The Netherlands - 1997: A
Post-Elfstedentocht Experience
Friesland: A 100km tour around Dokkum
The tour was in the form of a cartwheel,
with a hub and spokes. You skate a section of the hub and up and down each spoke
in turn. The 100km tour took me about eight hours at a relaxed pace to start
and a 25km/hour rush at the end before the sun went down.
- Image1 - The town of Dokkum. Don't forget to duck
under those bridges (some people hit their heads with tragic effects)
- Image2 - Just like the postcards - eh!
- Image3 - yes, they got windmills.
- Image4 - Did I say it was a flat country? (And
below sea level).
- Image5 - You always find friends on the ice
- Image6 - In the region around Dokkum and Leeuwarden.
- Image7 - A coffee and cake stop on the ice.
Harlingen on the North Sea Coast
Groningen: A town and a region
Groningen, a one (ring) canal town,
has a famous university and more pubs than you can imagine. Superconductivity
was invented here. Well actually, H. Kammerlingh Onnes discovered it in 1911.
First he had to liquefy helium, get famous, and move to Amsterdam. I wonder
what he would think about the quantum mechanics of ice-skating.
- Image8 - The ring canal
- Image9 - ja JA
- Image10 - A Groningen beauty
- Image11 - You can jump a train from the ice (if
you are crazy)
- Image12 - I met these RUG graduate students (one
mathematician, two weather modelers)
- Image13 - Kardinge IjsBaan (indoors no wind, but
not warm)
- Image14 - The clock tower in the Groningen market
square.(A very nice centraal square).
Amsterdam
Amsterdam, the Venice of the North, is a great town.
- Image23 - Sweeping the ice
- Image24 - JA it's a nice town
- Image25 - a view from the pancake house
- Image27 - Damrak with the Bijenkorf (department
store) op rechts. Trams are the way to get around.
- Image28 - The upscale mall behind the paleis (palace)
on Dam Square near the "Bier Konink" shop.
- Image29 - On a real cold day, a McKip broodje
is the way to get calories fast.
- Image30 - An unusual sight. Could take a lot of
explaining (over a beer or two).
- Image31 - This is not the kind of beer I am talking
about (but the Dutch seem to love it).
There will be more to come,....
Copyright 2000, David A. Cohen All rights reserved.
