Winter in Holland
Door: Fenneke
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Ivo en Fenneke
05 Januari 2009 | Canada, Shelburne
This time I will write in English, for our foreign friends, to write about what happens when it starts freezing in Holland.
The Rebel is still on the hard in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada, But we are in Holland since October 15th, and we will go back to Nova Scotia in April.
We live in Ivo’s house in Groote Keeten, a tiny village in the northwest of Holland, down the coast.
Just before Christmas it became clear that a period with temperatures below zero degrees Celsius was coming, so people were getting ready for skating.
There is a lot of water in Holland so when it starts freezing the Dutch want to go skating on lakes, small waterways etc. The good skaters want to take part in skating rally’s or skating tours through the country. Especially because the last winter with enough ice to go skating was 5 years ago, people were getting excited, the skating fever started.
Three days before New Years day the water close to our house was good enough to skate. It is in a little nature reserve.
So we went skating. Ivo, who once was a good skater, discovered that he can not skate for a long time anymore because of back problems. I was never a good skater, but I like the atmosphere. The ice and the atmosphere were good.
The people of the house closest to the ice made a little terrace and were selling hot chocolate and everybody was happy to be able to skate. We met some neighbors and Ivo’s brother Henk on the ice.
We went skating for 2 days in a row. On New Years day the ice started melting again, although we did have the opportunity to skate one more time. Just last night it started freezing again, and the next two days it will keep on freezing, so we hope to skate again tomorrow.
There is a skating rally through 11 cities in the north west (Friesland), it is called the Frisian 11 city tour. The rally is about 200 kilometers (124 miles), and can take place when it freezes long and hard enough. The last time this rally took place was in 1997. When this takes place the whole country goes crazy. So now everyone hopes the 11 city tour will take place again this year.
We are glad we are here this winter and hope to enjoy some more skating.
The Rebel is still on the hard in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada, But we are in Holland since October 15th, and we will go back to Nova Scotia in April.
We live in Ivo’s house in Groote Keeten, a tiny village in the northwest of Holland, down the coast.
Just before Christmas it became clear that a period with temperatures below zero degrees Celsius was coming, so people were getting ready for skating.
There is a lot of water in Holland so when it starts freezing the Dutch want to go skating on lakes, small waterways etc. The good skaters want to take part in skating rally’s or skating tours through the country. Especially because the last winter with enough ice to go skating was 5 years ago, people were getting excited, the skating fever started.
Three days before New Years day the water close to our house was good enough to skate. It is in a little nature reserve.
So we went skating. Ivo, who once was a good skater, discovered that he can not skate for a long time anymore because of back problems. I was never a good skater, but I like the atmosphere. The ice and the atmosphere were good.
The people of the house closest to the ice made a little terrace and were selling hot chocolate and everybody was happy to be able to skate. We met some neighbors and Ivo’s brother Henk on the ice.
We went skating for 2 days in a row. On New Years day the ice started melting again, although we did have the opportunity to skate one more time. Just last night it started freezing again, and the next two days it will keep on freezing, so we hope to skate again tomorrow.
There is a skating rally through 11 cities in the north west (Friesland), it is called the Frisian 11 city tour. The rally is about 200 kilometers (124 miles), and can take place when it freezes long and hard enough. The last time this rally took place was in 1997. When this takes place the whole country goes crazy. So now everyone hopes the 11 city tour will take place again this year.
We are glad we are here this winter and hope to enjoy some more skating.
-
05 Januari 2009 - 18:58
Loek:
This afternoon it became clear that this week the national marathon-skating-championships will be hold on natural ice! -
05 Januari 2009 - 19:05
Loek:
The marathon-skating-championship is over 100 km!(=63 miles) -
06 Januari 2009 - 11:56
DIDI:
Leuk hè al die winter pret (eindelijk kan ik eens mee praten!) Wij hebben ook allemaal geschaatst. Lucha heeft het dit jaar geleerd en Elau moet nog een beetje oefenen, maar die kreeg z'n schaatsen pas de dag voor het weer ging dooien, misschien vanmiddag dus nog even oefenen. Ik vond het erg gezellig jullie weer te zien.
Nog veel winterpret toegewenst! -
07 April 2009 - 20:59
Esther:
Lieve Fenneke en Ivo,
Jullie zijn vertrokken! Ik ben heel benieuwd naar alle nieuwe avonturen die jullie mee gaan maken! We gaan jullie weer volgen via de website. Geniet van de tijd dit gaat komen! Fijn dat wij met z'n allen weer mee kunnen genieten.
Veel liefs van ons allemaal!
Esther
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