Good evening to all you amazing Steemians!
I love Winter, I love snow and yes I even love ice and the fun that comes with it! When it starts to freeze my heart beats a little bit faster hoping we will have an Elf Steden tocht (Eleven cities tour). I remember waking up together with my dad at 4 am to watch the start together while we drank hot cocoa. Memories I hold close to my heart now that my dad is no longer with me.
The Eleven cities tour is a skating tour, almost 200 kilometres (120 mi) long, which is held both as a speed skating competition (with 300 contestants) and a leisure tour (with 16,000 skaters). It is held in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, leading past all eleven historical cities of the province. The tour is held at most once a year, only when the natural ice along the entire course is at least 15 centimetres (6 in) thick! sometimes on consecutive years, other times with gaps that may exceed 20 years. When the ice is suitable, the tour is announced and starts within 48 hours. The last tour was held on Januari 4, 1997. So, it has been 21 years and I really hope one of these winters it will happen again!
I would love to think that it will happen this week but sadly Saturday the weather will take a turn to the warmer side and the ice will melt away! So, before that happened I made sure a few nice views were captured on the camera!
Pictures are taken at the nature reserve Willeskop
Willeskop is a swamp area and is also known as 'Birdland'. You can find many types of plants there, such as the real cuckoo flower, the forget-me-not and the protected swan flower. There are also many species of birds, including the white-winged tern, American teal and heron. There is so much beauty in all 4 seasons but Winter is my favorite one!
What do you call a cold ghost?
casp-burr!
So wrong, I know but I always wanted to share that one!
I hope you enjoyed the views I shared in this post! If you got frozen by just looking at these shots I advise you to take a few shots or drink hot cocoa!
Best wishes
A frozen snek also known as
!