The New Year’s Eve has seen a light frost of -2 °C in the total absence of snow. The green grass got beautifully powdered with rime.
The whitened trees alongside the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal (Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal), which passes next to Houten, became simply magnificent:
Every winter an average Dutch casts glances at the thermometer, hoping for a real cold to come.
The cause for such a strange wish is called Elfstedentocht, or the Eleven cities tour.
Between the 19 and the 23 of August Amsterdam hosted a huge marine event called SAIL Amsterdam. It’s held once every five years, and is most known for its tall ships (apart from hundreds of other ships). During the event they sail in loops around the IJ lake, giving the area a totally different look and attracting millions (yes, millions) of visitors.
For these days bridges over the IJ are open or even get dismantled to let the tall ships sail in.
In the previous part I mentioned the “Bike Town” award given to Houten a few years ago. This tiny geographical object has also won a number of other awards: