My Birthday Party

[April 29!]

Birthdays are a favorite thing of mine, and I usually try to stretch them out for as long as possible. So on the 28th, Dean made me a birthday dinner in Amsterdam. Quite a fancy feast of tilapia with carmelized onions, a potato-walnut-brie cheese invention, and a nice salad. For dessert we had sweet white wine and chocolate covered strawberry shortcake. Major points for my DeanBean.

The next night we were in Utrecht, where it was a big party for Queen's night (night before the Queen's bday) and also our friend Astrid's 25th birthday. So it was a party for everyone present! Astrid was having fun listening to her new CD which was customized to sing Dutch songs about her birthday. (Astrid, het is uw verjaardag!) We had that one stuck in our heads for days. The Dutch girls, (Astrid, Myrthe, and Francine), ordered a cake for me but the baker couldn't or wouldn't read their request and made it out for "Marlene" instead. But I enjoyed it just the same and it had a nice marzipan topping.



Then we hung out with their many friends in the apartment before venturing out on the streets for the action. Everyone was wearing their orange gear (which we had bought ahead of time at my favorite budget store, H&M).

The city streets were really crowded in some spots, but nothing close to Amsterdam's crowds, we were told. Basically, everyone orders a drink, takes in on the street, hangs out, dances, and has a good time! We did this from bar to bar for most of the night before heading back relatively early before 4:00 AM. The streets were piled high with trash and it was all gone by the morning, only to pile up again for the daytime celebrations, to be covered in the next post.



Here is a blurry picture of the crowds and you can spot my profile in the lower center. I would love to spend every birthday in the Netherlands!