Sunday, May 1

Queen's Day

It was "Queen's Day" here, which is a huge national celebration of the Queen's birthday. Think Mardi Gras, except that everyone was wearing orange, there were no beads and the day began with a mass yard sale, which ended at noon when the drinking began. It was an experience, but I don't really need to repeat it. I'm also really glad I stayed in Ouderkerk rather than going to Amsterdam.

This photo was taken just after noon about 5 houses up from me. As you can see, not so crowded yet:
Queen's Day in Ouderkerk

This one was about 14:00 across the river. Lots of orange, everywhere.
See of Orange

I stopped taking pictures after that, because I don't really need loads of photos of people drinking outside. The highlight was spending a day outside as it was (as you can see) gorgeous.

I enjoyed today, the day after queen's day better. I rode my bike to Uithoorn along the Amstel River (about 10 km) and had a lovely brunch. The return trip was all up-wind, so took a bit longer, but the only people out today are those who are serious about their biking. So hardly any cars or other traffic. Lovely.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I worked an event at the Dutch consulate for Queens Day. We served bitterballen (??Sp?) and rijstaffel and salted herring with pickles and onions and other interesting things. I have never seen people consume so much salted fish in my life

Nate said...

A couple friends and I arrived by train to Amsterdam on Queen's Day in 1998. We had no idea that it was happening and it was quite a scene to arrive to. There being no places to stay we got back on the train and headed to Barcelona.

Mickey said...

I've never noticed wind quite like I have when riding a bike.

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