The Eleven Cities Tour will not go ahead for the time being. Chairperson of the Frisian Eleven Cities Association, Wiebe Wieling, says the ice is simply not thick enough to allow 16,000 marathon tour and race skaters to take part in the 200-kilometre race. The skating marathon has only been held 15 times in the last century.

The ice has to be 15 centimetres thick for the event to be held. However, the thickness of the ice is between 8 centimetres and 15 centimetres. In addition, meteorologists predict a thaw at the weekend. However, there may be another freeze next week. For this reason, the association has not completely ruled out the event taking place this year.

The association praised the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, water authorities and others who had done their utmost to prepare for the event. Water pumps were switched off at the beginning of the frost period, snow has been swept from the route, alternative routes have been sought to avoid the weak spots in the ice.

The decision not to hold the event was made unanimously by the 22 board members of the association. However this does not mean that there will not be an Eleven Cities Tour this year. An old Frisian saying says "Old ice freezes best." So if there is another cold spell after a short thaw, Eleven Cities Tour fever might start all over again.

And we at the Amsterdam Spoke can't avoid thinking of all the efforts we made: booking tickets and flaying as far from Europe and you guys cannot make that race???

Courtesy of Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Princess Máxima, the wife of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, has won the Machiavelli prize for her role in strengthening the popularity of the monarchy. The Machiavelli Prize is awarded to people who excel in public communication.

"My husband and I are only able to do our work thanks to the authority of my mother-in-law [Queen Beatrix] which she has built up over 32 years," she said. The princess explained that the royal family work as a team, which is why she hesitated about accepting the prize.

The princess was also praised for rejuvenating the monarchy. But she passed that off as a continual process which did not depend on one person. She said that although she was often given the benefit of the doubt in her role as princess, she still had to prove herself.

The Machiavelli foundation described Princess Máxima as "a great communicator". An example of this came during the announcement of her engagement to Prince Willem-Alexander, when she expressed herself in Dutch to the assembled press despite having moved only recently to the Netherlands from Argentina. Her description of one of her husband's blunders as "een beetje dom" (a bit stupid) has become a common expression in modern Dutch.

Courtesy of Radio Netherlands Worldwide

It's time for ABC's Annual New Year's Kick off Bash! Connect with old friends again and make new ones as we welcome 2012, for an anything but typical... ABCirque Experience... SENSATION Cirque!

Sold out the last few years, with 2012 promising to be a memorable one as we partner with Cirque Excentrique to bring you a start to your new year that you won't forget. (see ABCirque pics below)

The Dutch economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the third quarter compared to the previous one according to figures from the Dutch statistics office.

By RNW

It is the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the economy has shrunk on a quarterly basis. Preliminary prognoses predict 1.1 percent growth for the whole year.

Government spending fell slightly compared to a year ago. Cuts in defence and civil service jobs have brought spending down, while health costs increased.

Meanwhile households spent over 1 percent less than in the previous three months. Fewer cars were bought and less was spent on shoes and clothes. The poor summer meant less was spent in restaurants and bars.

On top of that, the Financieele Dagblad reports warnings by Dynamic Credit that hundreds of thousands of mortgage holders could get into difficulties next year when their favourable interest rates expire, jobs are lost and people are hit by other economic measures.

Each year in November, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) once again transforms the city's center into a paradise for documentary film fans. Over eleven days this year, doc lovers will be spoiled as some of the city's most characteristic cinemas screen the latest and greatest domestic and international arrivals from the documentary film world. No other festival in the world brings together so many great films, devoted fans and talented film makers in one place, making IDFA one of the world's leading documentary film festivals

The Hermitage presents a stunning retrospective of Flemish painters, drawing on the plentiful resources of the Flemish art collection of the Hermitage in St Petersburg. With 75 paintings and about 20 drawings, the show includes numerous masterpieces by the three giants of the Antwerp School: Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens, accompanied by the work of well-known contemporaries