Ice-skating Fever in the Netherlands

Ice-skaters on the Thornbecke canal in Zwolle last Saturday during the First Zwolse Grachtentocht.

The period of true winter weather we had during the last couple of weeks seems now to be over and with it, the ice-skating fever seems to have subsided, too.

I have lived in the Netherlands for almost 9 years now and I have seen hard-ish winters (nothing really too extreme) and mild winters; gentle snowfall and a blizzard or two with lots of snow falling in a very short time. I've also seen the Dutch landscape getting totally covered in white and nature going very still under the ice, as if every single creature out there in the open was going to sleep, waiting for the spring to come back alive.

Ice skaters in the main canal around the historic city centre in Zwolle.

 But in the Netherlands it doesn't take too long for that stillness to be broken. The birds may be gone, the wind may blow wild and the ground may be covered in white, but that is exactly when this sort of buzz starts slowly to build up, like a bug getting hold of everyone until it becomes like a fever and soon enough half the nation is out there, balancing on their skates, criss-crossing waterways and city canals over the ice.

Only a few days ago we were all holding our breath in front of the tv every time the word Elfstedentocht was mentioned by the newsreaders. A couple of posts ago I explained how excited everyone was about the possibility of finally seeing a new edition of this Eleven Cities Marathon after 15 years of Elfstedentocht withdrawal, for the race has not been held since 1997 due to the lack of good quality ice to make the event possible.
Unfortunately, by the end of last week the committee in charge of inspecting the ice conditions up in Friesland had decided that it would not be possible to host the marathon this year and everyone was really very disappointed.

Another shot taken during the Zwolse Grachtentocht last Saturday.

But it seems that despite the general disappointment, people across the Netherlands, Dutch and non-Dutch, were determined not to let all that beautiful ice go to waste.Whole families were out there riding on sleds or skating on the frozen canals. Despite the cold, young people were hanging out and having fun on the ice and little kids wrapped up in warm clothes were there too, learning how to stand upright on their brand new skates. Experienced skaters were seen showing off and also first-timers, safely leaning on the back of a chair to keep their balance, carefully taking their first turns on the icy tracks.

Over the weekend there were many tochten (marathons) across the country. Amsterdam had its Keizersgracht tocht; up north in Friesland people were skating on the waterways along the Elfstedentocht route in the places where the ice was in perfect condition. In the beautiful town of Giethoorn the 14th Hollands Venetiëtocht was held; the first edition of this marathon in this century.

A young girl learning to skate on ice with the help of a chair.

It was probably this dad's turn to look after the baby but he could not stay away from all that lovely ice.

In Zwolle, we had the Eerste Zwolsegrachten tocht (first marathon of the canals in Zwolle) last Saturday. In just a couple of days, a number of entrepreneurs from the catering sector came up with the idea of organising our own tocht along the Zwolse canals. The idea was received with great enthusiasm by thousands of Zwollenaren (people of Zwolle)  and 1500 participated in the marathon, making it a big success and of course, heel erg gezellig! (a lot of fun)

A view over the city canal in Zwolle during the Zwolse grachtentocht

 Hopefully, we won't have to wait for too many years to see a new edition of the Zwolse grachtentocht; and to be sure, we continue to wait and pray for der Tocht van Tochten (the marathon of all marathons) to finally take place for the first time in this century - the 16th edition of the Elfstedentocht.

First edition of the Zwolse grachtentocht (ice skating tour of the canals of Zwolle)

The logo of the event - their website is going up today with all the information: Zwolse Grachtentocht

While we continue to wait for a decision from the rayonhoofden (I just love that word, which in Dutch means "district chiefs") up north in the province of Friesland to see if we will finally have an Elfstedentocht this year, their Zwolse counterparts* have come up with an ice-skating tocht ("race" in this case) of their own along the stadsgrachten (city canals) in Zwolle.

One of the canals in Zwolle in the winter

 The event will take place next Saturday 11 February as of 12:00. The route will start at the Rodetorenplein following the Thorbeckegracht to the end of the canal and back to the Rodetorenplein. There will be refreshment stalls along the track and the bars and restaurants along the canal will also set up their terrasjes (outdoor cafés) on the ice. The organisers are looking for music bands and entertainers to make sure that there is a festive atmosphere all around. It should be fun! 
As of 11:00 there will be two caravans at the Rodetorenplein for those who want to participate to collect their stamp cards for free. If you want to be a part of it and join in the ice skating fun, you can ask for more information or register via this email address: zwolsegrachtentocht@live.nl  The committee organising the event has also just launched their own website where you will find the programme, the route and a form to sign up if you want to enter the marathon. 

