After two very cold days in Utrecht this was going to be a blog post about the resilience of the bare-headed Dutch cyclists riding around in a wind chill of minus 10 Celsius.

Or maybe a quick update on the “Ocean of Bicycles” parked at the station which has remained one of the most visited posts on this blog for several years.

But as I glanced out of the window of Fietsersbond’s office in Utrecht (Dutch Cyclists’ Union) I realised the schools were emptying and the city was coming out to play on the canals.

And when I called my other visiting colleagues to the window we just stood and smiled, feeling like we had stepped into a timeless scene, like a painting from Bruegel or Avercamp.

I guess in no other country in the world could most of the population just happen to have a set of skates at home, just waiting for the occasion.

And I smiled a lot more when I wandered down to the canal-side, because of course if we update those medieval scenes for today’s Utrecht there is no other way to get the skating except to use your bike.