End of Mini Ice Age

The ice is finally breaking up on the rivers, canals and lakes. The Polar Bears are now beginning their long swim back to the Arctic and the beavers can now start to repair their lodges and make their dams.

Great sorrow in Friesland that the Elfstedentocht did not happen but I, for one, am enjoying basking in warm temperatures of 8c.

 

But it did really look very beautiful and purified.

Last Day of Snow and Ice

This was Sunday and the next day the thaw set in and all the snow and ice was gone by the evening.

I think the birds will be happy that the subzero temperatures have gone...THEY were not fanatical about the Elfstedentocht!!

Elfstedentocht

The word means a Journey through eleven towns...on ice.
200 km. in total starting in the dark morning and ending that midnight.



This clip is from 1954 but there are others in there and 1963 was a real humdinger; they called it “The Hell of '63.”

The last one was in 1997 but hopes are high for this year...it will probably have to take place by Saturday because the freezing conditions are expected to go down after that and a thaw will set in.

16,000 people have already enrolled to take part and it is the first thing on the news every night showing the Ice Masters out drilling the waterways to see if it is thick enough...they need an overall 15 cm. and they have that in most places along the route.

Yep, the Dutch are really crazy about their ice but in a really nice way.

Coen's Music

Got a mail from Coen Streigel on his new website –

Coen’s Music.

Yvonne and I knew Coen from some time ago.

He used to play with his band, The Three Craws, at Yvonne’s Poetry reading.

I think he is pretty good.

Haarlem in Snow

Haarlem yesterday Brrrrr! Looks nice though!

Haarlem Station on a Frosty Night

It was about 10c under last night and Haarlem Station looked so good and warm that I had to take a shot. The first railway line in the Netherlands was between Amsterdam and Haarlem.