Should the rayonhoofden from Friesland decide that the Elfstedentocht is a Go, the Zwolse grachtentocht will then be postponed so that we all can finally give our full attention to this huge national event - the first Elfstedentocht of the 21st century!

This is me on a bridge across the Thorbeckegracht where the Zwolse grachtentocht will take place.

*The Zwolse grachtentocht is actually being organised by a group of entrepreneurs of the catering industry in Zwolle.

Elfstedentocht ja, Elfstedentocht nee

It's cold out here in the east of the Netherlands. View of some farms in the outskirts of Zwolle.

  Ever since winter decided to come back to the Netherlands last week, I have noticed a remarkable increase in the number of hits on my Elfstedentocht posts here in the blog. No surprise there, actually - every year, whenever the country goes into a period of subzero temperatures, the expectations around this national event begin to rise high. The koorts (fever) sets in nationwide: Elfstedentocht ja (yes) or Elfstedentocht nee (no) this year? 

Let me refresh your memory if you have visited this blog before: the Elfstedentocht is a 200 km long ice-skating race that connects eleven cities in the northern province of Friesland. Unfortunately, the race cannot be held every winter for there are a number of conditions that need to be met in order to make it possible and safe for the people involved. 
During the Elfstedentocht the participants in the race skate from city to city over frozen lakes, canals and ditches across the province of Friesland. The race starts and finishes in the capital, Leeuwarden and it connects this city with ten others: Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindelopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker and Dokkum.The temperatures have to stay below the 0°C mark for several days to allow the waterways to freeze evenly and form a layer of ice thick enough to support the huge weight load of thousands of professional and amateur skaters. The quality of the ice along the 200 km is the key issue for this big event to take place.
Obviously winters have been quite mild for the last 15 years in the Netherlands, for there hasn't been an Elfstedentocht since 1997. European IceSkating Cup on natural ice, yes, Race of the Eleven Cities, nope.

That is why every winter, every time the thermometer goes below 0°C for a couple of days, you can feel the excitement building up across the country. Will there be an Elfstedentocht this year or not?  Hardly a news bulletin goes by without a mention of this event. Yesterday the whole nation's expectations reached a high point when it was announced that the rayonhoofden (district heads or chiefs) would convene in Friesland for an overleg (consultation) and study the possibility of finally running the race. Hotels in Leuwarden and other cities along the race route  were flooded with calls from people making reservations, in case the hoofden (heads/chiefs) today decided it was going to be Elfstedentocht ja. 

Maar helaas (but unfortunately) this morning during a press conference it became clear that the Elfstedenkoorts (fever) was probably a bit premature. The experts informed that the conditions of the ice are not the required, especially in the south and southeast of Friesland; in Stavoren and Luts the ice is even considered to be still "too bad" to hold the race. They are looking for a steady thickness of minimum 15 centimetres of ice and it hasn't reached that point just yet. The members of the Vereniging De Friesche Elf Steden -the Association of the Eleven Frisian Cities- have informed that they will be working "with might and main" at the weak points and probably find an alternative route, for in the rest of the circuit in the north of Friesland the quality of the ice is the desired for the race to take place.

Since coming to live in the Netherlands I have seen long-ish periods of very cold winter weather, which I really like. I have also  joined in the general excitement out there on the ice, watching people ice skating or having fun in the snow. But I have never ever yet seen a Race of the Eleven Cities take place, except for short video clips on tv or online.

So I am really  hoping that it will be an Elfstedentocht já this year! For the time being, this is the closest I'll get to witnessing an ice skating race:

Our own Elfstedentocht: Stop # 3

The beautiful gardens of Ijlst

The third stop in our attempt to follow the route of the Elfstedentocht -the ice skating race traditionally taking place in the northern province of Friesland- brought us to the quite small but picturesque town of Ijlst.

Ijslt or Ddryts in the Fries language, is one of the oldest cities in the province, having obtained its city rights in the year 1268. In the old days, the city was known for its shipbuilding industry and for its importance as commercial centre.

The city originated on the margins of the Old IJ river, from which it received its name. The only part now remaining of that river is the canal that runs through the very centre of Ijlst. The town has many historic buildings that can be visited, such as the beautiful tower mill de Rat (the Rat), built in 1828. This sawmill is still in use and run by volunteers. Have you ever wanted to try your hand at sawing? You might get a chance at de Rat!

 Another interesting monument is the Town Hall or Stadhuis built in 1859 in the place where the old council house from the 14th century used to stand.

 There are many more monuments worth visiting in Ijlst, a city that lists an impressive total of 43 monuments in the Royal Register, like this typical step-gable house dating from 1669.

But the characteristic feature for which Ijlst is most widely known is for its overtuinen - a line of mostly private little gardens that decorate the margins of what used to be old river IJ. These gardens were formerly known as bleken (bleachers) Can you guess why?

