Winter in Amsterdam

I love snow. It must be a throwback to childhood or something, but as soon as I see a few white flakes drift by the window I'm compelled to sit with my nose pressed up against the glass for hours, just watching. Even better, I love the crunch of it under my feet.

Sadly, snow in Amsterdam just doesn't work like that. No matter how cold it gets and regardless of how many fat flakes fall, they seem to disappear the instant they touch the ground. It's like they've installed city-wide underfloor heating. All week we've been getting these big snow storms which promise to instantly transform the city into a winter paradise. If you walk away from the window for 2 minutes to get your camera you return to blue skies, green trees and dry grey pavement again. It's weird.

Regardless of the frustrating weather changes, you can ice skate outdoors in this city all through the winter. Museum Plein has it's own outdoor rink that everyone is welcome to use. It's great to watch little kids with strap-on ice skates slide around with the ice-skating equivalent of a zimmer frame to lean onto - a wooden chair.