11-02-2012 (Updated)

The Dutch nation appears to have been waiting all week to get to the first weekend for 15 years where many local ponds, waterways and canals are iced over to a thickness where skating becomes possible ( 15cm - 6 inches).....today was the day.

 Locally on the ponds alongside Sportlaan, in Den Haag the families where out early.......

.... it was mainly young families here, with many children under 10 on the ice....

in the centre of The Hague on The Hofvijver lake,  alongside the Dutch Parliament older groups were skating.

Later in the afternoon in Haarlem, near Amsterdam the River Spaarne was frozen over and the skaters were out in their droves again.

...as temperatures are expected to rise above freezing next week (-7C this evening) today and tomorrow are likely to be the only chance that the Dutch will have to recreate their past as create by Peter Brueghel

Mr O'Regan and myself were in Haarlem on Saturday to visit the Golden Age Exhibition at the Frans Hals Museum the promotional video for the exhibition can be seen below: