Welcome to the blog of Matt and Laura, two graduate students who were on an adventure in the land of windmills, wooden shoes, dykes, and Heineken - The Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the week, Matt was doing graduate research at TU Delft and Laura was having a blast without him; on the weekend, there was no telling where they would end up. Matt and Laura returned to The States in August 2009, but you can still catch up on their European adventures (and misadventures) here.
Last weekend saw the best ice skating conditions in the Netherlands in more than a decade. Laura and I were very much hoping to join all the Dutch skaters on the frozen canals and lakes, but after spending much of Saturday afternoon in old town Delft unsuccessfully inquiring about skate rentals, we were forced to give up. The Dutch were not caught similarly unprepared, and thus the weekend contained all manner of organized ice skating tours, races, etc. throughout the country. Below is a nice video from a Dutch marathon race held over the weekend, and here's an unrelated but very nice picture.
On Sunday we met Laura's mom, Pam, at the airport and spent the day walking around Amsterdam, where we were fortunate to stumble upon some very nice natural ice at Vondel Park. The closest we got to skating was walking across the ice there, which was rock solid (though the three of us still shared fears of falling through).
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective), the weather is warming this week (it was a balmy 41°F today!) Thus, the Elfstedentocht looks increasingly unlikely. Maybe next year.
We're in the second week of a cold spell here in Delft. The canals and other bodies of water are frozen. Speed skating is always a popular winter sport here that people like to watch on TV, but lately people are really catching ice skating fever: Tuesday morning on my way to work I rode by some guys playing ice hockey right outside my building; this evening on the way home I saw some children skating down a canal (again right outside my building); and of course all week I've heard other tales of people seeking out the best skating spots in local parks. The thing that really has people excited, though, is the chance that the Elfstedentocht ("Journey of Eleven Cities") could take place this year.
The Elfstedentocht is a speed skating competition held in Friesland (northern Netherlands) whenever the Dutch winter provides sufficiently thick ice. The course is along canals that connect 11 cities. According to Wikipedia, the ice has to be 15 cm (~6 in) thick along [nearly] the entirely of the course for the race to take place. The current forecast for next week is calling for ice thicknesses greater than 15 cm, so fingers across the Netherlands are crossed in hopes that the race could happen this year. I've been told that most people will watch the race on TV and that if I find myself alone at work one day soon, the race is the likely culprit. The last race happened in 1997 and only four have taken place in the last 50 years (4!). The winner last time took almost seven hours to finish and probably had ice hanging from his face at the end. The route is shown below in orange; zoom out to get a better idea of where it is in the country. If you can't see Delft on the map after zooming out, then know that we're located close to Den Haag, well south of the course. It's almost 200 km or 125 mi from Delft to the southernmost point on the race course by car - roughly the length of the race course itself!
There is no standing in line at 4am the day after Thanksgiving for the best bargain of the season. There is no jolly ole St. Nick to listen to your list of wishes. There is no frantic fury of gift buying on the eve of Christmas. There are no parking attendants in Santa suits directing scores of SUVs, driven by harried shoppers, into over crowded mall parking garages.
But it's Christmas time here just the same. The subtle hints of the season popping up everywhere from market squares to the grocery stores. My favorite signs of the season are:
With the coming of holiday meals, the grocery store has an entire line of "Feest Dagen" foods. Extra dark chocolate spread for crepes and toast, special kaas stengels, rich soups, candied breads, flavored brie, and Christmas tree shaped chicken nuggets are just a few of the treasures that have shown up in the gorcery store over the past few weeks. The Christmas meal must be a fancy affair over here, because there are also wonderful prepared horderves, amuses, stuffed/spiced/marinated meats, and even fancy cauliflower! The best time to buy all this food is the morning of Christmas Eve, when almost all of it is going 35% off (because the grocery stores actually closes from Christmas Day 1 & 2).
Almost every town square is transformed into an outdoor ice skating rink! Hopefully, weather permitting, this is where we will be on Christmas day - skating in the park with warm Christmas wine. Don't worry mom, the rink aren't schedule to close until after you visit!
The streets of town are lit up with Christmas lights. In Delft there is a party in the town square called Lichtjesavond, where they light the Christmas tree for the first time. It was a lovely evening with music from the Delft symphony, dancers, torch bearers, and a small Christmas market.
I am sure next year I will be in line again at 4am the day after Thanksgiving, but it has been nice to have a low key holiday this year.
Mom inspecting bulbs in the floating flower market
Tulips in the flower market
Flower Booth
Mom & me eating raw herring, onions, and pickles
Mom & me "skating" in Vondel Park 
Matt & me on a frozen pond in Vondel Park
Mom finishing the night with a chocolate waffle
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