Just before Christmas we got a cold snap (cold snap = weather below zero degrees celsius) for about 10 days, which means that the myriad of canals, lakes, and ponds that cover Holland's landscape froze over. This is a pretty big deal when it happens.
So one weekend we piled into the van and drove off to check out the ice. After about 20 minutes we were driving through a surprisingly sparsely populated countryside, and eventually we found a small lake with a bunch of cars parked along the edge of the road. The scene was Fargo-esque.
Looking into the fields, things were completely white. But that's not snow; I don't think it's snowed a single day since I've been here. It's just frost. This makes skating outdoors particularly nice as there's no snow to shovel!
At the bottom of the ditch beside the road was a huge fence. On the other side of the fence was bush, and through the bush was the lake.
As we made our way down to the fence we met an old guy coming back up. He was laughing as he talked to Hans, and I found out later he was saying that he had fallen through the ice in the middle of the lake. I did a doubletake, and then found out that the "lake" is only knee-deep at its deepest point.
Regardless, this sounded like it was going to be interesting.
Finally the boardwalk through the bush opened up onto the lake. It was amazing! So much room to skate!
Everybody in the Netherlands, and I mean everybody, is into speedskating. I've hardly seen anyone else with a pair of hockey skates. They all have skates with big long blades attached to ratty old small shoes, and they wear skintight clothing. I think they look like losers.
The lake turned out to be not THAT great to skate on because it was just barely frozen. You could actually hear and see the ice cracking underneath you as you skated over it. Only the brave ventured out to the middle of the water.
But it was still pretty fun. Unfortunately, after the above picture my camera crapped out and I still haven't gotten it working properly again. My warranty is only good for a shop in Canada. Sigh...
Both Lindsay and my host family have digital cameras for me to use, so I can still take plenty of photos, but I knew this was going to happen eventually.
Anyway, we did another few trips to various canals. It's really nice because there are so many people out skating, it's sort of a community thing.
But it would be a bit more enjoyable if I wasn't constantly feeling like I was about break through!
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