Sunday 17 January 2010

Skating on frozen canals in the Netherlands...

bird feet traces in snow

Some colleagues told me they did not remember (in the last 20 years...) a winter as cold and white as this one in the Netherlands. Last year (and to be more exact in January 2009) was the first time the Dutch canals were frozen (again) for the last..... 12 years!!! Why is it so surprising-well some decades ago this was happening every winter in the low lands...

frozen canals Netherlands

Dutch noren and Swedish speed skates

But to come back to last and (of course!) this year! Young and old (and even the Queen-if one may trust the press) put on the skates and went on ice. Does not matter the skates: on ice I have seen next to the well-known figure- and ice-hockey-skates also the very famous here Dutch "noren" (speed-skates: the one on left side, picture above). A Swedish colleague impressed me with the Skandinavian version of speed skating: the one without a shoe and very funny form, on the right side in the above shot.

snowball fight frozen canals Netherlands

Snow-ball fights were also possible...But the minus-temperatures lasted only a bit more than a week and the ducks are happy now to have again water!


3 comments:

Filipina Ini said...

I like the photos so much! Am so afraid to go in the lakes though, I might fall in a hole! Lovely photo with the marks at the end!

Merete said...

Hello! Thanks for the nice comments on my blog! :o) Glad you like my photos! :D It seems fun to skate! Have'nt done that i years! Love the "duckfootsteps"! So cute:)

TZ said...

oh i just missed the snow... miss the skating on the lake and playing the ice hockey... :)