February 3, 2012
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
"I hadn't really counted on winter anymore," I was chatting with Paul tonight, "I was more or less ready for spring"
"Me neither," he replied and the sigh he must have exclaimed as he typed his text was almost audible, "and I really don't like snow either. At least not after half an hour."
Tough times for people like me who much prefer warm weather. It started snowing as I cycled to work and really started mid-morning, and it continued till mid-afternoon. Enough to turn Amsterdam white. On top of that it's immensely cold, with temperatures last night at -18C in parts of the country. In Fahrenheit that is 'exactly as cold as your freezer'.
I left the office at 5:30 and started cycling towards Zuiderbad (the pool) but after some scary moments decided to continue walking, leaving my bike close to the pool. Normally I don't mind cycling in the snow. As long as you don't make too many unexpected movements (brakeing suddenly, turning sharply) it's usually fine, but in my backpack I had not just one but two laptops (work and private) and I wasn't about to risk losing either of them in a fall. As long as the scaffolding is in front of the building I take my private laptop with me to work. It's just a bit too easy to break into my apartment (or so I think) and with me taking the laptop to work that's all valuables out of the apartment.
From Zuiderbad I walked home, and it must be said, cold as it was, Amsterdam also looked immensely pretty. Especially Keizersgracht, the canal that is kept free of boat traffic whenever it freezes so that people can skate on it as soon as the ice is thick enough, looked wonderful. You can see it in the picture above. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just go and turn my heating up.
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