Queens Day in Amsterdam
Story by Dick Dace
Photos by Sharri Whiting
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|  | Queen's Day, April 30, is Holland's largest celebration | |  | Working windmills dot the Dutch landscape, keeping the every encroaching water away from the land | |  | The romance of 17th century windmills never fails to intrigues visitors to the Netherlands
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| | |  | The Dutch flower fields fill the landscape with color every spring | | | |
| | | You have got to love a country that throws a nation-wide birthday bash for its Queen - and it is not even Queen Beatrix's birthday!
Each year on April 30th, (unless that day falls on a Sunday) the Netherlands pull out all the stops for a swinging good time. It is the one-day of the year where the citizens dress in orange (symbolizing their Monarch's ancestral linage as the House of Orange) and some young people even spray paint their hair orange. It is also the only day of the year that citizens may open their attics and have a yard sale. Even the kids get involved with games of chance, musical recitals and beverage sales. It is more like a county fair that becomes as the day progresses, into a street party, and as night falls, Mardi Gras, Dutch Style!
What's a party without flowers? In the spring, and almost all year long, Amsterdam and all of Holland is a garden in bloom. Just a short train ride from Amsterdam is Keukenhof Gardens, a 70-acre Eden that is a showcase for more than 7 million flowers, including more than 1,000 varieties of tulips. The garden also features a windmill, Europe's largest fountain, a 700-tree labyrinth, pavilions for exhibits on all things flowers and several cafeterias. One will need a half-day to walk the gardens and smell the daffodils, crocus and narcissi. The day of our visit, the air was pungent with narcissi and that very unique illegal plant for which Amsterdam is also famous and is most fragrant when it is smoked.
Most of the activities in the city center of Amsterdam, with its nightclubs and restaurants, can be rather loud. We found a nice, quite hotel, the Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel that is just a few blocks away from the central station and on a beautiful canal. Getting around the central part of Amsterdam is easy to do on foot, Tram and even better by Canal Bus, a water taxi that allows hop-on and hop-off service.
Armed with an Amsterdam Card, which allows entrance into many of the museums without additional charge and most importantly, without standing in line to buy tickets, we were ready to explore Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is celebrating one of its most famous son's Rembrandt's 400th birthday with citywide exhibits. The Rijksmuseum is showcasing some of his most famous works, including The Nightwatch. Known for his ability to "light" a subject in his paintings, Rembrandt was also a very successful businessman, selling other artists' works, as well as running a school.
Just down the street is the Van Gogh Museum that has a collection of works, spanning the artist’s entire career. It was interesting to see some of his lesser known works and see how trial and error helped him find his now famous technique. The day we visited, there was also an exhibit of Rembrandt and Caravaggio paintings.
Just a short Canal Bus ride away was the Rembrandt House Museum, where one could see where Rembrandt lived and worked. It is a beautiful, three-story house, with the tiniest of stairways. No wonder each house had a pulley attached to the attic to lift furnishings in through the windows. (After we left the museums, we walked passed a moving company, who was using a lift to raise furniture two stories up and into a window. Technology may have changed, but the method remains the same.)
Besides tulips and canals, Amsterdam has been known for more than 400 years as the City of Diamonds, for its expertise in polishing diamonds. At the Gassan Diamond Factory, diamonds from around the world are cut and polished and sold loose or mounted. Gassan is even credited with the creation of the brilliant cut diamond that is sought after around the world. Their employees speak 27 different languages, which come in handy, for Gassan is also a major tourist attraction. Tourists from around the world come to Gassan to purchase the diamonds of their dreams.
Whether one seeks history, art, flowers, diamonds or just pure fun, Amsterdam is the destination of choice. It is especially beautiful in the spring, when the bare trees bloom, pushing away the gray of winter. And if you see all things orange, grab your party hat and join the party! After all, it is the Queens' birthday and everyone is invited to party!
Trip Resources: Amsterdam Tourism and Convention Board, www amsterdamtourist.nl, Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel
www.renaissancehotels.com
©Dick Dace 2006
©2008 Dick Dace, All rights reserved |