These little gardens used to be frequented by the housewives living on this street, who on washing days would come down to the river, wash their clothes and bleach them -bleken in Dutch- right there on the banks of the Old IJ.

In this photo you can see me standing by one of these bleken with a rather alarmed look on my face: my husband had somewhat tresspassed private property and stepped into one of the gardens to take the shot and I was not very comfortable with him doing that! Fortunately, he did not get caught ...

During the last couple of years, Ijlst has become an ideal location to spend the night in with water sports enthusiasts. An interesting number of cafés and restaurants offer a variety of possibilities for lunch or dinner, such as the Stadsherberg Het Wapen Van Ijlst, which has recently opened its guesthouse where you can take up a room to spend the night during your visit to this area of the country.

Our next stop in the Elfstedentocht will be the city of Franeker. As they say in Friesland: Oant sjens! See you in Franeker!

Stop #1 of the Elfstedentocht was Leeuwarden and you can find the post covering this city here.

Stop # 2 of the Elfstedentocht was Harlingen and you can find the post here.

Our own Elfstedentocht: Stop # 2

Harlingen:
harbour town by the shores of the Wadden Sea

The harbour town of Harlingen, in the province of Friesland.

Last year I started a series I called Our own Elfstedentocht to show you the province of Friesland in the northern part of The Netherlands. The idea was to post pictures of the circuit we did during the summers of 2008 and 2009, visiting the eleven cities that take part in the Elfstedentocht, a speed ice-skating race held during the winter in the northern province.

The Town Hall in the city centre of Harlingen.

Our first stop was Leeuwarden, the capital of the province and I covered our visit to this city here. Our secound stop in the Elfstedentocht brought us to the city of Harlingen, the most important harbour in the province of Friesland, situated on the shores of the Wadden Sea.

The busy harbour by the Wadden Sea.

Now that summer has arrived and that we can finally enjoy longer and hopefully nicer,warmer days out in the open, Harlingen is an excellent option to either take a daytrip or to stay for the weekend.

A lighhouse in the harbour area of Harlingen.

Taking the time to walk around the town can really be a pleasant surprise, for Harlingen has not lost the atmosphere of the olden days. Manyof the still beautiful old buildings in the historic city centre are reminders of the times when the town had very close commercial links with Great Britain, Norhern Germany and Scandinavia. Many of the warehouses you see around the city still bear names such as "England", "Poland", "Russia".

A street of Harlingen lined with old warehouses now restored and remodelled.


a pretty bridge crossing over one of the canals that traverse the city.

Maritime activities flourish here: the harbour is the home port of a huge fleet of charter vessels and hundreds of sailing and motor yatchts. Sitting on a terrace by the marina, you will be witness to the intense traffic of boats, big and small coming and going along the canals and sailing away into the Wadden Sea.

A boat entering the harbour in Harlingen.

A sailing boat in the Wadden Sea.

One of the canals that traverse the city.

From the ferry terminal in the harbour you can take one of the many boats that connect Harlingen with Vlieland and Terschelling, two of the islands on the Wadden Sea. On the website of the shipping company Doeksen you will find all the information you need to plan your boat trip to the islands, including day arrangements that include boat tickets, a rental bike or bus tickets to get around the island. You can choose the slow (2 hrs. to Terschelling) or the fast (45 min. to Terschelling) service, depending on your preferences or the time at your disposal and you can even take your bike or car on board!

The ferry just leaving the harbour, heading towards one of the islands on the Wadden Sea.

Another fun thing to do in Harlingen is to take a boat trip on the Regina Andrea, which will take you seal watching on the sandbanks of the Wadden Sea. The round trip takes about 2 hours and on board the guide will tell you all about the Wadden Sea and the seals, of course.

We spotted first a solitary seal basking in the sun.

Then we sighted dozens of groups of seals resting on the sandbanks in the Wadden Sea.

We have been now three times to this beautiful harbour city and I have to say, that I am looking forward to going back there again this summer. A good opportunity to visit Harlingen again will be during the main event of the year: Visserijdagen or Fishery Days, a festival that has been named the Carnival of the North. This year this event will be held between 25 and 28 August and will offer more than 70 different activities, like live music, handcrafts, dance, folklore, sports and of course, food. More information about the event can be found here (in Dutch).

Our own Elfstedentocht: Stop #1 - Leeuwarden

Have you ever heard of the Elfstedentocht?

The Elfstedentocht (in English, "eleven cities tour") is a speed ice-skating race which is held in the Dutch province of Friesland during the winter. It is a major sports event in the Netherlands, but it is only held on those years when the weather conditions allow canals and lakes to freeze, forming a natural ice track of approximately 200 kilometres joining eleven cities in this province: Leeuwarden, Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindelopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker and Dokkum.

