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Thursday, May 1, 2008
Painting the Town Orange!
Goede Middag! This is Kelsey Hitzfelder, your Longview Queen’s Day correspondent, reporting to you from the lovely Jordaan neighborhood of Amsterdam. (Jordaan is the Dutch word for garden.) Thousands of Dutch nationalists have gathered to the streets of this beautiful city to celebrate the birthday of their Queen’s mother, Juliana.
Orange Day, known as such because of the royal family Orange and the color that paints the streets on this day, brings a party for all ages and a spirit of congeniality to all cultures in the great nation of The Netherlands.
In Amsterdam, the party began last night, when street vendors, hippies, and otherwise thrifty folk packed the sides of the streets to claim a spot for the all-city garage sale and flea market that took place today.
A stroll through the Jordaan this morning brought a feast for my senses. Orange balloons were strung everywhere and every costume imaginable was to be found on people of every culture. There were some incredible bargains as well. I was lucky enough to be accompanied by two Dutch friends, so I had quite the authentic experience. Bars brought their business to the streets where drunken costumed men sang Dutch national songs and enlivened the spirit of the day. In contrast to the drunken liveliness of many in the older generations, children filled the sides of the streets, hawking their toys and their talents. Many played piano or sang to make a few euros.
Gradually, my friends and I made it to Vondelpark. This large park in the Centrum of Amsterdam is usually an oasis of green. Today is was a sea of bodies and children selling everything from a dance show to a plastic white board that was passed and sold continually from person to person.
The sheer number of people was overwhelming. There wasn’t ten feet anywhere without at least one body on it. Hippies with dreadlocks were selling jewelry, and their children were sleeping on the blow-up mattresses behind them.
As the afternoon draws to a close and the night nears, the beer flows more freely and the children disappear. The city will take on a whole new look for tonight’s festivities. Much like New Year’s Eve in a big American city, trash now fills the street as many have been indulging in the alcohol a bit all day and the remnants of the street market have been left for people to pick through. The music of free street concerts fills the air and dancing mobs are everywhere. The culture is that of youth, vitality, flippancy.
Tomorrow will be a bit rough on many of the celebrants of today’s festivities, but for now- Long live the Queen! Hup Holland Hup!
