Happy King’s Day

Fijne Koningsdag! So far the first King’s Night/Day has gone really well. We’ve certainly had a lot of fun. I’ll post a few more photos tomorrow, but couldn’t resist sharing this photo that I took today. I originally posted it to Twitter, and someone there caught something in the photo that I’d missed both when I took the photo and looked at it later. If you look at the open window on the left, you’ll notice a couple of pairs of feet sticking out! I’ve seen lots of people hanging out of open windows this weekend, but solely soles is something new!

Wordless Wednesday: A. Sinkel

Wordless-ish Wednesday: Dodenherdenking

Just a few words … Dodenherdenking (Remembrance Day) takes place each year on 4 May. It honors civilians and military personnel who have given their lives in service to the Netherlands since the outbreak of World War II. The flags fly at half-mast, as this one was doing today in Den Haag (The Hague). More about my visit tomorrow.

Foto Vrijdag 2.28

This is a bit of a World Cup wrap-up edition of Photo Friday. I’m still going through a bit of withdrawal from not having regular matches to watch, and yes, I’m still a bit sad about the outcome. And that’s all I’ll say on that. After all, judging from the parade/party that took place on Tuesday in Amsterdam, you’d never know we got silver instead of gold. There was a huge boat parade of the Dutch team through some of the canals of Amsterdam, with people following along in their own boats, or lining the canals for a view.

They even watched from the rooftops.

The players were having a good time, as well.

After the boat tour, they ended up at the Museumplein for another massive orange party.



It was a fun party to watch, even just on tv. (Yes, I took photos of the television, but it was to help my non-Netherlands-living readers get a better idea of just what kind of party went on!)
For a better feel for it all, here’s a video someone made with clips from the televised festivities.

Peace Is Possible

Yesterday was the International Day of Peace. Events were held around the world, some private, some public. Here in Utrecht, there were various lectures and performances taking place at the Cathedral, the Academiegebouw, and out in the Domplein. I stopped by briefly in the afternoon to see a bit of the balloon event taking place on the Domplein.

The logo on the balloons was designed by Dick Bruna, an Utrecht native, and creator of Nijntje/Miffy.

The Academiegebouw (one of the original buildings of the University of Utrecht) was the site of some of the lectures and presentations. It was festooned, as were many of the buildings around the Domplein (Dom Square) with the rainbow Vrede (Peace) flags.

A few of the volunteers hanging out before giving out the balloons.

Somewhat appropriately, this statue is a memorial specifically in memory of WWII, but now serves as an unofficial memorial for all victims of the World Wars. The statue stands where the nave of the cathedral used to stand before it was destroyed in a storm.