I do realize I need to write about our wonderful trip to Vienna and parts East; however, I am so excited by the fact that the canals have frozen here in Wassenaar that I have to talk about skating first! When Mike and I found out (in February 2004) that we would be moving to the Netherlands, the first thing we did was to call our families. We were in New York City, thrilled beyond measure that we were actually going to be moving overseas in just a few months and wondering what the Netherlands ("Holland" to many) was all about. We sorted through our combined memories and came up with a meager assortment of what we knew about our future home: Tulips, clogs, windmills, Old Dutch potato chips (although that was a stretch and only thrown in because I grew up with them in Canada!), and ice skating. When we told my parents our destination, my mother excitedly said, "Oh! You'll be just like Hans Brinker!!". Mike's mother was a little more prosaic, "I'm so glad you're going somewhere safe!". I had to ask Mom to please remind me what the deal was with Hans Brinker and she said he was the hero of the classic tale, The Silver Skates.
I have since read the book, because Mom gave it to me for Christmas, and have been sad to see that the winters here are not as conducive to ice skating as they were in decades and centuries past. It just hasn't been cold enough. When you go to museums here and see paintings and sketches by Dutch artists, in addition to the glorious sky-scapes, you generally see images of skating. In fact, when I was in Gouda (pronounced "How-da" as opposed to the popular "Good-a") a couple of years ago, I was visiting an old clay pipe maker. He talked about how people used to skate up the frozen canals from Rotterdam (a distance of 16 miles / 25 km) to get replacement pipes when theirs broke. He added that this will never happen again due to industry along the canals in that region making the water too warm for freezing. Sad.
However, back to skating. I told Mike that we needed to get me out on the canal next to our house, either upon our return from the movie in The Hague (which was good, we enjoyed "The Yes Man" with Jim Carrey), or this morning while it was still cold. We decided to go with the morning option for better lighting, although I was a little self-conscious that I might have more of an audience in daylight than at 10:30pm!
I needn't have worried, while yesterday was very misty and gray all day long, this morning dawned clear, cold, and sunny. The hoar frost on the trees, bushes, grass, etc., was beautiful and the thermometer said -5 Celsius (23 F), so the ice was bound to be even stronger - a good thing! I mused at one point that I couldn't even remember when I was last on skates, I think it must have been when I was university age??, so about 20 years ago. I did bring a pair of skates that used to be Mom's though, so we were ready to roll, er...glide.
Mike was armed with the camera which we would have brought anyway, but my good friend, Hallie emailed me yesterday saying, "I love that you could possibly skate on the canals! Take pictures - I want to see that." Understood, and Mike was a champion photographer, giving me many options to choose for posting here. He started out standing mid-canal, but when we heard a big "Crack!" and he saw the ice split away from where he stood in two directions, he thought it might make more sense to shoot from the shore!
It was great, living a bit of history for me and chalking up one more fun expat experience for the books. I also heard a creak and crack or two, but zipped back to where I knew it was sound. It was fun! I have to say, Mom's feet are a little smaller than mine though, so I wouldn't want to spend too long in those skates, but I did NOT fall, and even managed to look up and smile a few times. I guess my youth spent skating in British Columbia on the sloughs by our house came back to me.
You will see in the photos that I'm wearing some unconventional skating apparel, I had on my green riding jods as I was off to see the horse next, and didn't want to go back upstairs and change! Mike joined me for the ride to the stable, about a 20-25 minute bike ride as he had to get some errands done in The Hague. You'll see a photo of him as well, below. On my return from the stable, I passed a pond with several dozen skaters zipping around, from toddlers to the elderly. It's clear that the beautiful sunshine and elusive ice is as big a draw to the Dutch as it was to me. Maybe tomorrow I'll have to head down to that pond where it's clear the ice is strong enough to handle a crowd!
