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Pass the Dutchie: Queen Beatrix Laces Up Her Ice Skates as Canals Freeze in Holland

A rare, week-long stretch of subzero temperatures has transformed the canals and lakes of Holland into a frozen wonderland, prompting more than two million Dutch citizens to don their blades and participate in the age-old pastime of ice skating across the flat country. An interesting Reuters item explains that increasing global temperatures have made thick natural ice rare in the Netherlands, so when an opportunity to skate for miles and miles along the interconnected canals comes up, plenty of people take advantage.

If the ice remains thick enough, officials hope to hold the Elfstedentocht (Journey of Eleven Cities), a daylong ice skating race in which skaters complete a 200-kilometer loop that begins and ends in the city of Leeuwarden. The race hasn't been held in a decade due to flimsy ice, but Dutch skating fans like Queen Beatrix would be especially pleased if the weather cooperates this year, as 2009 marks the race's centennial.

Visitors to the newly-sanitized city of Amsterdam, however, will need to make for the countryside if they want to try their hand at canal skating. The urban ice isn't quite thick enough yet to support skaters, but something tells me there will be a few folks just loopy enough to try.

[Photo: AP via Yahoo! News]

Related Stories:
· Dutch Take to Skates as Cold Snap Freezes Canals [Reuters]
· Elfstedentocht [The Holland Ring]
· Ice Skating Coverage [Jaunted]