Amsterdam, Netherlands

You see, it's not always frozen canals and ice skaters that appear in the pictures of this blog these days. I may not feel the urge to go out and skate, but there's definitely an old love who made a dramatic return in my life and that is swimming. The building in the picture is the beautiful Zuiderbad swimming pool, just behind Rijksmuseum in the south of the city. I used to go there ages ago for quite a while and typically I would be there twice a week.

Then, work became more demanding and my work days became longer, and because of my travels I was in Amsterdam less and less. And a habit turned into a sporadic event and then died down altogether. When I returned to Zuiderbad two and a half weeks ago to give this swimming thing a go again I had lost touch with the pool so much that I had no idea what the entrance price would even be. So I swam on that Tuesday night and on the way home I felt completely elated. I had enjoyed it so much! I thought I was a fool that I had let this great activity die down in my life. So I returned the next day (the pool is on the way home from work so it's ever so easy to just get off the bike there) and once more I enjoyed it very much. Then I went back on Friday, and once more two days later on Sunday. And that's the rhythm I've stuck to so far. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. And I have no intention of letting this habit slip away any time soon. I went yesterday, and today (with the pool not open after work) I only got off my bike to take this picture, but rest assured I will park my bike here again tomorrow and go in to swim for an hour or so.

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.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

It was Hanno's birthday last week and he reached an age that was obviously hurting him just a bit. Yes, finally Hanno reached 40. I've been teasing him just a bit about that, because it obviously gets to him just a bit that he's left his innocent 30s behind. Hanno is an eternal student who also fits as many as possible sporting activities into any one weekend as is humanly possible. Whenever I ask him what he had been up to over the past weekend I get a list of activities that simply exhausts me, just by listening to it. Skating, squash, cycling, running, sailing, wakeboarding (whatever that may be), paragliding, skiing, snowboarding, if there is any activity that's popular with 20 year olds, then Hanno will be doing that with gusto. Except of course now he is twice that age.

To comfort him a bit, and also to congratulate him on reaching this very mature age, I decided to treat him to a dinner, so after work and my own sporting activities (swimming), I went over to his place in my old neighbourhood and we walked to Restaurant Duvel (named after a famous Belgian beer) where we had a very nice meal and talked about all kinds of things... whilst carefully trying to avoid mentioning the number forty.

The picture was taken as I cycled home after the meal. The full moon was shining over the solidly frozen canals and Amsterdam simply looked beautiful, almost picture perfect. There were no more skaters on Keizersgracht (picture above) but Prinsengracht still had some people out on skates on it.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The city continues to be a deep freezer. The weather was very nice today, but goodness me, is it cold! A picture posted on Facebook this morning by one of my Facebook friends showed a sunken house boat on Zwanenburgwal, which is a canal very close to where I live. So, in the afternoon, while the sun was shining beautifully, I decided I could do with some fresh air and a walk. Besides, I needed to pick up my Caroline still, after I had parked her close to Zuiderbad when the snow on the bike line was getting a bit too tricky for me (and my backpack with two laptop computers in it.)

And as it happens, my walking route went past Zwanenburgwal, where, indeed a house boat was lying a bit deeper in the water than usual. When I was a kid we were already told that ice can seriously damage the side of a boat and cause it to sink, and at school they told us that therefore house boats needed to be kept clear of ice as much as possible to ensure they won't get damaged by the ice (keep in mind that I lived in a hilly part of the country where house boats were about as rare a sight as ostriches or whales.) I took the above picture and straight away posted it to Facebook with that explanation of why the boat had sunk. When I was watching the 8 o'clock news on Dutch TV they showed the house boat and the explanation they gave was different from what I had learned in school. Apparently a water pipe inside the boat had frozen and then burst, and water had escaped from the pipe into the boat's interior, causing it to sink (the owners were on holiday.) So, that's the last time I believe anything teachers tell me. 

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Two new words for you today.

