Hard to believe, but the IJ was frozen over in 1837. From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century Amsterdam went through a small ice age. This meant you could skate to the other side in winter time, and warm yourself up again with some kind of hot toddy. The nineteenth century version contained bock beer, rum, eggs, cinnamon and cloves. These days, we prefer a hot chocolate or mulled wine.

A miser on thin ice

The painting on the top right by Charles Leickert tells a funny story. Because of the many ice floes the ferryman asked for a higher surcharge. Twenty-year-old Willem Albert Scholten, pictured right in the painting, refused to pay and chose to walk instead. He ended up falling through thin ice, and with a soggy coat. Willem commissioned the painting himself after becoming a wealthy industrialist. Want to get rich? Better be frugal.