Queen’s Day also known as Koninginnedag is a national holiday in the Netherlands. It is usually celebrated the 30th or 29th of April to celebrate the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands- Princess Wilhelmina (originally 31st of August 1885) and later Princess Juliana whose birthday is the 30th of April. 
This day is known for it’s “free market” (Dutch for vrijmarkt) all over the country, which is basically like the entire nation holding one extremely enormous garage sales or flea market on all the streets while wearing orange ( Royalty of Orange- think of saying it as a French man- Orannngee…) and drinking incestuous amounts of beer and eating great dutch treats all day long. It usually starts the night before, called Queens Night, and follows through to the next day. You are likely to see the Dutch…all the Dutch wearing orange, including children, elderly and even dogs!
This year was great- My dad flew in from the US to join in on the festivities and Niels and his sister, a local, took us through the town- t
hrough the great neighborhood of Jordan. We bought all kinds of 2nd hand things like bags, shirts, hand painted Delft mugs and lots of English books that were on sale. Marjolein, my language exchange partner and her friend Astrid joined us there too. They say..one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. We definitely all found something there. It was a great time…and I think the Dutch riding on the boats- all wearing orange and drinking beer- also had a great time.Tot ziens! ( Until I see you later (English), Tschuss (German), Hasta luego (Spanish)Any other languages…hmmmm- I’ll learn!)
Ohhh and check out this boat! GO QUEEN'S DAY!
1 comment:
This holiday sounds like one I would LOVE to celebrate! Wigs and beer! Wish I was there sis! Love, Marc
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