The first one is Chandeleur. It's a French word and it's the name given in France to 2 February. In Dutch it's known as Maria-Lichtmis and in English it's called Candlemas, or (according to Wikipedia) by the slightly less catchy name of Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. It's an important day in Christianity and it's also the official end of the Christmas or Epiphany period. While in this country not too many would know about the day, and even fewer would celebrate it, it is a reason for celebration in France. And that's why today I was invited by Valentin to come over to his place for a meal of crêpes (the pencil thin French pancakes) with various types of spread to put on those crêpes.

In the morning, before going to Val, I went to Zuiderbad for what has now become my regular fifty laps in the pool, and afterwards I walked to West, where he lives for the brunch time Chandeleur celebration. I brought two bottles of prosecco with me but unfortunately, just before I left the house, discovered that one of them had leaked in my fridge overnight. Sabine was already there and Mélanie and Olivier as well as Anthony arrived shortly after me. The crêpes, one regular type and one with chestnut flour, were of course home made and delicious, and it was actually fun to put your own additional ingredients in them to create your own preferred type.

Best part of the afternoon was actually just seeing everyone again. Since I more or less went into hibernation in the autumn, I have not really seen many of my friends anymore and other than what they mention on Facebook I wasn't too sure what everybody had been up to. So it was, for example, a very nice surprise to find out that Sabine is buying a flat in Amsterdam next week (and a bit awkward that she's buying a place in the same street where my ex Ryan moved to after we had split up in 1996.) So, yes, it was a wonderful afternoon, with great food, and even greater friends.

The second word of the day is Rayonhoofd. It's a Dutch word that has nothing to do with either Christianity or food, but just with the cold weather we've been having these days. Whenever it's been freezing for more than two nights in a row in this country something weird happens with a lot of Dutch people (and something that makes me suspect that I was probably adopted from non-Dutch parents.) They become restless. They get their ice skates from the attic ("uit het vet" - out of the grease) and start testing the strength of the ice on various lakes, ponds, waterways in the region. As soon as the ice is strong enough they spend entire days on the ice, skating for many kilometres.

And that's when everyone also starts looking at what's going on in the northern province of Friesland. That province is known for its Elfstedentocht, the skating tour that goes past all eleven Frisian 'steden' (towns) over a total length of 200 kilometres. The Tocht der Tochten (Ride of all Rides) as it's endearingly called is only held in those winters when it's extraordinarily cold. To give you an idea, when I was young(er) the last Elfstedentocht had been in 1963 and that one was notorious for its extreme temperatures and wind chill factor. It was a long wait till 1985 when the next one could be organised, and then again in 1986. Then another wait and the next ride was in 1997. And that was the last ride to date.

It's been so cold this week that people are getting more and more excited. Will there be an Elfstedentocht this year? The main Dutch TV news bulletin opened today with the excited exclamation that the Rayonhoofden had met for the first time since 1997. A rayonhoofd is the manager in charge of inspecting the condition of the ice in his or her particular region, and they report to the organisation that organises the Elfstedentocht. And the fact that they had met to discuss the status of the ice was met with due enthusiasm. It's always the first step in the run up to an Elfstedentocht. And with temperatures forecast to remain below freezing for the entire week, and hotels in Friesland getting inundated with calls from people wanting to be there in case of an Elfstedentocht you can truly say that, despite the outdoor temperatures, the excitement about a possible Elfstedentocht in this country is going towards boiling point. It all depends on what the Rayonhoofden will be saying in their meeting...

So there you have them. Chandeleur and Rayonhoofd, two words you would not likely hear in one sentence (this may be the first time in history) but two words that defined this wonderful Sunday very nicely. The picture is of people skating and walking on the ice that covers Prinsengracht.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Last night the lowest temperature measured in this country was -22C. Those are temperatures when it really doesn't matter much anymore whether your numbers are in Centigrade or Fahrenheit (but in case you're wondering, it's -8F) and when you consider that the temperature of a freezer is -18C you could actually say that if you would keep your freezer outside and you would open the door, some heat would escape from the freezer, rather than get in. It was cold, is what I'm saying. Amsterdam was much warmer though, at -21C.

