2008-Apr-29 - Koninginnedag
A stall at the Vondelpark in Amsterdam
Typical koninginnedag-humour in Amsterdam; the sign says 'overthrow the royal house', referring to the pictures of the royal family on the pile of boxes one can throw balls at.
Koninginnedag in Amsterdam, 2005Queen's Day (Dutch: Koninginnedag) is a celebration in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba on April 30 (or April 29th if the 30th is a Sunday[1]). Originally a celebration of the queen's birthday, it is now mainly known for the 'vrijmarkt' (literally 'freemarket'), the one day in the year that anyone is allowed to sell anything in the streets and 'koninginnenacht' (Queen's Night) on the preceding night. It is also a Dutch holiday.
It started as a celebration of the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina (1880-1962), on August 31. After 1948 Koninginnedag moved to April 30 (the birthday of Queen Juliana). When Queen Beatrix succeeded Juliana on jan 30, 1980, she decided to keep the holiday on April 30th as a tribute to her mother. Furthermore, the weather on her own birthday (January 31st) tends to prohibit the traditional outdoor festivities. April 30th, however, is renowned for having very pleasant weather.
During the reign of Queen Juliana, and the Queen would welcome people who came to the Soestdijk Palace. The Queen and her family would stand on a dais, and a long line of citizens would walk past, congratulating her and presenting her gifts. These days, Queen Beatrix visits one or two towns where she is shown traditional Dutch dances and demonstrations of old crafts.
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Post A Comment!
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2008-Apr-30 - On target |
| Posted by drdog |
Looks like the queen had a very nice birthday. And it looks like you enjoyed it, too.
Imagine how well a carnival over here would do with a ball-throwing game centered on an image of George W. Bush! |
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2008-Apr-30 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by readerwil |
| Hahaha! You are the second American I met today, who is not particularly fond of Mr Bush. I would be very glad if your next president is a democrat! Hopefully those very expensive wars will stop soon. |
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2008-Apr-30 - What a lovely red hat |
| Posted by Patty |
I'm with drdog. I bet someone could make a bundle setting up a game with a photo of ole George and people could throw balls at it, better yet, rotten eggs.
Personally I think he will go down in history as being one of the dumbest, lame persons to ever hold the office of a US President. In fact the last time he was running, we (Abe and I) both voted for the other side. We figured we voted for him the first time and he was a disappointment, we were't going to make that mistake twice. |
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2008-May-1 - Just for the record |
| Posted by drdog |
| For what it's worth, I voted for Al Gore in 2000. So you can't blame me. I could see what was coming. |
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2008-May-1 - No blame at all!! |
| Posted by readerwil |
| No, I wouldn't dare blaming you drdog!! I would have voted for Al Gore had I been an American citizen. I like him for the fact that he is very active in environmental matters. I even sent in an entry about him. |
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