We ♥ Amsterdam!

Since we were so close now, we had to do a quick visit to Amsterdam. So we went to have lunch and stroll around the famous grachten/canals and to see the beautiful gabled houses along these canals in the city centre. A house in these streets will cost you a few million dollars, and most of the houses are actually sectioned off for students. So 20 rooms in one house! Catching a whopping rent every month. But some are just single homes for the rich and famous. I am talking about the Keizersgracht and Leidsegracht, this is were we are here. Isn't it gorgeous??

We have some real Dutch lunch, some sandwiches and coffee and stroll around the area. We had planned to go to the Anne Frank House as well with the girls, but the waiting line was at least a 3-4 hour wait... the people were standing there outside lining up till no end... so we decided to just walk around and enjoy the nice weather and sight seeings of this beautiful city.

A few of these boats, are actually house boats. People live there permanently. How fun is that! Although a bit small for my taste... I would have no idea what to do with all my furniture....





So fun to see the terraces on the side, people are famous for drinking coffee in the Netherlands, so everywhere you see little coffee shops... and I don't mean the infamous coffee shops, just the regular ones where you can have a beer, coffee or tea and just gaze at the people... a real Dutch hobby! People watching!



Just posing in front of the Anne Frank House, too long a wait, next time we book a time slot!





A lot of people customize and dress up their bikes... :-)



Corner of Leidsegracht and Keizersgracht.





I love all these gabled houses, so pretty! Wish I could own one.... prime property here! Do you know why the houses are so small? In the olden days, the taxes you had to pay was of the width of the house, it didn't matter how deep it was...





Our last evening in Holland with Marisca, Martijn, Wim and Annemarie we have a great BBQ and some vino...



while the kids each with their own electronic device are having also fun... each in their own way!



Being away and on vacation for 7,5 weeks was great, but a bit long! I was done now too... ready to unpack my 380 boxes that are waiting for me in the new house!

Living out of your suitcase for so long gets to you after a while!
But we had a great time and some wonderful memories!

How about you? Do you like long vacations or rather go a few times and split it into smaller breaks??
Mireille xx

Queens Day (Koninginnedag) in Holland!

It's Queen’s Day today in the Netherlands!! Hip Hip Hooray for the Dutch Queen!!
Queen’s Day is the annual Dutch national holiday in honor of the late Queen Juliana’s birthday.

Queen Beatrix with her son Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princes Maxima.

On Queen’s Day there are celebrations throughout the Netherlands. However, the most popular destination is Amsterdam where up to one million visitors join the 750.000 locals in the world’s largest street party.
Queen Beatrix, who succeeded her mother in 1980, decided to keep the holiday on April 30 as the weather on her own birthday, January 31, tends to prohibit outdoor festivities.

The Night before Queen’s DayQueen’s Day festivities start around midnight and last throughout the night (though official rules state that pubs must close for an hour or so before sunrise). Simply walk around in downtown Amsterdam (the Jordaan and Nieuwmarkt areas being among the most popular spots) and you’ll find plenty of partying going on.

Queen’s Day Proper
6:00 AM marks the start of the ‘free market’ - a street market where half the population sells their bric-a-brac, used clothes, and crafts for next to nothing. Where? Everywhere people live. What? Well, you’ll find anything from broken toys, last year’s Queen’s Day purchases, and used bras to fantastic bargains on musical instruments, electronics, software and everything else under the sun.

Throughout the city, professional street performers vie for attention. There are pick-up bands, aspiring opera singers, teenage rappers and street discos. Rio-style drum bands have been very popular the past few years.

Huge outdoor concerts are organized at various locations, such as Dam square and Museumplein.

Orange
The throngs lining the streets and canals wear orange, the national color (after all, the Queen hails from the House of Orange). Take ‘throngs’ literally - particularly in the city’s center where you’ll be shoulder to shoulder with other revelers.

For most of the day, there is no public transport in the center of town.

If the weather is good (which isn’t always the case) the canals offer little relief as thousands of boats, large and small, filled with party goers clog the city’s waterways.

The beer flows freely, though mostly in the form of reduced-alcohol ‘event beer,’ which is served in plastic containers that come with a deposit fee.

Today the girls wear orange to school, have Dutch class and all the other pupils will wear orange. And I am making cookies with orange icing for all the Dutch kids today. It's such a festive color, it makes you happy! I wish I could be in the Netherlands today, since everybody is off and people are on the streets; selling, buying, drinking beer and having fun!! It's the world biggest street party over there today! However, I have a Dutch coffee morning with only Dutch ladies living in SA, so that is fun as well ;-)

Have a great day!
Mireille