The Tour, Being Together Makes Everything Stronger

Exploring Dutch Museums and Galleries

A Musical Journey Back to My Roots

We had a great weekend in Fryslân. We celebrated birthdays with family in the town I grew up in, Joure. In the evening, we left for Leeuwarden to stay at the Hotel Fletcher downtown. The next day, we would see the musical “De Tocht, samen maakt alles sterker” (The Tour, Being Together Makes Everything Stronger) in the new Friso Theater.

The performance was about the legendary Elfstedentocht, a vicious, unique ice skating race on natural ice that runs 200 kilometers through eleven Frisian cities. Only fifteen official events have been organized and skated since 1909. 

In 1986, 23 years after the last Tour in 1963, I stood near the bridge at Bartlehiem, cheering on the skaters and encouraging them in their final stretch before finishing. This was a joyful and warm spectacle and one of the last events I attended before moving away.

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The skaters and decor representing Fryslân brought me back to a time I thoroughly enjoyed. Folk wisdom tells that stiff Frisian people warm up when it freezes; with me, this performance did that, too!

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Date

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Theatre

Friso Theatre

Location

Newtonweg 2
8912 BE Leeuwarden

Highlight

The Tour