Koninginnedag
Konninginnedag, or Queen's Day, was last Friday, April 30. I found this interesting tidbit from Wikipedia: "Since 1949, after the ascension of Queen Juliana, Queen's Day is Queen Juliana's birthday on 30 April. Although Queen Beatrix's [the current queen] birthday is on 31 January, she officially celebrates her birthday on 30 April.
I asked a Polish schoolmate who had lived in Eindhoven for a few years, what Queen's Day was all about. She said, "It's the one day people can sell things in the streets, so it's like one big flea market." I thought to myself, this certainly can't be how people celebrate Queen's Day. So I joined up with a group of friends including two Dutch people to celebrate Queen's Day the real way.
Well, lo and behold, it is one big giant flea market all over the city. Here's my regular shopping mall, but with walkways lined with sellers. Some were big operations like sellers specializing in used books, but it seemed like the majority were families selling off books and toys their young kids had grown out of. In the city center, the roads were closed to allow for the sellers to be on the city streets.
There are additional events besides the massive flea market, including musical performances, some fair-type food recognizable to Americans (i.e. cotton candy), and a lot of drinking. The entire city was ankle-deep in plastic cups by midnight.