I have since read the book, because Mom gave it to me for Christmas, and have been sad to see that the winters here are not as conducive to ice skating as they were in decades and centuries past. It just hasn't been cold enough. When you go to museums here and see paintings and sketches by Dutch artists, in addition to the glorious sky-scapes, you generally see images of skating. In fact, when I was in Gouda (pronounced "How-da" as opposed to the popular "Good-a") a couple of years ago, I was visiting an old clay pipe maker. He talked about how people used to skate up the frozen canals from Rotterdam (a distance of 16 miles / 25 km) to get replacement pipes when theirs broke. He added that this will never happen again due to industry along the canals in that region making the water too warm for freezing. Sad.
However, back to skating. I told Mike that we needed to get me out on the canal next to our house, either upon our return from the movie in The Hague (which was good, we enjoyed "The Yes Man" with Jim Carrey), or this morning while it was still cold. We decided to go with the morning option for better lighting, although I was a little self-conscious that I might have more of an audience in daylight than at 10:30pm!
I needn't have worried, while yesterday was very misty and gray all day long, this morning dawned clear, cold, and sunny. The hoar frost on the trees, bushes, grass, etc., was beautiful and the thermometer said -5 Celsius (23 F), so the ice was bound to be even stronger - a good thing! I mused at one point that I couldn't even remember when I was last on skates, I think it must have been when I was university age??, so about 20 years ago. I did bring a pair of skates that used to be Mom's though, so we were ready to roll, er...glide.
Mike was armed with the camera which we would have brought anyway, but my good friend, Hallie emailed me yesterday saying, "I love that you could possibly skate on the canals! Take pictures - I want to see that." Understood, and Mike was a champion photographer, giving me many options to choose for posting here. He started out standing mid-canal, but when we heard a big "Crack!" and he saw the ice split away from where he stood in two directions, he thought it might make more sense to shoot from the shore!
It was great, living a bit of history for me and chalking up one more fun expat experience for the books. I also heard a creak and crack or two, but zipped back to where I knew it was sound. It was fun! I have to say, Mom's feet are a little smaller than mine though, so I wouldn't want to spend too long in those skates, but I did NOT fall, and even managed to look up and smile a few times. I guess my youth spent skating in British Columbia on the sloughs by our house came back to me.
You will see in the photos that I'm wearing some unconventional skating apparel, I had on my green riding jods as I was off to see the horse next, and didn't want to go back upstairs and change! Mike joined me for the ride to the stable, about a 20-25 minute bike ride as he had to get some errands done in The Hague. You'll see a photo of him as well, below. On my return from the stable, I passed a pond with several dozen skaters zipping around, from toddlers to the elderly. It's clear that the beautiful sunshine and elusive ice is as big a draw to the Dutch as it was to me. Maybe tomorrow I'll have to head down to that pond where it's clear the ice is strong enough to handle a crowd!
The hoar frost outside our kitchen window this morning.
Skates on, ready to glide!
A quick pose on the canal.
How thick I thought the ice was, based on frozen bubbles I could see.
Not far from where we were, swans and ducks in a bit of open water. I stayed clear of them.
I'm quite pleased with my line in the ice, no wobbles!
Relaxing and having fun now.
Mike, bundled up and en route to The Hague
The community comes out when the ice is thick!
4 comments:
I LOVE this - it looks like you had a great morning. Thanks for the pics Mon!
Love you, Hallie
I loved your story about skating. When we lived on Rembrandtlaan the canal was just up the street from my house. There was always lots of skaters. Unlike you I was never an ice skater, plus I had really weak ankles. I enjoyed watching from the side lines. Everyone looked so graceful.
By the way my husband and I rarely go out to a movie, but we did the day after Christmas. We saw " Yes Man " and loved it. Happy New Year to you guys.
In the picture of Mike riding the bike, are those BRICKS to the right of the bike path? Looks they brick right up the trees! Wonder why?
Hi Sharon, yes indeed, those are bricks. That is the sidewalk for pedestrians, Mike is on the bike path (usually paved in reddish asphalt), and on his other side is the dirt track for horses. One thing we've noticed here over the years is the Dutch passion for tidiness, but also for nature, combining to give images such as this!
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