Dutch canals freeze and ice skaters rediscover national identity . . .

This image is so beautiful. It really does look like a Dutch painting with the windmills and the skaters.

Canals in the Netherlands no longer freeze every winter, so the chance to ice skate outdoors created a frenzy in Kinderdijk and elsewhere in the south. (photo: Michael Kooren/Reuters)

For the first time in 12 years, the Netherlands' canals froze this month, bringing the Dutch, who like their tulips in neat rows, a heady mix of pandemonium and euphoria.

Hundreds of thousands of skaters, their cheeks as red as apples in the freezing temperatures, took to the ice, and hospital wards were filled with dozens of people with fractured arms, sprained ankles and broken legs. read more

I guess the injured ones lost their Hans Brinker skills over the 12 year period without ice.