Friday, 9 January 2009

Skating.. on the canal behind my house

24 comments:

Arija said...

Can you skate to the shops along the canal? So much nicer than skating in a motor car.

Reader Wil said...

No we can't Arija or perhaps we have to skate to the road then turn right, skate under a few very low bridges then turn right again. It would take a long time and the shops are at only a ten minutes'walk from my house, or a five minutes'bicycle ride. Besides the ice under the bridges are not safe.

The Good Life in Virginia said...

now that looks like it would be fun. alas i am not a good ice skater...

thyme said...

Lololol - the Dutch speaking people might be interested to hear that you said

1. I am NOT in the movie
2. you were NOT going to put it on the internet...

:-D

Little old ladies... you can simply not trust them.

nonizamboni said...

wonderful video! reminds me of Hans Brinker & the Silver Skates
thanks for sharing!
Happy New Year, Wil--hope you had enjoyable holidays

Reader Wil said...

"Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates" sounds really Dutch! Isn't he the boy that was supposed to put his finger in the dyke?
I am not a skater either.

Michele said...

Oh boy! That really does look like fun. Even though I haven't skated before, I truly think this does look like a ton of fun!

Reader Wil said...

Yes Michele, it is fun, but nowadays I don't go skating anymore. Besides I miss the nice young men who wanted help me putting the skates on. My grandson thought it was because I wasn't young anymore... He is a great observer.

Brenda said...

Looks like a great place to practice. Nice straight line and not crowded. I love to watch figure skating.

Reader Wil said...

So do I Brenda! But figure skating is best done on an ice rink or lake. These straight canals are better for fast skating.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

That looks like lots of fun. I haven't been ice skating in a few years and that was a rink. The weather here is sub-tropical so ice is not a possibility. I grew up in Indiana where we were able to skate every winter. It was so much fun! Thanks for sharing.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

@Thyme-Mothers are very sneaky people! Since you are one, I'm sure you know that. LOL

Reader Wil said...

Smart Mouth and Thyme: Ha, ha, ha... Funny!

Anonymous said...

Heel tof filmpje !! 'Schaatsen' is een bijna heilige gebeurtenis voor de Nederlanders, aldus onze krant ;-) Leuk dat er weer eens zoveel ijs, hé !

Reader Wil said...

Hi Hildegarde! Ja schaatsen maakt de mensen gezelliger en vriendelijker. Het is voor het eerst in tien jaar dat er weer op natuurijs gereden kan worden.

Carol Murdock said...

Now Wil........Don't you go trying to ride a bike to the shops on that
ice..........that 5 minute ride might end in 2 seconds!! LOL!

Cloudia said...

"Wish I had a river I could skate away on." Joni Mitchell
aloha, Friend Wil

Arija said...

Wil, far be it for me to contradict a local, but I seem to recall the little boy who froze with his finger in the dyke to save his village was Pieter de Groot.
I am happy to stand corrected.

Reader Wil said...

Hi Arija, You can see the whole legend here Hans Brinker

Actually it never happened. It's impossible to save a dyke once the water is getting through it.
I shall try and find out who Pieter de Groot( real Dutch name) was.

Reader Wil said...

Carol, I actually saw a boy yesterday, who deliberately went cycling on the ice and he didn't fall! Amazing! I would!

Arija said...

Wil, of course you left a comment on my SkyWatch, no.7 from the top, and a most welcome comment it was.
Of the dyke story , thanks for the link. Oddly enough Hans just did not ring true to me for Holland. My daughter did a project in schol on Holland when she was seven or eight and we quoted from the story then but since it came off the back of a corn flakes packet, it obviously was not to be trusted.
Please excuse my memory lapse, 42 Years is a long time.
Isn't blooging fun?

Reader Wil said...

Thanks Arija, yes blogging is fun and it's so nice to meet many people! The story of Hans Brinker was unknown here in Holland until tourists began to ask about him and where the dike was. Well you can read all in the link of course.
Pieter de Groot was a son of the famous( for Dutch people) Hugo de Groot who escaped from a castle, where he was imprisoned, in a book chest. Pieter was not as wellknown as his father.

Anonymous said...

Do I know That water,steady stroke as well, like eye was born to ride.
Love to skate through a frozen white waste land until thaw set in...
AleXander HEY HEY HEY

Reader Wil said...

Hi Alex yes that was you!