Typical for when it's this cold is that the sky is blue and the sun is shining, and today was no exception. The city looked beautiful! Ice on the canals. Snow in the streets. Gorgeous. Nevertheless I stayed in for most of the day, apart from when I had to do some shopping in the morning as well as getting rid of old glass and paper for recycling. It's just too comfy inside and I wasn't keen on too much of the cold air outside. Besides, one of the things I bought in the supermarket this morning was a bottle of wine and part of that bottle tasted mightily fine in the evening, with the radiators and thermostat in the house working overtime. The picture shows Oudezijds Voorburgwal in icy conditions.

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.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Tomorrow it will be exactly one year that I "signed my life away" as one of my colleagues phrased it so nicely on the morning of 3 February 2010. I became a property owner when at 1 in the afternoon I sat in a notary's office and put my signature under the final document. One year later and I am still very happy that I made the jump to my new place and to actually owning my own place (with a little help from the bank.)

What I hadn't expected then is that there would be some considerable extra expenses for repairs to the building due to the fact that the seller omitted to inform me of urgent maintenance work. When I bought the place, I didn't know (and couldn't know) that the roof was leaking, or that there were issues with some of the window frames. Of course in the course of the past year I found out about that and I did so by having to pay a considerable amount of money, hoping to claim that back from the seller via legal proceedings.

This evening we (the owners of the three floors that were sold at the time) had a two hour meeting with a lawyer to see which options there are for us to claim the expenses (or at least part of it) back. The lawyer's offices were in Noord, which is the part of Amsterdam north of the Ij, north of Central Station, which for pedestrians and cyclists such as myself is best reached by ferry. The meeting was interesting for it gave me some insight in what will be possible... but unfortunately also in what will not be possible.

To be honest, in my mind I had already written the € 5,000 off that I had paid so far, and I think I was right about that (a bit pessimistic maybe... or a bit realistic.) The fact that, to claim back € 20,000 from the seller we would have to pay up to € 10,000 lawyer's fees (at € 200 per hour his fees are uncannily close to mine) and other legal costs is already outrageous, and that is of course still without the chance of victory. There are options still, and we could even consider claiming for emotional damages... but I'm not so sure. I still wonder whether the best option simply would not be to repair the house and forget about legal proceedings. That's of course what the seller is hoping for (for he is a true bastard) but it would give this whole episode some closure as well, which would be good. We'll see how this develops. The picture of the boat was taken just outside the lawyer's offices. I will charge you € 200 euros per hour for reading this blog.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

And just when I thought that basically we were going to skip a winter (temperatures had hardly dipped below freezing and not a single snowflake had been spotted yet this season) it seems we may be in for a prolonged period of brrrr. As I rolled up the curtains in my living room this morning, this is what I saw on the windows. On the inside of the windows. On my side of the windows. Window frost. Ijsbloemen is what they're called in Dutch ('Ij' is pronounced as 'ay' in 'hay'), or Ice Flowers, which sounds much friendlier than what they are.

I must admit that they do look pretty. I hadn't seen window frost like this since the 1980s, I think, when for a brief period of time we lived in a trailer while my parents were renovating our house and window frost appeared on the caravan's windows in that cold winter. That same winter I also was in the army and I distinctly recall one morning, waking up in my lorry (yeah, I was a truck driver... can you believe it?) after a bitterly cold night outside and seeing window frost on the inside of my (unheated) lorry. My army sleeping bag had actually kept me snug and very warm all night. It was difficult getting out of it. OK. So in this two paragraph blog post I told you that I was in the army, that I drove a lorry, and that for a while in my life I could be considered trailer trash. I think that's enough revelations for now.