EUROPE!!!
I am writing from the crossroads of the Universe.
Where is the crossroads of the universe? If you fly Northwest, your crossroads is the Minneapolis airport.
I am on my way to Germany for a meeting of the IMSSC, as I am the USA rep to that organization. Everyone talks about GROWING speedskating, this committee has been wildly successful at it.
On the right here, is the hardworking hands (& coffee cup) of Bram de Vries, the Dutch rep, during the Calgary Meeting this past february..
And here is a group shot of the reps. Quite a collection of excellent skate-minds.
Here is one of the IMSSC’s main news pages (and the skater in blue on it, whoa! is me, someone just added that picture! My opening 100m in that race was as butt-ugly as this turn picture is pretty)
and here is their main website.
Since it seems silly to have a 17 hour travel day just for a meeting, afterwards I am hopping on the train and going to AMSTERDAM!!!!
Jessica is meeting me there, and we will be nosing around for a week, balancing doing skating-theme stuff with the incredible art museums & culture that the city offers. We also plan to travel up to Friesland for a day or two.
I’ve never been to the Netherlands, and am quite excited.
Any suggestions from Dutch readers, or Americans who have been there, on what “MUST SEE/MUST DO” things belong on the list?
Eva has told me extensive stories about stroopwafels, my brother told me about this concoction halfway between chocolate pudding & milk called “bla”. Mmmmmmm…
I hope I can fit through the doorway of the plane on the way back!
Filed under: from the coffee shop
ANDREW YOU HAVE TO BRING ME BACK STROOPWAFFELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are so delicious!
Hi Andrew!
Have a great trip! Lots to see and do in Amsterdam! My stepsister Ann Pleij, lives in Noordwijkerhout by the North Sea. Hope you can make it up to Heerenveen to skate and shop. It’s fun to see so many speedskates and speed skating skins in all the shops. I wonder if Henk Gemser still has his skating school at the Thialf in Heerenveen? He got me back into speed skating when we lived in Germany back in 1990. He and his wife are great! My brother and I stayed in a trailer behind the rink when my husband was in the Gulf War with the Air Force. Viking skate factory is cool to check out if you need a new pair of Vikings but since you don’t skate on them that’s probably not on your tour schedule. I brought my 2 girlfriends there when I needed a new pair and they gave them Heinekens but I was the designated driver for the entire trip. My friend who doesn’t skate thought it was great and even bought a Viking training bib to jog in. They serve great breakfast in Holland - love their yogurts! Lots of great museums to see but of course if you haven’t seen the red light district you’ll have to check it out. I even took my Dad there to see it!. Lots of tourists of all ages and there are police walking all around. Still can’t believe all the coffee shops and their menus. My Dad is half Dutch and half Polish, my grandfather was born in Amsterdam! No wonder I’m a speedskater! I thought I’d check out your website for some skating/training motivation - since I went back to work I haven’t had time to train all summer so I just started again today since the kids will be back in school next week - Yeah! I heard the Pettit won’t have ice until Sept. 15th! HAVE FUN AND BRING THE MASTERS MEET TO THE US!!!
Thanks for devoting your time to supporting the sport!
Suzy
it’s vla, not bla.
Hello Andrew,
I regularly visit your website and love how you talk about speedskating. I’m from the Netherlands and I’m speedskating more than 30 years now, and am still addicted. If you’re going to make a trip to Heerenveen, it might be fun to travel to Biddinghuizen also. They are preparing a 5 km ice-track, that will open in november or december. Because of the mild winters we don’t get to skate on the canals and lakes anymore on the real ice!!! In summer it will be open for inline-skating. Check out the website: www.flevonice.nl. Have fun in my home-country. Enjoy the stroopwafels and don’t forget de “dropjes”.
Andrew,
You are in for a treat!!! Koffee is always “Klaar” (ready) in holland…..They have the best coffee
When you called Vla….”Bla” I almost fell off my seat laughing. I must have eaten 4 Litres a week for the entire 5 months I lived and trained there……..It’s really yummy.
You must go to Heerenveen to see that small town and of course “Thialf” the mighty 400 meter rink with an enormous amount of skater energy words can’t ever discribe. If you like, you can rent bike’s from the train station in Heerenveen, and cruise around on them…..Weather should still be good there.
Hi Suzy….Henk still has “Pro-Action” but the trailers are gone
That was pretty neat living right next to the back door of the rink….We were the lucky one’s. Hello to Grant!