The route of the Marathon of the Eleven Cities in the province of Friesland.

This Marathon of the Eleven Cities has only taken place 15 times since it was officially started in 1909 and the last one took place in 1997. When it will next take place, is anybody's guess, since there are a number of factors that need to combine in order to create the right conditions for the race to be held safely. Ideally, the ice layer needs to have a thickness of 15 cm along the entire 200 km track. During the last decades and as a consequence of global warming, the space of time between races has become longer and longer.

Here, in the archives of Geschiedenis (in English, "history") a channel of the broadcasting network Omroep, you can find videos of the Elfstedentocht so that you can get an idea of what it is all about.

Since living here in the Netherlands, I have never been able to see one of these marathons which has been quite disappointing. That is why last year in the summer, we decided to do our own Elfstedentocht - by car.

The marathon begins and finishes in the capital city of Friesland: Leeuwarden, and that is where we will start this new series in the blog.

Leeuwarden (in Dutch, click to hear pronunciation) or Ljowert (in Fries, the language spoken in this province - click to hear pronunciation) lies about 140 km from Amsterdam. It is the city where the Nassaus (ancestors of the present royal family) resided back in the 16th and 17th century; and it is also the city where Mata Hari, the famous exotic dancer and spy, was born.

A swan, symbol of the province of Friesland, engraved on the façade of the Frisian Academy in Leeuwarden.

Let's take a tour of the city, starting at the Frisian version of the leaning tower of Pisa: the Oldehove.

The Oldehove, the leaning tower of Leeuwarden.

The story goes that in the 16th century, the people of Leeuwarden wanted to have a church tower. This could not be just any church tower: it had to be higher than the Martini tower in the neighbour city of Groningen.
They started building the Oldehove tower in 1529; but once the builders had reached a height of 10 meters, the tower began ostensibly to lean to one side. After several unsuccessful attempts to correct the problem -for the city had to have a tower at all costs- they realised that there was no point carrying on and the construction was halted when the tower had reached a height of 40 m. It is said that the master builder Jacob van Aacken died of sorrow after failing to provide his city with a tower that would rival that of the neighbour town of Groningen.

The beautiful park of Prinsentuin (in English, "princes' garden") was part of a palace garden created in the 17th century for the family of the Nassaus.

Prinsentuin in Leeuwarden.

The Prinsentuin was donated by the stadhouder family (Nassaus) in the early 19th century to the city of Leeuwarden.

Prinsentuin in Leeuwarden.

This park has been open to the public since the end of the 18th century, which makes it the oldest park of this kind in the Netherlands.

Prinsentuin in Leeuwarden.

The Waag ("weighhouse") was the trading centre of the city of Leeuwarden, where cheese and butter were weighed officially and where transactions took place.

De Waag, built around 1590.

The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden is a "must-see" if you are interested in getting to know the best things that the Frisian people have ever created.

The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden.

There you will find permanent art expositions, exhibitions of contemporary art, and style rooms. Within the complex, the Mata Hari museum and the Verzetsmuseum (in English, "museum of the Resistance") are really worth a visit if you want to know more about the famous spy or what life was like during the WWII in Friesland. I will come back to the Fries Museum later, dedicating a full blog entry to it in the future.

Façade of the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden.

If you take a walk around the city centre in Leeuwarden, you are bound to find very interesting architecture and old historic monuments. Let's take a look:

A street in the city centre, the Achmea Tower seen in the background.

The Princessehof, houses the Ceramics Museum in Leeuwarden.

Me posing by a water pump, close to the Grotekerk (in English, "big church")in Leeuwarden.

The "Oranjepoortje", the entrance for the royal family at the Grotekerk.

A quite elegant street in the city centre of Leeuwarden.

Stadhouderlijk Hof Palace (1564), former royal palace now houses a 4-star hotel.

Another street of Leeuwarden.

The shopping centre Zaailand in Leeuwarden.

Leeuwarden is definitely an attractive city from every point of view. It has a lot to offer, with its historic city centre and interesting museums, its many art galleries and antique shops and of course, the active waterways where you can take boat trips and admire the city from a different perspective.

Our Elfestedentocht will continue in a few weeks, this time visiting the city of Sneek.


Some useful links:

* Official site of the association of the Elfstedentocht or "Vereniging De Friesche Elf Steden" where you can find information about the marathon.

* Visit Frysland, tourist information about the province of Friesland, including the eleven cities of the Elfstedentocht.

* More tourist information of the Eleven Cities.

* Official website of the Fries Museum Leeuwarden.