my name on every cold winter's day walking around New York's distant archipelago cousin, where I live and work.

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