Party Boats! (I'm not on one!)

I have many more wonderful pictures from The Hague .... well I don't really have them, Jan has them because I forgot my camera. So, until I get them from him, we must go back to Queen's Day for some excitement!

Here are some of the "party boats" cruising the canals. I couldn't believe that people weren't falling in all over the place!

Den Haag

Today Jan and I took the train to Den Haag for some sight-seeing. He wanted to go to the sea which is 5 km from the city center, so we rented a bike. He suggested a tandem!! It was super fun but a bit difficult at first. He drove almost all the time....in front of the Peace Palace we decided to try switching but I couldn't even drive us 5 meters without thinking I was going to fall. The back was much better - I could even read the map while he drove.

He thinks we can work on improving my pedalling, but I think I was very good.

I think we look very good on this bike! He might have to buy one for Goettingen when I come visit (but he already has three normal bikes....)

Queen's Day - my favourite

The best 50 cents I spent on Queen's Day was given to a boy who was selling compliments & hugs. He gave me a wonderful compliment that his father translated for me. The hug was only average but I'm not complaining! 

He said that my make-up looked really nice on my face and that the colour of my sweater looked very nice on me and that I had a great energy about me.

Here we are:

More Queen's Day!

Yesterday morning we started the day by going to Vondelpark, one of the main parks in downtown Amsterdam. Here children sell things of all sorts - old books, toys, and clothes, but also set up games and play music and dance. It was really fun. Andras and Daniel, two colleagues also came with us. Here are some pictures of what we did:

Andras (a guy I work with) seems to have some pent-up frustration. The only thing (other than beer) he spent his money on were these two things:

1) Throwing eggs at people

2) Smashing a tomato when it comes out of a tube:

We also played a game where we catapulted presents to a picture of the new King and try to make them land in his basket:

As you can see, a very fun day!!!!

Happy Queen's Day!

It was a fantastic day!!! Here are some of my favourite pictures. More details and pictures to come! It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Three points:
1) Jan and I wore more orange than almost anyone else. We topped our starting outfits off by finding him a free inflatable crown which he wore the whole day like a champ, and me massive earrings that have ribbons of the Dutch flag and hideous orange flowers
2) There is still a loud party going on right outside of the hotel room. I am wondering when it will stop because I would like to go to bed soon! (See last photo)
3) I think I drank 12 beers today. Not too shabby. The second photo below is beer number two. I also bought a cake pop from a little girl.

Many shades of orange

Tomorrow is Queen's Day. It is the biggest national holiday in Holland and a massive street party and drinking festival everywhere. Jan arrived tonight for the festivities. We checked out several concerts near the hotel. The streets are already crowded but I know tomorrow will be 1000 times busier.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow - there has been so much hype about Queen's Day since I got here that sometimes I think the purpose of my trip is to celebrate Queen's Day and not for work! This year is a special Queen's Day because she is abdicating her throne and crowning her son. So it is also the last Queen's Day because next year it will move to the new King's birthday on April 27 and be called King's Day. Royalty from all over the world is going to be in attendance tomorrow.

On Saturday I shopped the sale racks to find us our special Queen's Day outfits. Here is a preview of things to come. So far we have 5 different shades of orange. Jan has a t-shirt in his bag somewhere. I haven't seen it yet but I'm confident it will provide a sixth shade!!!

Hotel Pulitzer

I may be living in the most beautiful hotel ever. And now that I will be here for three weeks solid I feel like I am living here. I finally unpacked both my suitcases - there are many clothes I have not worn yet!! - and settled into my final room in Amsterdam. I've also just called up for an iron and ironing board - everything at the bottom of my suitcase looks as thought it's been at the bottom of a suitcase for 6 weeks - we will see how I fare with that. One life skill I haven't quite mastered yet....

The hotel Pulitzer is made up of 25 canal houses from the 17th and 18th century and each room is a bit different. I'm in a two-floor room for the rest of my stay, overlooking one of the most historic canals - Prinsengracht. It's a bit nosier on the canal side but the view is worth it! AND the windows open, which is such a treat in a hotel room!

Here's the what the hotel looks like from the outside:

 Here's the inside of my amazing room:

View from "upstairs" looking down:

The bed up in the rafters!!

And last but not least, the view from my window. I am right on top of the brown and white boat that is in the top picture (owned by the hotel):