Orange Fever

Orange is the national color of the Netherlands (despite being nowhere in the county's flag). It has to do with William of Orange (from the house of Oranje-Nassau) who helped create an independent Netherlands following an eighty year war with Spain in 1646. The family produced a number of revered rulers, and ushered in a golden period of world conquest, power and wealth. Thus the color stuck!

We went to the Netherlands as a family to celebrate King's Day. It used to be Queen's Day when I was on my mission. But things change, time marches on and monarchs alter (or at least abdicate their throne after a long 33 year reign).

In preparation for the Holiday, the country had a decidedly orange glow.

This included a brightly colored  tulip field. We could not resist the urge to wander over and explore the row upon row of flowers.

Unfortunately, I can not guarantee that tulips were not harmed in the making of these photographs.  There may have been a few casualties. 

But they were sacrificed for the sake of art, and did not perish in vain. I think they would appreciate and understand that.  Apparently Weston has a hard time running in a straight line. 

We quickly felt the spirit of the holiday. It helped that we were wearing orange-tinted glasses. We had to share them, so we went with a 'one size fits all' approach.

It was great to explore and share many of my old beloved haunts with the Family. Even Nancy was there to tiptoe through the tulips.

The city of Utretch was high on the list of things to show my kids. I think it is my favorite large Dutch city, with its small canals, commanding Dom tower, narrow streets, crooked buildings and lack of tourists.

They even offered canal side dinning. Weston was oblivious to this, choosing instead to focus on his Dutch Pancake.

We made sure to do some tourist things; bike riding, admiring the flowers, and art museums...

Visiting wind mills, trying on some wooden shoes, and all the other things that come to mind..

Well, not everything that might come to mind - or even everything that might be allowed for that matter. Although our dog Ani would have loved some of the freedoms!

But, we were there to celebrate King's Day.  It is the best day of the year in the Netherlands (in my opinion).  Every village and town has something going on. But THE place to be is of course Amsterdam. They celebrate like no one else.

It is a combination of the Fourth of July and Mardi Gras. A loud moving, smoking, drinking, floating, shopping, sea of orange; flowing through every canal and street of the old city.

It felt like every household was trying to to sell something, hawking cold drinks (including alcohol) and  freshly cooked pancakes or sausages from their kitchens, peddling old clothes, books and items on their doorstep, or offering the chance to play some game for a prize or have your face painted.

It was like one giant, city-wide flea market and bake sale combined (where no type of business license  or laws were required or enforced)

Everyone got in on the act.

The free public male urinals were overflowing (literally).

The city was in a good mood, and for the most part, well behaved and courteous.

The kids tried their best to dress in orange. I am sure we could have done more.  But Weston did color his hair and Shayne painted her fingernails - so the effort was there.

Rebekah took some time out to shop for cheese at one of the only stores actually open in the city. You can see the overwhelming look in her eyes. So many cheeses, so little suitcase space.

With the whole city focused on food, music, shopping and drinking, we took advantage of an unusually short line for the Ann Frank Museum.  I was surprised it was even open.  Shayne had been there a year before, but still found it interesting. Luckily Nancy bought a copy of the diary, so Shayne had something else to read.

It was nice to find some time for reflection and quiet in the middle of so much chaos.  We are so lucky.

Regardless, the party raged on outside.  This was especially true in the canals. An increasing number of boats churned through the dirty water, bulging with drunk, orange clad revellers. Most of the vessels had loud sound systems,  while a few boasted a live DJ! 

We took a break along the canal, to eat some food and watch the boats. It was like some unorganised and spontaneous water parade. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.  There is something enjoyable about watching exuberant people. It brings a smile to your face.

Finally we could stand it no longer - the crowds, the noise, the smoke...

So we decided to end our Kings Day celebration by preparing for the next holiday - Cinco de Mayo!

Canal Cruise

As part of our Netherlands adventure, we decided to tick another wish off Rebekah bucket list. She is now three ticks away from being able to die, which brings me back to my story.  

