Oh the Weather Outside Was Frightful But Europe Was Still So Delightful
 

Recently returned from France and Holland and Germany after spending a few weeks in the dreadful weather - a real winter - that these places rarely get.

Though the first few days in the Paris area were delightful - even around 50 and sunny one day i could still see banks of snow in ditches along the train line - evidence of an unusually early snowfall in a place that may go several years without any snow.

But then the weather turned colder - much colder - in Holland nearly every canal and puddle of water was frozen solid - something i have never seen in years of being there in the dead of winter.

When i went to Zaanse Schanse, the windmill complex near Amsterdam, many Dutch were skating on the miles of canals there - just like i had seen in Old Dutch Masters paintings.

And everywhere the ground was blanketed in snow - another treat for me - seeing Holland all white - Amsterdam's Vondel Park was all lovingly white and in the sunshine seems so so surreal. This was New Year's Day and the park was mobbed with strollers slushing thru the melting snow on the walking paths and many did a no-no and intruded into the bike paths, which had been gritted and salted not only here but all over town.

One day it did snow and from a train seat it did seem so unreal in this region.

Transports in Europe take a hit in cool and especially snowy weather - of course the Eurostar we all know was closed pretty much for a week after hundreds of people got trapped in the Chunnel.

It was eerie going thru the Gare du Nord on Christmas Day and seeing the whole Eurostar entrance taped off - not a person in sight.

In Germany the trains were in chaos - many long-distance ICE trains were runnning up to an hour or more late -some were even cancelled.

I took an ICE train from Amsterdam to Duisburg, Germany and that ICE had to abort its journey at Oberhaufen due to technical difficulties - usually weather related it seems. Then for my return ICE to Amsterdam from Duisburg the overhead sign simply said "TRAIN CANCELLED" - enquiries to red-capped Bahn officials said that a yellow bus would be waiting a few hundred meters away and after waiting an hour or more for the bus to show we were bussedback by Autobahn to Arnhem, the first Dutch train station where trains were rolling back to Amsterdam.

But even with travel travails and the frightful weather Europe was still delightful - in fact it was special - a special treat to see places like Amsterdam in our typically cold winter. Locals were taking the cold snap in good humor it seemed and kids especially were revelling in playing around in the snow.

At a High School along the tracks in Hoorn, Holland kids had made a huge penis and testicles right along the rail line.

And despite the ice sidewalks in cities seemed to be pretty OK for walking though at time yes i did have to intrude into the bike paths or even roadways where the sidewalks were icy.

But, except perhaps for causing chaos on the rail system and highways travel inside cities was relatively unaffected.

Europe in winter can indeed be delightful.

Anyone else been to Europe the past few weeks - how did you find things?

We were in Geneva, Chamonix and Lyon, flying in on Christmas Eve and out on January 3. We were hoping for lots of snow in Chamonix because our son was there to ski. We got some but not as much as he would have liked. In Lyon, it was so warm on our first day there that I shed my coat walking about town. Reports I've seen more recently suggest it got colder shortly after we left.

Whatever kind of weather, and even in places that don't hit most travelers must do lists, it was wonderful. Full report to follow.

I am glad you could enjoy the cold. It must have been fun to see all the Dutch skaters. I had to laugh about the snow sculpture outside the high school at Hoorn. Probably our administrators would have the custodial staff out destroying it--at least and then maybe suspending the artists! No sense of humor!

I have a vivid mental picture of people skating on the Dutch canals. Sounds like a treat.

Interesting and fun trip report, Pal..and yes our school administrators would have had a tizzy and a half if we had snow and ice in our area and the students had done what some of the HS students in Hoorn had designed, lol.

I am glad you had a beautiful winter holiday in Europe, thank you for sharing your adventures and impressions. Wishing you more wonderful trips!

LoveItaly - yes indeedy and lads would be suspended for years perhaps.

Funny watching the Italians who invaded Amsterdam the week between Christmas and New Years by the zillions - mainly males between say 18 and 30 it seemed - for the Coffeeshops and bars and gals i guess - saw few at any of the many museums i went too

but anyway their reaction to what this northern Michigan resident would call balmy weather of 2 Celsius- how they would really bundle up their heads - wrapping cloths over their mouths,etc just like it was Antartica out there.

And it keeps on snowing! I've been watching this webcam for a few weeks. Looks like the sidewalks don't really get cleared except for people walking on them.

http://www.eyelogue.com/donniecam.html

I always and enjoy your posts and could imagine the Paris and Holland scenes.

although I have been to Amsterdam 4 times, i have never been to Vondelpark... maybe next time...

LOL, Pal, I think your "guess" is correct regarding those Italian fellows. And no shock about their not visiting museums, every Italian fellow I have known wants to gag at even thinking about visiting museums, as by the time they are young men they have had their fill of museums, and churches too!

Pavement don't get cleared here. It used to be the law that everyone cleared the pavement in front of their house, but it was unenforceable and dropped. Bike tracks and main routes get cleared, but most side streets, unless a bus route or school route don't get cleared either.

My street was an ice rink again this morning, and since we live at the bottom of a hill (yes really!) it was exciting stuff driving down it coming back with the dogs.
Still better than where my brother is, stuck on a hill in Buckinghamshire.

It's supposed to thaw a bit over the next few days. Today it was -5C all day with a windchill of -12C. Not nice. Actually the thaw is even more dangerous as it still freezes at night, making the roads even more icy :(. More snow on Sunday.

Are the Dutch doing the British "oh why are we so crap at everything?" nonsense?

Or are they just saying "Well: it only snows every 25 years: we'd be mad to over-provide, so let's thank ourselves we're not a bunch of self-loathing perennial whiners like some of those English" ?

Melissa,

Thank you so much for the link to that Dutch web cam. It is on a corner I know well, so will be watching it every time I need a memory fix.

:-)

The problems those Brits and Dutch seem to be having are just fascinating. It must be another planet they're living on.
Funny!

logos - the Germans are apparently having even more problems than the Dutch - the train system is in chaos as i personally witnessed and reported above

And with Global Warming a fact beyond doubt northern europe better get better prepared to combat true winter conditions

GW predicts greater extremes in weather - hotter in summer and colder in winter at times

and some climatologists believe the warming Gulf Stream may even change course, leaving northern Europe like Canada.

>the train system is in chaos as i personally witnessed and reported above

The german train system in in chaos 24/7 summer and winter. This is intentional and not realated to the weather.

Lovely report, Palenque and one of the best titles I have ever read!

I always wonder how there can be so many zillions of Italian tourists everywhere. Paris and London were overrun by them in recent days and apparently Amsterdam as well.

Oh, and Brazilians -- they really are getting ready to take over the world.

kerouac- perhaps Italian tourists just stand out more than other nationalities - at least it were that way in Amsterdamned as Italians would be singing, acting out - having fun but drawing attention to themselves where say a Brit or German may be more demure?

But yeh there were zillions both in Paris and Amsterdam this Christmas season

well from temps in the 40s from Amsterdamned to Paris and London it appears the Cold Winter of 2009-2010 is over - flowers will still be blooming in London parks i suspect.

Can we have our nice winter weather back again please? It is horrible now, and actually feels colder than it did when the temps were consistently below freezing. We are back to grey, damp, soggy/slippery underfoot winter doldrums.
I almost prefer snow to this....