Ice skating in frozen canals and lakes

February is one of the coldest months in the Netherlands, the middle of winter… The Netherlands gave us a surprise after its usual cold, rainy and gray weeks and turned white in one day. In fact, experts warned that profit was coming, but due to a few previous mistakes, no one could believe it. The Dutch, who have been accustomed to rainy but snowless cold for years and who have been very narrowed and bored due to corona measures in the last year, have suffered for years with this falling snow. We ice skating on frozen canals and lakes for the first time in our lives, and said hello to another first.

The education,

The education, which was interrupted due to the corona after heavy snowfall and continued remotely, was blocked by the snow on the day when it would resume and schools were vacationed for 1-2 days. Taking advantage of this holiday, the children tried to slide from every ramp they could find in a country that was straight, with no hills or slopes, made snowmen, played snowballs.

Another warning of the authorities, who correctly predicted the future of the snow, was that the air temperature would decrease to minus 6, the temperature felt in some cities fell to minus 13.

And the expected happened, the canals and lakes in the country began to freeze. As it is known, the Netherlands is a country located below sea level and has been creating living spaces by controlling water for many years. For this reason, the number of artificially created channels and lakes in the country is very high.

The state, which empties, cleans, and maintains the channels in a controlled manner at certain times, this time emptied some of the canal waters to accelerate the icing and reduce the risk in case of breakage.

A few days later, the canals and lakes in many parts of the country were completely frozen and the Dutch did not miss this opportunity. Thousands of people rushed into the canals as they grabbed the ice skates.

There were people who fell into the water at points where the ice thickness was not correctly estimated. Despite the authorities repeatedly reminding of the corona measures, the rules were disregarded at many points. Hospitals must be empty, take care of yourself, unfortunately, thousands of people have been hospitalized despite warnings.

Almost everyone in the Netherlands

Almost everyone in the Netherlands knows how to ice skate, everyone from old to children is ready to skate. There is even a competition they organize during these icing periods. The competition is held in Friesland province in the north of the Netherlands and covers 11 historic Frisian cities. The organization, which follows a circular and closed route through the frozen canals, rivers and lakes between these 11 cities, was last held in 1997.

The ice thickness must be at least 15 cm for the organization attended by approximately 15 thousand people. The contest, in which the person who completed the 200 km road before midnight and collected the organization stamp from the 11 cities he visited, is the winner of the contest on the live broadcast from all country television channels. The story of the emergence of this competition, which everyone, big and small, is eagerly awaiting in the dark winter, is quite different.

In the past, ice skating was the most used means of transportation for people who did not have a horse and could not afford the cost of horse carriage for intercity transportation. Over the years, this route that emerged from lack has turned into an enjoyable organization. It was announced that this organization, which is quite frequent, will not be held this year due to corona measures, so hopes are left for the next winter.

We, who were not as prepared for the icing of the canals as the Dutch, quickly ordered the skates we could find on the internet and started to wait impatiently for it to catch up before the melting. Luckily, all three of us were ready to skate at home on Saturday evening and were waiting for the next morning.

Early Sunday morning, we found ourselves at De Poel Lake in Amsterdamse Boss Park. When we saw people wearing their skates by the canal connecting to the lake, we were worried about whether it would be too crowded, but the area was so big that we didn't even feel the crowd.

Our ice skating experiences until today were on artificial rinks, so skating on the lake was a little difficult at first. It was a bit risky but still a great feeling to slide on this natural track where the more lumpy, tiny ice floes could surprise you from time to time.

One of the moments when we were looking for a place to rest while sliding in the lake, we suddenly found ourselves in front of the houses while passing through a canal that curves forward.

The owners of some houses had

The owners of some houses had their garden furniture on the ice and enjoyed their coffee in this pleasant atmosphere. Sliding through these houses along the canal was one of the most interesting experiences I have ever had in my life. After spending most of the day in De Poel, we chose to go to a different lake for sunset.

Loosdrechtse Plassen, the indispensable address of sailing enthusiasts in summer, this time was full of ice skating people. This lake was quite large and impressive, you will understand what I mean from the photos. At sunset, we bid farewell to the frozen lakes and canals after our last tour on this eerie but impressive lake. The rain that started in the morning ended the pleasant break the country gave to these difficult days, the falling rain melted all the ice.