Andrew I know you will only be in Friesland for 1-2 days, but if at all possable you must see the Sea Dike in Sexbierum…….That’s where my Dad was born, but also it seemed like the seventh wonder of the world…… seeing the ocean higher than the land from atop the dike where you will be standing. Also “Turnskating” paradise…you will see
Enjoy Europe…….”The Old World”
flying high
andrew are you online in the plane…
pete
boetter bree en griene tsies
don’t you think somebody should teach andrew (and all other american skaters) the real secret secrets of fryslan and frisian skating? Am I right you could do that.. I think the first thing to start with : the national hymn (Fryske Groun). What do you think?
vla: this particular substance is not only very sweet but also very popular amongst our junks in the streets of Amsterdam… they are in no state of skating though
enjoy
Jules,
wa’t dat net sizze kin, is gjin oprjoche Fries. My family in Friesland said if you could not say this “saying” during war time, you were suspect enemy.
The frisian secret for andrew to learn would have to be “canal skating”
Dare he think about the 200K Elfstedentocht someday? Or perhaps he could fly there on a moments notice (next time it’s cold enough) to enjoy the entire country partaking in the festivities…..The Photos and the stories on his website, would be AMAZING for the world to share 
Greetings,
Piet
haha, typical things to do when you’re in Holland?
First, go to a snackbar and get yourself a ‘kroket’ from a ‘automatiek’ ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Febo.jpg )
The ‘bloemenmarkt’ (flowermarket) near ‘De Munt’ is always nice.
If you want to see some nice art, especially ‘de nachtwacht’ (nightwatch, Rembrandt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_%28painting%29 ) you have to go to the ‘Rijksmuseum’.
When you think Holland cannot possible be smaller, take some time to go to the city ‘Den Haag’/The Hague and visit Madurodam ( http://www.madurodam.nl/default.php?language=1&sqlmode=1&fid=479 ). The most famous building in Holland are made in scale there, so you can see whole Holland in just a couple of hours
And well, when you’re in Amsterdam, you do have to visit the Red Light district (hey, even puritanic americans should, just for the stories) and even check out a coffee-shop (where they sell more than coffee
), just to watch.
Ah, and before you leave, go to a ‘Blokker’ and get yourself a ‘flessenlikker’ ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Bottle_scaper-full.png ). They don’t seem to have those anywhere else. They are _very_ handy for getting the last bits of ‘vla’ out of the carton!
Good luck on your trip!
i toally agree on elfstedentocht…. in the meantime we could have andrew get some experience on inline-skating on narrow dykes - but then he wouldn;t have to bend deep down and skate underneath bridges in full speed.
We would have also to develop some dryland training to get him into the art of “kluuning”.
oet sjens Piet
ps. did your parents ever talk about ” ïeswille” ?
where did you learn to skate…
enjoy
Andrew,
You’re going to have a great time! I was there last summer for a week long skate tour through Friesland… if I can make a suggestion I’d say spend a night in Enkhuizen.
Here’s a couple of pics I took there… a great place to relax!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ken_a/734465074/in/set-72157600675605802/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ken_a/734472904/in/set-72157600675605802/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ken_a/733618025/in/set-72157600675605802/
P.S. I still have the skate route that we did from the hotel in Enkhuizen and back… in case you want a copy (can email it to you).
P.P.S. stroopwafels…mmmmm… my roommate has two packs that a friend just brought back from Amsterdam… they are sitting on our kitchen counter, and I’m struggling not to open them and eat them all!!!!!
Jules,
Running over bridges with hay in place to protect the skate blades must be tough in itself (kluuning)
and then hoping to have edges to skate the entire 200K. Do you think Andrew would like that part? LOL.
I was born in USA and did not start speed skating until age 21. I always watched Olympic games and World Championships, with my Father on tv though, and remember how exciting it was for him. After 2 years of skating my dad sent me to Heerenveen to take 2 weeks of personal skating lessons from 1956 Elfstedentocht winner Jeen Van Den Berg…….He was a very good teacher. So american born with coaching and inspiration from Holland’s Jeen v/d Berg and then Henk Gemser……..I was very lucky you could say
I will ask my Dad about ieswille this weekend.
I did find a funny video on you tube about Elfstedentocht…..Have you seen it?
Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kivcbeyxg4w
Enjoy Andrew!
http://www.drf.nl/sport/11steden/indexeng.htm
http://www.schaatsmuseum.nl/content/
Ok, if you are going to Holland and Friesland you must first know the Friesland National Anthem (played at every international competition at Thialf). Then you must at least stop at the Schaats Museum. Learn about the history of skating.
Last, you must skate…. There are pretty much a billion good places to skate in the netherlands, so do not hesitate to just go and get lost in some small town. I could’ve given you the official map of the inline route for the 11 cities tour, and you have to stop at 11 bars and get a stamp (and a beer if you please) to complete the tour. I still have to make it to Friesland in summer.