We rented a canal boat. Low draft, low speed, low height, low expectations on driver experience. With over 100 kilometers of canals (and 1500 bridges) in the city of Amsterdam alone, there was no shortage of places for us to go. 

With almost zero training or background, they let us loose. Luckily we had a few things in our favor. 1.) Rebekah and Nancy are both natural boat people. 2.) We would only be going 3 to 8 miles per hour. Bikes and joggers would pass us along the way.

However, it was still challenging, with bridges, locks, tunnels and marinas to navigate along the way. There was rarely a dull moment (even at that slow speed).  There seemed to be a low bridge around evey bend, or some type of canal construction project. The canals are much busier then we thought.

They were also more peaceful. The water was still, and dark, and quiet. Nesting ducks and swans hugged the shore, while sheep-filled grasslands, or charming little villages rose behind them.

It took a few tries to learn how to navigate the bridge system, and read the map we purchased, but before long we felt comfortable.

Nancy and Rebekah only bumped a few obstacles, a bridge here, a wooden post there... I expected much worse and had taken out full coverage insurance. Who is the dummy now?

We made our way on the 'Southern Route' from Loosdretch; through Utrecht, and then back up to Amsterdam.

The kids spent there time playing board games, reading, making up songs, eating and complaining about the lack of screen time. When the whining became unbearable we would let one of then drive. Weston's erratic style (even at 5 mph) made people sea sick, and he was released to play on the ipad.  Maybe that was his strategy?

Of course, we stopped along the way.

We visited windmills and cheese factories.

We stopped by a wooden shoe factory, and watched a demonstration on how they were made.

Weston was a bit confused on the sizing situation, and also by my comment that he had big shoes to fill in being the firstborn Jackson.

Armed with some new dark sun glasses, our kids decided to go 'gangsta'.  Holland is not a great place for sunglasses, or gangsa's. Both seem incongruent.

We enjoyed a number of sights.  Mainly because we choose to ditch the canal boat after a few days. While it was fun, it was slow. What took 6 hours in the boat could be done in 30 minutes on a train.

As Shanyie would say in her best gangsta accent:  "Ain't nobody got time for that."  So we hightailed it (at 11 mph) back up to a Marina in Amsterdam via the large, and busy Rijn (Rhine) canal. We looked out of place with all the gigantic barges on there way to different parts of Europe, and we were tossed about like a cork. But we made good progress. We just had too much to see, and too little time.


Of course we always slept on the boat (the Bodengraven was her given name), and used the Marinas for power, water and necessary services like a toilet and shower.

Regardless, we still spent a fair amount of time on the boat.  At that speed you have to.

In the end, it was rather relaxing. Like being on a walking safari, you notice so much more when traveling slowly (and while trying not to run into anything)!

The Netherlands is a remarkable feat of engineering and design. 50 percent of the country is below sea level. Thus, there is so much water around. Why live in a swamp when you can have a picturesque network of waterways?

Of course we passed a number of house boats. Here is one being moved. I suppose that is a benefit to living on a boat. If the neighbourhood goes to pot, just untie and move on! Actually many of the houses were permanent, set in cement with solid foundations, and very modern.

We had bikes on board, but  used them sparingly. Technically we could have reached our destinations faster by bike.

The people who rented us the boat explained that the Dutch were all natural skippers, and took to the water like ducks. 80 percent of the population had boats, and grew up at the tiller (translation: So don't worry about your shabby skills, you will never be as good of a driver as us. It is in our blood).  Reassuring words.  However, my research shows that only 1 in 65 people is a boat owner in the Netherlands. Just shy of 80 percent?

Plus, Nancy is a boat owner herself, and Rebekah grew up on the wild Columbia. We had no reason to worry. The calm canal waters were children's play for them. There was no bridge we could not negotiate, no bend we could not turn, and no tunnel we could not pass (aside from the ones that were to low, too sharp, and too narrow respectively). We went to the Netherlands as novices and ended our week as pros. Plus we had a number of wonderful experiences and adventures along the way. Bring on the open water and waves...we are ready!  Greece  - here we come!