Where are John and Kara?: April 2016

Wednesday, 27 April 2016

King's Day, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Faces of King's Day (photo from viralyard.com)

The crowd heaved around us, dancing and swaying to the deafening music. We were caught in a sea of orange.

Above our heads orange balloons, paper confetti bombs and smoke billowed out, caught in the chilly wind. Around us, the streets of Amsterdam had been turned into the biggest birthday party we'd ever been too.

Every man and his dog ready to party

Every street was jammed with party goers, children, pets and bicycles. Everyone was clad in orange wigs, hats, glasses and masks and from houses hung orange flags that blew in the chilly April air.

The city canals were jammed with boats, their music pumping across the water and the patrons dancing to their own beats.

Party people

Having a boogie in the street

Along the busy pavements temporary stands sold beer, snacks, antiques and junk. Today was King’s Day (Koningsdag), a public holiday that annually celebrates the inauguration and birthday of the current Dutch King Willem-Alexander and what a party it was!

A random kiwi dancing along the streets

The lead up to Koningsdag had been very exciting as everyone tried to predict the weather (made difficult with a late falling of SNOW on Tuesday). Would we have to wear our down jackets? Or could we maybe wear t-shirts? Shops adorned their windows in orange and supermarkets sold cream-filled orange foods for at least a month leading up to Wednesday.

John supporting the Dutch royals

The hype was exciting and we wondered if this was really going to be the happiest day of the year as predicted. 'What are you doing for Kings day?' seemed to be the conversation starter on the street and was either answered with.. I'm getting as far away from Amsterdam as possible or Yeh! I've got my.. festival/boat party/food stand sorted! Bring it on! We got ourselves prepared with a few colourful items and come Koningsdag morning, as a short hail shower passed over, we made our way to the city centre! Well us, and about 1.4million other people!!

Another familiar face in the crowd

The Koningsdag festivities actually only commenced in 2013, prior to then the annual festival was called Koninginnedag or Queen’s day (but now there's a new King).

The very first national celebrations were held in August 1885 after the birth of Queen Wilhelmina which was then changed to April after her daughter Juliana succeeded the throne in 1949.

Why orange you ask? Especially when the Netherlands flag is blue, white and red?

Well the Dutch Royal family belong to the House of Orange. It's the national colour, similarly compared to the love of black in New Zealand.

"Oranje boven, oranje boven. Leve the Koning!" "Orange on top, orange on top. Long live the King!"

Ready, steady buy!

Dutch children lining up their toys for sale

As a city built on trade, Amsterdammers love to haggle and bargain and what surprised us the most was that the government turns a blind eye (to almost everything) on Koningsdag. Yes one big party does mean that you get quite a few crazies coming out but mostly it's punters selling theirs 80s aerobic tapes, hat stands and the likes. But the vrijmarkt ('free market’) gives everyone and their mum the chance to sell anything on the streets and parks of Amsterdam, creating one of the world's largest flea markets. We noticed the Dutch parents had their kids out on the streets from the early hours selling old toys and games or even standing by white sheets ready to make a euro by being plastered with an egg. There was no end to the haggling and selling and it made it quite fun to see all the families out.

Busy streets

Walking towards the crowds

Getting our orange on!

One of the millions of party boats!

We really enjoyed ourselves and danced up a storm on the old canal streets. There were almost as many kids as adults around and all dressed in orange; everyone had a ball. It was really nice to participate in a city-wide party without the immense drunkenness and idiotic chaos (they even collected men's urine to use for compost) you see in other places. Till next year!

Tot siens,

John and Kara

Sunday, 24 April 2016

Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse, Netherlands

Lisse tulip fields

It was a typical spring morning, cool, damp and cloudy. A nearly perfect day to explore the Keukenhof gardens! The Keukenhof gardens, one of the largest flower gardens in the world is just a mere thirty kilometres from our house. We had gotten up early, worried that it would undoubtably get very busy at the 'Garden of Europe' and so after a few coffees we gathered our prepared picnic and set off. The road was nice and clear and within twenty minutes we arrived in the town of Lisse, and drove past the flower fields looking at the wonderful bright and beautiful tulips.

Cherry yellows!

Sea of gold

Purples, pinks and whites

Colours of the rainbow

Entering the Keukenhof gardens

Our anticipation of arriving had long preceded us since John had bought our tickets online in January!

The difficulty had been finding a free day during the short eight week period that the garden is open (and the spring flowers are blooming!).

We were also worried since Europe has had an unusually mild winter that the flowers would have passed their prime, but once we arrived our fears were laid to rest!

Stopping to smell the wild flowers

According to the official website for the Keukenhof Garden, approximately 7 million flower bulbs (of five hundred varieties in every colour you can imagine) are planted annually in the 32 hectare park.

A large part being the famous and gorgeous Dutch tulips.

Tulips gardens, Keukenhof

Colourful flower beds

The history of Keukenhof, which translates as 'kitchen garden' goes back to the 15th century when it was local hunting grounds but also a source of herbs for the Countess Jacqueline of Bavaria (1401-1436) who lived in a then nearby castle.

It was in 1949 that an official garden was established by the then-mayor of Lisse. The idea was to present a flower exhibit where growers from all over the Netherlands and Europe could show off their hybrids – and help the Dutch export industry (the Netherlands is the world's largest exporter of flowers).

Rays of yellow

Cherry blossoms and tulips

Islands of tulips in a blue sea

Canals of daffodils

Today it's estimated that over 1.2 million people visit every year (in the eight weeks it's open). But our guess is that most of them came on the same Saturday as us!! Because it wasn't long after we arrived that it got busy! Very, very busy!

Hundreds of people...

and hundreds more...

There were a few passing showers of rain which caused mild chaos but the weather mostly remained fine. We spent several hours wandering through the gardens admiring the planted flowerbeds, taking hundreds of photos!

Blue magic

Taking a break

The Dutch Golden Age themed garden

The garden was well worth the effort and although it was hectic we would definitely return next year. We would love to share ALL our photos but as that's not possible here are some of our favourites below!

Tot siens,

John and Kara