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| Lets go Orange and be Queen for a day... |
Monday, 30 April 2012, we experienced our first Queens day – or better known as Koninginne Dag in Dutch… It was AMAZING!! Really an experience that will stay with me for a very long time! The day was, first of all – BEAUTIFUL! SUNSHINE, 25 degrees! The best day weather wise, since we got here in September! From Tuesday it was grey and rainy again, so it was really a blessed day! EVERYTHING and EVERYONE was clothed in orange! It was unbelievable! This is something that amazed me – the spirit everyone had for this day! I left my house dressed in my orange shirt, but put my tiara, and orange feathers in my bag – as I was not sure how “all out” the people would go. I did not even close the apartment door behind me, before I was greeted by a SEA of ORANGE! I very quickly took out my tiara and feathers – if you can’t beat them – join them J
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| Enjoying the sunshine! |
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| Hitting the street... |
Some of our South-African friends organized a Braai, and we all got together at their place, spent the day tanning in the sun, dressed in orange and enjoying the awesome company! Getting there was a bit of a mission, since there was almost no public transport on Queens day in the centre of Amsterdam, because of the road closures for the festival. We therefore walked through Vondelpark – which was PACKED! It was a bit overwhelming! And too many people for my liking :) I have never seen so many people, together in one place in Amsterdam. On Queens day it is a tradition that the kids have stalls “stalletjies” and they sell all their old things which they do not have use for anymore. There were also kids doing their talent for “tips” – we saw some musicians, dancers ect J There was some stalls where you could pay money to “egg” someone’s face! Insane!! (No money would be enough for me to stand there and get some eggs in the faceJ)
After the Braai, our group of friends hit the streets – we walked through Amsterdam, just experiencing the “vibe” and the exitement of the people celebrating this special day. We made our way to Prinsengracht and sat there watching the people on the boats pass by. One of the biggest traditions here is to get a boat on Queensday with your friends, and then just celebrate by sailing along the “gragte” – playing your music and dancing! Apparently the boats are already rented MONTHS in advance – so you have to be sure to plan ahead if this is what you would like to be doing J A highlight of the day, was the following! We sat at Prinsengracht, watching the boats go by, when a couple arrived who had to get on the boat in the middle of the grag…. They were climbing from boat to boat to get to their boat – being cheered on by everyone sitting around the grach and on the surrounding boats… The girl made it safely, with huge cheer! The guy ALMOST made it safely J With his last step to board their boat, he fell into the water! It was funny – you could see he was gonna miss it, and still he took the leap J The people had to fish him out of the filthy water J
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| At Prinsengracht... |
Our last stop was at Rembrandtplein – this was a HUGE gathering place for all the people… We took some photos, had some laughs, and in general a very successful first Queens day in Amsterdam… Check out our pics for some laughs! J
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