Oldenburg in Germany is some four hours away from us, but we took a drive there on the 16th of December, to meet up with our cousins for just a few hours at the Christmas Market.

These German markets are renowned for their festive spirit and good cheer. It was worth the effort and we found the greatest gifts … love, care, attention and time with family and friends. Read the rest »

The winters in The Netherlands are becoming milder and milder. Much to the dismay of the Dutch, for whom ice skating on natural ice is highly sought after. Thanks to the myriad of canals and rivers, skaters can enjoy courses of up to 200km.

The outdoors, ice skating in nature, wafting along reed beds, freedom. That’s the intention behind the multi-functional outdoor recreation centre that opened in December 2007, called “FlevOnice” or “Ice World”. We visited the course on a very busy Boxing Day (2007). Read the rest »

The Netherlands experienced another record warm year in 2007. But in the week before Christmas, the temperatures plummeted. On the 21st of December, it even dropped to minus 8 deg Celcius. Brrr. Winter water sport enthusiasts were enthralled.

We hope you enjoy this brief glimpse into “hard water sailing” and read more about it further down the page. Read the rest »