Ice skating is a Dutch tradition. In the winter, they anxiously await a cold spell when they can break out the skates and take advantage of the frozen-over canals.
With global warming, those sorts of deep freezes have become pretty rare over the last decade. However, we were lucky enough to have one last week.
World records for open water ice skating speed and distance were set last week in the Netherlands. We didn’t feel comfortable skating on a canal, but we did go to an ice skating rink set up under a temporary structure in Dongen (about a 15 minute drive from our house).
One interesting thing about skating here: people like the feel of natural ice. That means no Zambonis to clean the ice. So, the ice is quite bumpy and has a lot of shaved ice on the top.
Dutch Bentleys 