Walking on Water in Amsterdam

…well FROZEN water! All over Europe, the Arctic front swept in and temps DROPPED to super icy lows…this meant that not only did a fresh layer of snow cover Amsterdam but the canals became a wintry plateau for us to walk on! I have been looking forward to walking on the canals ever since I stumbled upon a postcard a few years ago of people skating on Amsterdam’s canals. Judging from the clothing of the ice skaters on the postcard it was clearly the 80’s, so it’s been quite a while for Amsterdammers to see the canals freeze over. Whelp…THIS WAS MY YEAR!

I was like a giddy little child hopping around the canals, through bridges and sliding in my boots. It was absolutely UNREAL to experience this and was hands-down one of my favorite Amsterdam moments. Our first walk was an incognito trip after work, just as the sun went down and the lights surrounding the bridges starting to light up—beautiful. Last weekend, Christian, some friends and I spent 5 glorious hours walking up and down the canals, picking up 1 EUR cups of steamy gluhwein on the way. People were selling pea soup, sausages, hot chocolate and even set up subwoofers in some places for passers-by to get their dance on and warm up a bit—so cool. We managed to catch a glimpse of the speed-skating race on Keizersgracht, but so did 5000 other people (its rare to see 5000 people in Amsterdam! And this city is not catered for THAT many people)…our afternoon of wintry wandering was most certainly the highlight of the weekend! Take a peek!


SIDE NOTE: Oh oh oh oh!!! My best friend Smitty is en route to Amsterdam right this second!! We’re off to Prague for the weekend followed by 8 glorious days frolicking around Amsterdam (her third visit in a year and a half!)…these cold Amsterdam temps are no contest for what Czech is giving us though…-10 is on the horizon! Eeeek! We’ll find a way to deal with it ;) muahahaha! Enjoy your weekend!! Stay bundled up…and well if you’re in a warm place, you better be lounging on the beach ;)

 

{Christian obviously ELATED that his boat is frozen ABOVE the water and not below it :)}

{Speed skating race}