Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/05/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nathan - always enjoy your journeys and the flavors of Dutch life, especially the beers. Hugh On 12-May-07, at 12:31 PM, Nathan Wajsman wrote: > April 30th is the closest the Netherlands has to a national > holiday, Queen's Day. It is not actually the current queen's > birthday, but the date was kept since the weather is often good in > late April. The two main traditions are the "vrijmarkt", literally > "free market" which starts early in the morning, and where anybody > can set up a stand and sell whatever junk they wish to sell. Places > are allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis, so some people > actually camp out overnight to secure the choicest spots. > > The other Queen's Day tradition is, unsurprisingly, to drink a lot > of beer a watch others doing the same, preferably outdoor, and > preferably dressed in something orange. > > This year I walked through the free market in Almere, where I live, > and spent the afternoon drinking beer and watching the human > traffic in Hilversum, where my children go to school. The results > are here: > http://www.frozenlight.eu/queensday/ > and as always, comments are gratefully welcomed. >