Postcards From Far Away: Winter Landscape

Winter Landscape with Iceskaters by Hendrick Avercamp (c. 1608)

Avercamp's famous painting "Winter Landscape with Iceskaters" is on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. I was fortunate to view the original with my mom back in December and admired the detail and realism with which the artist depicts a snowy scene in Holland hudreds of years ago. If you look closely you can see all of the different mini scenes happening in the painting, people working, skating, sledding, falling, and there is even a bare bottom and a man urinating! (which I cannot find, can you?). This pastime of taking to the ice on a cold winter day is as true today as it was during the Golden Age when this masterpiece was created. I was not aware of this tradition when I laid eyes on the painting above, but I have since had an up close glimpse of how the Dutch enjoy the cold weather.

This past week temperatures have plummeted below freezing, with the average being around -7 C (20 degrees Fahrenheit). Imagine this after we've been experiencing one of the mildest winters that the Dutch can remember! The bulbs were beginning to poke their delicate faces above ground and we even saw some cherry blossom trees in January coming to bloom (I hate to know their fate!), but alas, the freezing weather has finally arrived and we got our first snowfall this Friday. I watched the puffy white flakes fall from the sky out the window of my office building, and I have to admit, I was excited with the realization that we were actually going to experience what I have read about and seen in classic Dutch winterscapes.

Supposedly this is not at all common, at least in recent years. In fact, up until just a few years ago the southern region of of the Netherlands had not seen temperatures this low. The Dutch follow the weather reports diligently in order to ascertain whether or not the canals and small lakes nearby are frozen to a sufficient depth and are safe enough to step foot on. My boss at work told me we should definitely check it out as it would remind us of us scenes like "Winter Landscape."

We decided to take our corgi out for a walk to discover for ourselves what was happening just outside our warm apartment. Although it has been a bit challenging maneuvering around with our daily activities, it is nothing compared to home with the flat roads, immediate sanding, and short distances that we need to travel. I hope you enjoy these snapshots of the winter landscape here in The Hague. I know we have!