Queen's Day in Utrecht

[April 29 - May 2]

If you remember back to China and Udaipur, we spent part of our time touring around with three teachers from the Netherlands. Astrid, Francine, and Myrthe apparently didn't get their fill of us in Asia, so we met up with them again on their home turf. Our visit coincided with Marita's birthday, Astrid's birthday, and Queen's Day, so we couldn't have timed it any better.



First off, Queen's Day. This is a once-a-year holiday celebrating the Queen's birthday and coronation, during which there are a number of free concerts held around the country, and party-goers take to the streets en masse to enjoy the one day when drinking in the streets is totally legal. Parties last long into the night before, and continue through most of the actual day, April 30th.

Watching the crowds mill around in the city squares, one of your first impressions would be the huge amount of orange clothing present. Since orange ranks as one of the less used (and often, least favorite) colors in the U.S., the only time Americans see anything close to this much of it is on Halloween. Here, wearing orange an expression of national pride, since the royal line is part of the House of Orange and Nassau. To fit in, we bought and wore our brand-new orange shirts to the evening's festivities.

What a night. We had at first worried that we were leaving Amsterdam, the hotbed of celebration, for a significantly smaller college town. Our fear were unfounded -- the crowds were big and loud enough to catch us up in the vibe, but small enough to remain comfortable and sane. We roamed from alley to square to bar, cycling members through our party until sometime around 3:30 in the morning, when we arrived home.

Home, for those three days in Utrecht, was Astrid's lovely apartment. It was fairly typical of Dutch homes in the city -- very tall and thin, with absurdly steep and dangerous staircases. Luckily, it wasn't far from either the city center, or the homes of Myrthe and Francine. Especially on bike, the national form of transportation, zipping around every corner.



The next morning, the party began anew. First, we wandered around town to track down some swell orange inflatable crowns given away by the state lottery. Later in the day, these things became pretty scarce, and some people took extreme measures to acquire them, like taking mine off my head and running down the street. We were meeting a group of eight, so we picked up extras and headed to the canals.



Although the canals in Utrecht aren't as numerous or heavily touristed as the ones in Amsterdam, they are perfect for a casual float through town. The eight of us fit into Ido's tiny six seater and, practically capsizing the craft the entire time, cruised through the center of town in style. The surface of the water was definitely the hottest place to be. Even the people sipping beers on the canal-side terrace cafes looked jealous of our position, putting along in our orange crowns.



At some point the canal started filling up with larger boats, full of 20 to 30-person parties and substantial sound systems. Some spots became so crowded with boats that we couldn't pass, so we docked the boat in quieter waters and took to land for the remainder of the day.



Astrid had planned a full weekend of activities with us, and the day after Queen's Day saw us taking to the road for the quintessential Dutch activity, biking. Biking is so popular, that many people own two bikes. Luckily they're relatively cheap, since most bicycles need only a single gear to manage the flat landscape. One bike is suitable for two, with someone sitting on the baggage rack over the rear tire. Bikes not only have a position of primacy on the roads, but enjoy their own wide lanes, and cars seem to yield unfailingly to the kings of the road.



We undertook a sampling of this cultural phenomenon along a countryside trail marking the point to which Holland will flood if the dikes are eventually breached. Considering how far inland Utrecht is, it's pretty amazing how much land has been claimed from the ocean. We were blessed with such sunny weather that we actually improved our tans, and after lunching and throwing the frisbee around, we headed home for our last dinner before leaving the country.

Thanks to Astrid, Francine, and Myrthe for making our visit so much fun!