Queens Day

This week I had three days off. My goal was already to go to Paris for the weekend - I figured it was time. Then about a month ago I found out that the dutch were going to celebrate queens day on the 30th of April. Seeing as I am about 16.23% dutch (at least by association) I figured that it would be ok to celebrate.

The moment I got off of work on monday I was on my way straight to the train set for Amsterdam. Only the 3rd trip there within 4 months. That night was queens night - so dubbed by the Dutch as the next day was off anyways - so they better start partying as soon as possible.

So I quickly got ready and we headed off the see some outdoor concert. It was mostly people just standing and drinking outside. It was also being enforced this year that only one drink was allowed in ones possession; this seems very alleged from my experience.

The next day was almost more orange than one should see in a lifetime. But I even told the girls I was with - if you aren't wearing orange on this day I can't respect you. There was no excuse not to have any on!

The Day of the coronation was filled with merriment and about 1 million drunken dutch people partying and wandering around.

Also a bunch of dutch people trying to sell just about anything. The most interesting were the kids selling whatever. One highlight was the opportunity to kiss a frog. Another kid was selling portraits. Most people though would just set up their stuff like a flea market and try and sell it. The reason they do it on this day is because you can sell things on the street without a license and without having to pay the taxes.

The best part of my day was being able to wear a cape.