Queens Day 2008 (Koninginnedag)

Wah hoo...Its the end of April can you believe it? Well The Dutch are a bit crazy for the end of April and your about to find out why. This week has been pretty relaxed. The kids are out of school for vacation. That means no running back and forth for school and lessons. Instead we got to just play and have fun. Myriam was nice enough to give me today and tomorrow off. She wanted me to see Queens Day in Amsterdam. Soo nice of her! So Becky and I went to Amsterdam to experience what all the hul-ablub is all about. ITS CRAZY. Reminds me of New Years in Vegas. They close off all the streets and people take over. They party all day and night long. Usually the streets and markets are reserved for people who pay to sell on them. NOT TODAY. On Queens day everyone is allowed to line the streets and sell ANYTHING. I mean anything! Kinda like a giant yard sale. Amsterdam is not alone on the celebrations. The entire country, including little Naarden, puts on a pretty big show. Amsterdam is just the biggest. So you ask...why all the celebration. Well, from what I have been told. Queen Beatrix's mother's birthday landed In April. When it came time for queen Beatrix, whose birthday is in the winter, she decided to keep the same day. So the tradition continues. The orange is branched from a family name back in the day. Its a GIANT birthday celebration that promotes all kinds of economy boosting stuff. Except for the trash. Its eveywhere! Sad. This country is soo good about being clean and recycling the rest of the year, but not today. Anyhow, Becky and I didn't want to stay and see how crazy things could get so we headed home and got some dinner. We saw a little bit of Naardens celebrations too. All in all I say it was a good day! I had fun. I hope you enjoy the pictures below!