Driving to Friesland

Saturday we drove all the way up to northern Holland. (Past North Holland to Freisland, actually) It was a clear beautiful day, but cold and very windy by the sea. We crossed the dike with the ocean on our left and the Ijsselmee, (which I think means "ice sea", and it WAS rough, icey, and apparently half as salty as the ocean)on our right. It looks and feels like a bridge, but the water level is different on the two sides, and you can see water only on one side since the land has been built up with stones from Belgium. What a project! The Dutch are really masters of water management. They keep reclaiming more and more land from the sea, and we pay a water tax, which is used to pump the water out of the country, which is basically below sea level!
OK...here's a test. There's a picture of something in a canal in Workum. What do you think it is and what's it for? Post your comments, and I'll put the answer in my blog next week.
Freisland is ice skating country! In fact, some of the towns we visited are part of the "Elfstedentocht", the 11 town (124 mile) ice skating marathon, which they haven't held in many years due to the canals not being frozen. However, I think this will be the year since the temperature has been quite low all over the country this year.