This is a postcard I like very much! Marielle from Amsterdam sent it to me via postcrossing [NL-508835]. She writes me that the canal on the card is in the center of Amsterdam and has been added as Unesco whs this year!! And she continues saying : "I wonder what year this picture was taken, since the last few years it hasn't been cold enough to go ice skating on the canals, but maybe we can do it this year!" Well, I really think that this year has much more cold than the last few, so I believe that the canals will be frozen enough to ice skate on them :)
Amsterdam became a metropolis since the second half of the sixteenth century. Amsterdam now hosts more than 750,000 residents from 175 different countries. 37% of the population belong to an ethnic minority. There is an open and tolerant atmosphere in the city.
Amsterdam has a temperate climate with mild winters, cool summers and precipitation throughout the year. A good climate for the city makes it easy to visit throughout the year. In the city you can discover something new each time, did you know that aside from 6 windmills there are 600,000 bicycles? In one of the 51 museums is very much to see and enjoy. Traditionally, Amsterdam was a trading city. In order to be successful in trade, good social networks were indispensable. Furthermore, it was crucial to the city and its inhabitants that land and water were developed and maintained. A tolerant and open society as such, attracts people from every corners of the world; and these in turn must feel that their place in the city is protected.
Amsterdammers love to ice skate. While skating on natural ice depends on a lengthy cold period – by no means a certainty every winter – there are a variety of skating rinks open during the winter months to either to learn how to skate or to keep your ice skating skills sharp.
If the weather does get cold enough, and a lengthy frost is forecast, the Keizersgracht and surrounding canals are closed to boating to allow ice to form, offering the unique opportunity to skate on the canals. If there are at least four days with temperatures of -4C, the ice should be thick enough to skate on. Countless skaters from all over the city flock to this canal, transforming the stately Keizersgracht into a wintery skater's paradise. Likewise the Vondelpark's large pond can also freeze making a lovely natural rink for beginners and those eager to exercise.
Oh, I would love to be skating there - so much nicer than skating on a rink.
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