What happened between Friday night & Saturday afternoon? Two pairs of ice skates now have a forever home.
On Saturday, we drove through the Friesland and did some skating in a little local town:
And then on Sunday, we skated in our backyard. On the Keizersgracht, to be exact.
{One of the main canals in Amsterdam.}
And it was SO FUN.
Even if the ice wasn’t smooth & covered in snow, and even if skating in certain areas most definitely would have resulted in swimming, it was totally the thing to be doing & all the onlookers were totally jealous, duh.
I kind-of-sort-of felt like a celebrity with everyone taking pictures of us from the bridges above. And PAB & I did this hold hands and spin around in a circle thing, so we obviously made it into some photo albums looking “soooo cute!”
Were we graceful? This is a dumb question. I haven’t skated in years and I don’t even think there was ever a point when I would have been called graceful on skates. On PAB, well…anyway, we both get an A for effort.
And now that we have these fancy new skates, we are hoping for more freezing temps*. I mean, if it’s going to be really cold anyway…it might as well be cold enough for frozen canals.
* Just to be clear: I am really hoping for summertime, but I think that might be pushing it a bit.
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to be honest, until recently i had no ideas those canals would freeze over. it is kind of beautiful i think
I know, right? I didn’t know either! It’s stunning.
so fun!!! what a perfect weekend. we were lazy bums and watched Dexter. Hoping the canals stay frozen for this coming weekend!
p.s. how much did the skates end up being? do you think there are any left?
Umm they were a little bit costly, like perhaps you could chose between a nice dinner out or brand-new skates?
Perry Sport had mostly speed skates & ice hockey-type skates; they had figure skates but sold out by the time we arrived on Saturday. We found my figure skates at De Skate Doktor; they had a good number at the time. I would call before you go, that would be my advice – just make sure they have what you are looking for. And translate the term “figure skates” first!
Even if the canals aren’t frozen, there is an outdoor rink open through March, and I believe you can rent skates there. {Maybe you could rent them and then take them to the canals and then bring them back??}
Thanks for the info lady! I am going to skip out on buying the skates – I am having fun just walking on the canals
If they were cheap I’d consider it … but a nice dinner? Those don’t come often here, so I’ll have to choose that!
Next Thursday we are totally getting together for shopping!!!!
Seriously, just being out there on the.actual.canal. is pretty rad.
ps what are we doing next thursday…shopping? {what? did I say that?}
We could shop. Or go see a chick flick. Or hang out and drink wine. You know, they all sound like amazing options to me. All I know is we’re hanging out!
Unbelievable opportunity for you both to make memories for a lifetime!
I seem to recall when we skated on Greylock Pond that you were pretty good, ELZ. Remember we used to do the “step across the front foot right, step across the front foot left” routine? We also used to skate backwards. Bring your skates when you go skiing later this month. They will surely have a frozen pond or two for you to enjoy.
..yes mom, i remember…
no more anonymity for me now — I am seriously “outed.”
oh wow this looks so perfect! it looks like its out of a book or a dream or something unreal! we don’t have any amazing canals but we do have some rinks in town. this has inspired me to get my skates sharpened!
xo the egg out west.
oh i am sure you have greating skating in JH!
Truly an experience for a lifetime – skating on the canals of Amsterdam – thanks for sharing.
hoping to do some more this week/end. and maybe even witness this so-called 11 cities tour…rumor is this sunday might be the big day!
You and PBS look like natives! What a wonderful thing to experience. I am so happy that you have this great opportunity to see the world. Beautiful.
thanks for stopping by! i hope your back recovery is still going well.
Oh my gosh, you can skate on the canal?? That’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen and now I am totally looking at how to get to Amsterdam again this winter. Glad you found my blog so I could in turn follow yours!
haha well you better hurry since this doesn’t happen very often…and might not last too long!
Now those are some pretty pictures- you’d make “Hans Brinker” jealous! New experiences, lots of memories, and fun, fun, fun- c’est la vie!
Ellen, how wonderful! You and Paul look great and it must have been such fun skating on the canals in Amsterdam! Uncle Joe and I have skates but no chance of skating outdoors here in Cheshire with the very mild winter weather we are having, but I absolutely do not mind!!! Anyway, I am not sure I should even try to skate at my age! I used to love to ice skate, and once your mom and I even talked some young men into showing us how to skate backwards the way hockey players do! We were in Waterbury, CT with Joe and Lisa skating in a city park that was purposely flooded for public use. You were just a twinkle in your mom’s eye at that time! I am sure your mom remembers that! Thanks for sharing your photos and wonderful experience with us! Love to you and Paul.
Hi Aunt Margaret! So great to hear from you; glad your winter isn’t too cold this year. We are just trying to make the best of these freezing temps, so ice skating seemed to be the best route…but really, I catch myself daydreaming about the sweet sweet summertime…
Hi!
Do you where we could rent skates to go ice skating on canal?:)
Thank you a lot for an advice!!!
Hello! For an overview of skating information in & around Amsterdam, including skate rentals, here is a good place to start.
These places should all rent skates:
http://www.watermansport.nl/waterman/
http://www.jaapeden.nl/7/schaatsles%2C-verhuur
http://www.skatedokter.nl/default.html
Hope this helps!
I meant if you know:)
Hi Elz,
thank you very much!!!:) Hope I can manage to rent them and go on the canals during this weekend:)
Have a nice day!
Aw so glad to help! Let me know how it goes!
PS this Saturday at 6pm there is a speedskating race on the Keizersgracht. Going to be PACKED but definitely a fun event to go watch, if you haven’t heard about it already.
uff no havent heard…hmm then its means to go there to skate before 6pm:) And then only watch:)
SO jealous!! That looks like so much fun and also very beautiful!
hey!
So they are renting ice skates at Museulplein and you can take then also for canals!:)
Nice!! How was it??
It was great!!!:) I really liked it!:) Did you go?:)
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