Not ice skaters – too warm for ice now, but roller skaters, roller bladers, inline skaters – I think those are all terms to cover the fast moving people we met on Nassaulaan this evening.

We were minding our own business. We had been for a quiet walk around town for about an hour, across to the Spaarne and back across the Grote Markt and home down Nassaulaan. Suddenly we saw coming towards us a traffic officer with flashing lights, and we scurried across the road at the bridge over Niewe Gracht – because we thought he was going to be going somewhere in a very big hurry. Easy assumption because when the flashing lights go on they usually are hell bent on getting somewhere pretty quickly.

Not this one, he seemed to be coasting along with his lights flashing and we did not have to scurry at all. We stopped to see what he was up to – rubber neckers – that is us. We watched, and suddenly there were people with whistles and orange vests and skates of some kind or other. Well what would you think, were they on some sort of exercise – learning about crowd control or something. One stopped at Niewe Gracht on each side of the intersection of the bridge and others went past us and stopped at the other side of the bridge – one at each side of the intersection on that side. And then they came – Hundreds of people, all shapes and sizes, in all sorts of gear, normal clothes, sports clothes, clowns clothes (they were gorgeous), orange vests, whistles and wheels – skates, inline skates, roller skates, and roller blades – and they just kept on coming.

All ages, all sizes, all shapes, some crash helmets and knee pads, and elbow pads, and shorts, and skirts and skates – at great speed – like lemmings – they flowed by us while we stood on the bridge and watched open mouthed.

Hundreds more it seems – suddenly we jumped into action – camera – oh s…………. no camera, camera phone, maybe but it was a bit dimm – the light, I mean. Best Beloved took some photos with his phone and he will upload them tomorrow if he can and I shall post them if any are okay.

From what we could tell -there is be an event – and I don’t know, maybe this was a warmup. When we see the paper tomorrow, maybe we will know more. Best Beloved is managing reading the local papers quite well now – so if it is there we will report back.

Eventually all the skating people had gone by – and the orange vested, whistle blower skaters fell in behind – and they continued away up Nassaulaan – at great speed.

It is amazing what you meet in Haarlem in the evening when out on a quiet walk on a beautiful evening.

There was a young man – just a little way along the bridge – and he said “That was cool, that was so cool” – I agree, yes it was cool.