February 8, 2012
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sorry, it gets a bit repetitive now… all these pictures of a frozen Amsterdam, with thick ice on its canals and with people skating. And I’m afraid that once more this is a picture about just that: skaters on Prinsengracht, the outermost of the four circular grand canals. This picture was taken at the bridge near Spiegelgracht. Still, it’s pretty much all that is talked about these days. An unexpected, late in the season cold wave (yes, there is such a thing as a cold wave) has fascinated everyone in the Netherlands. One dream, that of an imminent Elfstedentocht, the skating competition and ride over more than 200 kilometres of ice in the northern province of Friesland, came to an abrupt end tonight when the organising committee overseeing the route announced that the ice was simply not strong enough to carry the 16,000 expected riders and therefore it would not call a date for an Elfstedentocht.
It doesn’t really affect me, I must say. I think Amsterdam looks very pretty when it’s frozen, and seeing skaters on the canals even when it’s already dark outside is really quite magical (especially because it’s extremely rare for Amsterdam’s canals to get frozen so deeply that they can carry the weight of skaters) but… I don’t feel the urge myself to go out and skate. The last time I stood on ice skates was when I was 15 years old and that was on an indoor ice skating rink in Geleen. That was the last time, and I’m pretty confident that that will remain the last time for the rest of my life. But pretty, yes, it is. To look at, from the side of the canal.
