King's Day Celebration

On the heels of my own "Dutch celebration" last week, it's appropriate that this week we celebrated the King's 48th birthday.

It used to be the Queen's birthday, every April 30th!  But when Beatrix abdicated her throne in 2013, her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, became the King of the Netherlands, with his wife, Queen Maxima, at his side.  More on that later.  But the King's birthday is April 27th, so the big national holiday is now 3 days earlier than it used to be forever (Beatrix used her queen mother's birthday, thus 65 years between them).

Since the birthday was this past Monday, the Dutch used the entire weekend to celebrate.  Of course.  And one of the goodies that happened in Gorinchem, where we live, was...ta-da...the hand-turned organ grinders!

This is the collage I put up on Facebook, showing different organs with their owners.
(Any similarity to dogs and their owners???)

But what was fun to see was 2 or 3 grinders grouped together.

While one was playing, the other was getting ready for their next "grind."

Made lots of sense.  Saved the grinding arm, too.
(And, yes, we had on-n-off rain that day.)

You know the saying "Not my circus, not my monkeys," right?

Even organ grinders are being politically correct these days.

Are you fascinated by contraptions like this?

I think it would be quite fun to belong to an organ-grinder's society!

Speaking of which, look at Astrid go!
As soon as we approached this grinder, he immediately offered her the reins.
No one could have wiped that smile off her face, trust me.

And then he talked to her about his hobby...and gave her one of his CDs.
He said he was one of 6 German grinders who came to celebrate King's Day in our city.
Woo-Hoo.

A real catch for the kids of all ages!


And just for the halibut, here's one of the cutest organs of them all.
Look at those popping hats!  Who thought THAT one up, I wonder.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Actually, all the above happened on Saturday, April 25th, of the Big Birthday weekend.

Monday, April 27th, was the national holiday in honor of the King.  And that day, Astrid and I were glued to the TV for 3 hours, watching the Royal Family descend on nearby Dordrecht.  Every year this happens:  the Royal Family (including all the cousins!) picks a city to visit and that city puts on a show.

Here's a 5-minute synopsis of those 3 hours.

Did I mention that I am in love with the Dutch King and Queen!
What I should say is that I'm in love with Queen Maxima and their amazing love story!
She's Argentinian, so the Dutch Parliament said if Alexander married her, he couldn't be king.
To which he said he didn't care what happened because he would marry her no matter what. 
The entire country fell in love with her.  Even Parliament (who obviously changed their mind)!
She's the first Dutch queen consort since 1890.

That's what they looked like on Monday (above).

Look at them on Willem-Alexander's coronation day, April 30, 2013.
That's the former Queen Beatrix, his mother, left-center.
(all images above and below are from Google Images)

They could even pass for a "normal" family with their 3 girls, right?
The princesses are Amalia (11), Alexia (9) and Ariane (8).

See what I mean about King's Day celebration.
I can hardly wait to see and experience it next year.

The First Ever King's Day in the Netherlands

Yes, you heard that right...and I was here to witness it "live" with Astrid this past Saturday in Gorinchem as well as on Dutch TV.

This is the collage I posted on my Facebook Saturday and this is what I said:

Holland's first ever King's Day is today...an official Dutch holiday. Talk about a party! King Willem-Alexander is the first Dutch king since 1890. Before him were 3 queens: his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Though the Dutch flag is red, white and blue, the Dutch royal family comes from the House of Nassau-Orange. So ORANGE is the color of the day! Guess what my favorite color is?!

I sure hope you like ORANGE!

 Someone on FB asked why the Dutch flag isn't orange?

Here's the thing:  the Dutch flag has been red, white, and blue since long before Dutch royalty.

Dutch royalty is from the House of Nassau-Orange since 1815.

So, on only certain royal birthdays is the orange banner flown next to the flag.

Willem-Alexander's birthday is April 27th, which was yesterday, Sunday.

But when the birthday falls on a Sunday, it's celebrated on the Saturday before it.

Now then....ENJOY!

The first ever King's Day as seen in Gorinchem, NL, where we live.

It's a party, a show, a feast...and a flea market on the streets.

If you want to sell something, pull up a table or blanket and just sell it.

You don't even need a permit.

For good luck, it might help to wear ORANGE.

 The crazier the better, and a nice smile, of course!

The lion is in the Dutch Coat of Arms, by the way.

He makes such a cute mascot.

To be honest, instead of getting tired of orange, it has become my best favorite color.

I see it everywhere I go.

 My Nikon Lady (Astrid) met an old friend, Marja, selling stuff with her grandkids.

The last time we saw her was at our wedding 4 years ago!

It's a small world after all.

 The highlight of the day for us was this folk group from Utrecht, wearing the costume 
from the Zeeland Westkapelle. They are called Pieremachochel, dancing to live music.

See how Astrid and I fit right in!  We love to dance, you know.


So does this little fella!

Later we saw them taking a break at our favorite ice cream shop.

We're not dumb; we took a break, too.

(Apricot was the closest color to orange, so that was my choice for the day.)

King's Day is here to stay...as long as Willem-Alexander is King.

Guess who's next in line?  Yup, his first of 3 daughters, Amalia...another queen.

Long live the King...or Queen!