Those days in May...

Friday night before Queensday (Koninginnedag) I was getting our friend Pino from Schiphol Airport. Pino came from Berlin to celebrate Queensday with us. The weekend was sunny as all 5 weeks before. So weatherwise we couldn't complain.

Saturday we went to Alkmaar and to the beach near Bergen aan Zee. In the evening we had a BBQ on Erik's little balcony.

Sunday we were touring around by bicycle around Amsterdam. We saw Diemen, Driemond, Wezep and Muiden. After dinner we went to the city to celebrate Koninginnenacht. Usually it is even better the Koninginnedag, but this year only a few people showed up. Nevertheless it was very funny.

Monday, the actual Koninginnedag we started with some live TV coverage of Queen Beatrix visiting Woudrichem and Den Bosch (both places in the province of North Brabant). After that we went to show Pino something of the so called Vrijmarkt. A sort big yard sale where a whole city participates. We went to the Vondelpark where children reign during that day. After that experience we went to the Amstel river where we met a lot of friends (Cees, John & Arend, Paul, Danyal, Joop & Paolo, Geert, Ferdi & Franz, Krijn & Jan Willem, Henkie, Nick, Jan & Timon, Klaas & Klaas, Ulli and Søren, Yaser & Jos, and lots of others). It's becoming a little of a tradition that we end the Queensday at our friends (Timon & Jan) houseboat. Jan had cooked pasta and tomato sauce to feed the bears they had invited.

Tuesday 1st May is no holiday here in NL as it is in the rest of Europe, but I had taken a day off. So Pino and I could visit Haarlem and make some dinner for Erik after a hard day of work. Later in the evening I went to Zwolle, while Pino could stay for an other day.

Bevrijdingsdag (5th May) (Liberation Day), Erik and I spent in Zwolle. Though there was going on a big party with many live performances we both didn't have the energy to attend the Bevrijdingsfestival. (The festival is held in all 12 province capitals, but in a few years time Zwolle grew out to be the largest Bevrijdingsfestival)