As you might know we're a country of ice skaters. Whenever lakes, ponds and canals are freezing up, the Dutch get feverish. We want to go sharpen the blades of our skates and put them on for a nice ride on those frozen waters.
The past couple of weeks the ice fever kept getting worse thanks to the continuing talk and serious possibility of the "
Elfstedentocht", which is Dutch for "Eleven cities tour" and is a race for people on ice skates. The race takes place on canals in Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. The route of the race goes through eleven towns and is nearly 200 kilometers long. It can only be held in winters when it is very cold indeed. And since it's been 15 years that the last
Elfstedentocht has been possible (and the one before that was 25 years ago) this tour is a rare thing, but it's a really big event. Nationwide people talk about it and want to witness it. It's madness really.
Well, this week brought us some bad news: the
Elfstedentocht organizers officially announced on Wednesday that it wasn't going to happen. The ice was not safe enough. I can't tell you how enormously disappointed a lot of people were.
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On a happier note, today's the book birthday of this book:
I rarely read non fiction but I'll make an exception for this book. I have such fond memories of that place which we visited when we were in New Orleans for GayRomLit last October. And I know I'm not the only one. :)
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At the moment I'm reading (almost finished) such a funny and wonderful book. Somehow I'm a sucker for romances with ghosts in it, and I especially love the ones where one of the heroes is a ghost and part of the falling in love thing. So this book,
The Ghost On My Couch by LA Gilbert, is right up my alley. Plus, it's making me laugh out loud all the time, it's so funny and adorable. I've not finished it yet, so I don't know how it's going to work out with the whole 'I'm a ghost, I'm dead thing', so I truly hope there's a HEA that's as satisfying as the rest of this book. But I tell you the ugly yet adorable cat alone makes this story worth reading. I hope to finish it tonight.
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And here's a reminder that there's still time to win an ecopy of
Ellis Carrington's upcoming Valentine's story
Immortal Valentine! Just
leave a comment on this post before I announce the winner on Sunday for a chance to win. Good luck!
Happy Gay Friday everyone!
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Oh! *races off to buy In Exile*
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday :D *coughs Saturday ;)*
ReplyDeleteOMG, I need that book. :-)
ReplyDeleteThose two guys would freeze their bits off here playing in the snow today. -22C with the wind. Brrrr.
Have a great weekend.
@Chris: *grin* Were you able to get the book? Is it good so far? :)
ReplyDelete@Blodeuedd: Happy weekend! ;D
@Tam: I supposed you mean the In Exile book, right? ;)
Brrr, that sounds really cold. We've only had those temperatures at night the past couple of weeks. Right now it's only -5C, which is not bad when you stay out of the wind. :)
Well, don't try to get it directly from the publisher - I haven't gotten the book or a download link yet. Wish I'd noticed that Rainbow Ebooks carried it before I bought it from the publisher...
ReplyDeleteI have very fond memories of stories with ghosts...they usually are flamboyant, quirky characters who are matchmakers in disquise ;)
ReplyDeleteIt plays a part in my parents romance story so they were a little bummed too hearing the news that the Elfstedentocht wouldn't go through :(
@Chris: oh, that's bad service! I'm sorry and I hope that you'll get it soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I haven't had time yet to go book shopping and can go to Rainbow Ebooks now. Thanks for the heads up!
@Leontine: In this story both main characters, including the ghost, were wonderful and funny! I can definitely recommend the story, it's written very well. :)
Yep, bummer about the Elfstedentocht! Did your parents meet during the Elfstedentocht perhaps? How romantic! :D