This past Friday was Queen's Day in the Netherlands. It's one of the most celebrated and anticipated Dutch holidays, Every year, the Dutch celebrate the Queen's birthday on the 30th of April. Though Queen Beatrix's birthday is actually in January, when it's too cold to party, she decided to continue with her mother's birthday in April and she now officially celebrates her birthday on April 30th too. Beyond the basis of the day being about Dutch togetherness, it's simply an excuse to dress up in ridiculous amounts of orange, drink all day, party in the streets and try not to fall in the canals. Success across the board.
To back it up a little, the night before Queen's Day is also celebrated too and dubbed "Queen's Night." The Dutch must have needed an additional reason to party. In Amsterdam, it's a big music/club night. So we went to an open-air (and free) concert at Waterlooplein by some random DJ. The music was just about to get going.... when it started to pour. That wasn't about to stop anyone, so we just went on dancing for a good while. I headed home because I wanted to be ready to start again in the am. I later realized that would not be the case.
The next morning I woke up feeling Queen's Night hard. I spent the majority of the morning watching people walk along the canals going bargin-hunting from my bed perch. Other cool thing about Koninginnedag is that anyone is allowed to sell anything on the streets on this one day. It's a city-wide garage sale with people staking out their spots days before by chalking a big "bezet" (Dutch for occupied or saved) over all the prime junk-sale property. People were selling everything imaginable - clothes, books, boots, appliances, face painting, beer, and even charging people 1 euro to come use the toilet in their homes. Little tykes dominated in the entertainment and sweets department. I saw a few little ones trying to make a few euro by playing their guitars or violins. I also bought some poffertjes (little mini pancakes) off a group of kids for a euro. Goedkoop.
Later in the afternoon, my friends headed over to my place due to the location... the Prinsengracht canal where most of the action would be because it is the most popular for boats/people. We opened up my window and watched boats pass of varying states of crazy. Some had themes, others had good music blasting, but the best was one with Queen B's face plastered as the figurehead on the bow of the boat. We spent some time walking around, getting food, and checking out the street DJs on every block. The best picture of the day goes to my new friend and his owner chilling a bar, both were dressed in orange with the little pup wearing a crown on his head. Adorable. We also went to a carnival that was put on in Dam Square. I wasn't game for going on a ride, but I had to get a meter-long bratworst for the road. We spent the rest of the afternoon and night walking around and checking out the sights. By nightfall, the streets were gradually getting quieter and it was becoming more and more apparent that the city was completed trashed. Definite sign of a good party. There were rumors of the sanitation workers going on strike the day after Queen's Day, but for the sake of Amsterdam, they were up and cleaning at the crack of the dawn. By the time I woke up, I could not believe how well cleaned Prinsengracht was. It was like there weren't 1 million people having a damn good time just a little bit ago.
All in all, it was a great day filled with much orange, beer and good friends. Glad I was here to experience it all. Definitely not about to forget about Koninginneday 2010 in Amsterdam anytime soon.
Tom Sawyer-style party boat
Back up on Prinsengracht
Best friends wear crowns
Dam Square and a brat.
My window, orange glasses and Shady.
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