Final peek on the Dutch winter

Frozen canals

Bike, canal, ice-skaters... how more Dutch can it get... (did I mention this view was free of charge)... 

House boat, canal side... I guess they anticipated this frost... in 1999! Curious what they have to say about 21-12-2012?

The guy on the right in grey is pointing to the 'wak' he just crawled out of... he even asked the girl in blue to take a picture of him and the 'wak'... all the other ice dwellers did not really pay attention to the hole in the ice... they just kept on sliding passed it...  

 Up and under.

 Aliens must have visited this canal!

Nada

Rim shots after really poor jokes... not playing their one and only hit... really tame performances... you could hear a pin drop waiting for the encore... nobody was moving/dancing/jumping, everybody was wordfeuding... you get it... a pretty lame concert... for me in the future it will be nada Nada Surf 

B.Y.O.B.

Having relieved the indian restaurant of his booze... we were lucky to grab some from the shelves at the nearby Appie, just before closing. The indian restaurant guy probably had a different opinion about Appie! Or he was damning himself for allowing us to grab some last minute wine... not expecting us to bring back another four bottles...

Another day... another skate track...

The die hards go bear foot!

Not everyone is a die hard...

Never let a 5 year old watch Bear...

Are these my boots?

Crappy green kitschy village

In the afternoon Femke suggested to drive to Marken, so we did.

'Kruiend' ice on the IJselmeer near Marken. 


After we arrived, we got out the car and started walking towards the harbor. This discussion took place during the walk:
She : I am amazed you got out of the car and started walking into the town!?
Me : But... you wanted to go to Marken?
She : I said let's drive to Marken, I did not know you wanted to go into town.
Me : I don't wanna go into Marken. I think it's a crappy green kitschy village!
She : Me as well!
Me : I only like the drive towards it!
She : Me as well!


By that time we had already arrived at the harbor so we felt we were obliged to have some kind of snack at one of the crappy green kitschy restaurants. Of course... we picked the one with the cook on the verge of a nervous break down... really... he had to pause every 15 minutes... because he could not handle the pressure of the 20% table coverage... 3 of 5 items on the menu turned out not to be on the menu... and even then... his plates looked like crap... and my tomato slices were running away from my plate... scared of their own fungi...


I felt a bit sorry and left at least some tip... Femke did not... and stole the tip! 

They invented a whole new freeze drying application in Marken.

From Ransdorp to Holysloot

Femke did not have enough taste of the ice yet... so after I lubricated her skates with a special ingredient, I am a Bear believer, she went on her way.

The woman in the distance just left her friend behind after we asked her about the ice quality in the direction she is going now. "It was fine!" she replied, glancing over to her boy friend trying to sit down at the snowy banks, "He couldn't cut it, so we had to come back.". Yep... she was wearing pants. "Don't take off your skates, if you want coco!" she sneered towards her boyfriend who was by now undoing his laces, and then she went off again... leaving the poor bastard to die in the cold.

The tiny dot on the mid left... Femke.

I had to travel the audacious icy distance to Holysloot as well... by car... which is not to be taken lightly! Carefully operating the climate control, cherry picking the mp3's from the stick, keeping my eyes open for a photo opportunity or a Glühwein stand... it is quiet easy to hit a kluner.

I know... it looks like Bob Ross gone wild!

Rumors have it...

... that the Rayon heads (.... yeah... I know....) are on vacation on the Canaries... ooooh noooooo! 

How much more Dutch can it get? Yep... they could have been dressed in Orange and wearing ruppies instead of shawls.

Some mistook it for a day at the beach.

Of course... it ain't a soccer cantina... no studs in sight.

The cantina was warm and moist... like a.... aahhh.... come on.... what a dirty mind.... no... like a winter traffic hour tram... but with the additional bonus of a cup of snert!

Or coco!

Arctic sunrise