Koninginnedag (aka Queen's Day) Weekend

Okay! Finally getting around to this...
Chrystal and I had a VERY full weekend... there really is just too much to write, so I'll stick to the highlights. We got bikes on Friday:

Friday night we were supposed to hook up with Dan Powell, but it fell through. We went on a "scary" rollercoaster ride at the Carnival, then wandered the centrum, and stumbled upon an art show in an abandoned building:

Saturday morning we went to an open-air, organics-only market with our landlord, Anadamayii, and her family:See all that cheese? Yeah. Chrystal was in heaven.

Saturday afternoon we spent the day suntanning in the park, and sipping on beer and wine that we brought with us (perfectly legal). I bbq'd chicken afterwards.

Sunday night was Queen's Night... which is kinda like New Year's Eve. They party hard the night before the holiday, so that they can sleep in the next day... that would kinda make sense for Canada Day, too - no? Anyways, back to the centrum. We went to an all-night street party with free djs. Everyone was dancing! We had a blast, and caught the last tram home.

Monday was Queen's Day. We went to Vondelpark, which was loaded with people selling their stuff, like a giant garage sale (think Great Glebe garage sale). Along with this, children were busking (performing) on every conceivable instrument! LOTS of talent to be found. All kinds of international foods... kids had make-shift carnival-type prize games set up... it was a lot of fun!

Then we headed over to Museumplein where the park had been transformed into a massive concert arena... the only thing I've experienced that would compared was the Sars concert in Toronto... just a sea of people!

We were sitting up on this building (it has grass).

Needless to say we were worn out when all was said and done. Tuesday morning Chrystal and I biked to the tax office, and she got her number. She's been working at an Italian restaurant, and I'll have to leave it to her to write about that. ;-)

For more on Queen's Day, this is an interesting read.