If you are in amsterdam the Rijksmuseum is a must. I also would recommend the Anne Frank House, but being a tourist season it might be really crowded. To tell you the truth if you want to see a very picturesque view of Holland and the way it was back a few years back I recommend Haarlem and Overveen, it is 15 minutes form Amsterdam by train and the train station is the prettiest I saw there. The town is wonderful, (this is where my family is from) the oval there is open for skeelers in the sumer and it is where Bart Schouten started coaching (the trees planted there he planted them) and if you can make it to the Kraantje Lek restaurant http://home.planet.nl/~marcel.tettero/KraantjeLek.html
a 450 year old restaurant where they serve very good Panencooken. They are more Dutch than Stroopwafels. And if you are lucky enough to find a poofertjes house then you are in for a TRUE DUTCH EXPERIENCE. Otherwise I will have to invite you and Jess to have some Poofertjes at my house some day. It is not the same, but it is darn close.
HAVE FUN! That is rule #1.
Eric Rijk Kraan
Oooooh…. Panencooken…. (wiping drool away from face)
Oye broder, y cuando juega Holanda contra Mexico a quien le vas (recuerdas el empate en Francia 98)?
Te escribi un mail! Te llego?
I live in Milwaukee, skate there also, but grew up in Holland and go back regularly. If you drove to Friesland, a stop at Stouwdam Sports in the town of Noordwolde may be worth your time. The store specializes in speedskating and “skeelering,” they know their stuff, are nice, and always have a nice collection of skates, accessories, and clothing. You may want to bring a pair of roller blades–there are lots of flat, smooth bike paths where you see more and more people on eight or ten wheels, instead of just two. Have fun!
Piet,
you have been quite lucky to be taught by these phenomenal skaters.
here some links about 11-cities tour:
http://geschiedenis.vpro.nl/artikelen/33404078/ (historical images and films your hait and you may know about/should know about) Do you read/speak dutch (besides american and frisian)?
you or your hait maybe interested in this story on:
http://elfstedenwiki.vpro.nl/page/1986+Skate+memory+skate?t=anon
tell your hait I tried to learn skating on the Zwette close to the bridge at the inn called De Dille…
fryslan boppe
enjoy
oet sjens
Jules
Now if you could only take this on your trip with you… http://groups.msn.com/SkeelersAdventures/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=27
thanks for all the comments!!!! Its wild to make a post, and 48 hours later, when I am able to look at it, see 17 comments!!!!
I am in Amsterdam, am done with my rounds of meetings, am absolutely miserable from the sledgehammer of jet lag, and will be examining carefully all these comments & suggestions….
as soon as I get a bit of sleep… gosh I feel awful..
however, I have eaten a stroopwafel… wow…
A stroopwafel is like a really thick, dense, sugary wafer, just the perfect circular size to cover the top of a hot mug of coffee, and you put one there & let it warm up before eating begins…
it’s truly amazing..
A MSP airport byline and not a single Senator Craig joke? What restraint.
That said, Amsterdam isn’t where the heart of skating in the Netherlands is. Get to Heerenveen, get to Groningen, get to Alkmaar, get to Haarlem. get out of the touristy spots and the red lights.
Drink at the Blauuwe Kater in ‘Veen until 3 am singing Fries folk songs about cigarettes, skating and vaginas. Talk to the locals about obscure old time skaters. Skate at Thilaf - just find a way and do it.
Take a bus to Groningen. Eat a 2 day old fried morsel out of a vending machine at the station. Don’t ask what it is. Eat fresh fries with rich mayonaisse.
Did I say 3 am? I meant to say 6 am.
Jules,
Thanks for those links….I will show them to my hait (father) …I will tell him also of Zwette
Is that you on 1986 skate memory???
I speak some Netherlands, and understand MANY of the skating terms.
Andrew,
Stroopwafels only the beginning my friend!! After you awake from jet lag…..Get to Heerenveen
You are a lucky man! Enjoy every second of your Dutch trip.
Andrew:
Agree with everything already written…skating, Heerenveen, stroopwafels….but would also like to add my support to the idea of visiting the Anne Frank house. It is just mind-boggling to think that human beings would EVER have to succumb to such measures just to live. You will never be the same again. At the conclusion of the tour, I stood at the “Visitor’s Register” sobbing and wrote merely, “There are no words…just tears.”
yes, it’s me. Really nice talking to you this way…
enjoy Jules
Jules,
You are a lucky man.
Enjoy Life….Enjoy Skating…..Enjoy freezing weather the next time you have Elfstadentocht
Andrew,
We mailed briefly end of last year - since that time I have been out and about and less on-line. I now see that you have planned and completed your trip to the Netherlands! Great posts, as usual, thanks for presenting such a complimentary picture of my country. The open air skating tracks will be open soon, and hopefully we will get that long awaited cold winter for some proper outdoor skating. If that happens you should come over!
All the best, Willem
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