Day IV: Happy Queen's Day!

Monday, 30 April, 2012 - Our last day in the Netherlands, and as much as we were enjoying ourselves there, we were definitely exhausted. It probably didn't help that we woke up much earlier that morning than our bodies wanted us to. Unfortunately Kennedy's flight was leaving a little bit after noon, so we figured the best plan for the day was just going to be to head back to Amsterdam and see what actual Queen's Day was like. So we breakfasted at the hotel, packed our minimal belongings, and took a quick stroll down to the beach. After all, what's the point of staying in a place that overlooks the North Sea if we aren't even going to get sand between our toes?

A little bit more awake, we piled into the car and cranked up the radio - the Netherlands plays surprisingly good music, some of the best playlists I've heard in Europe, actually. Pulling into Amsterdam it dawned on me how impossible parking was going to be. I had expected it to be bad, but this... Not only was parking nonexistent, driving was all but impossible for the never-ending flood of people walking through the middle of just about every road. I figured that there had to be a parking garage near the train station and the train station was relatively close to the area we'd been hanging out, so I painstakingly slowly got us over there and found a garage that was almost completely devoid of vehicles. Odd. But we were parked, that was the important part.

We returned first to Koninklijk Paleis and were overwhelmed by the masses of drunken people staggering about and just passed out on the stairs of the National Monument across the road. And the trash. The reasonably clean cobbled streets that we had walked along Friday afternoon were just heaped with trash. With a pang I realized how much I appreciated the almost OCD level of cleanliness that Vienna lives by. But not to be put off by a little visual nuisance like litter, we decided that we would rather people watch than be people-watched, aka we wanted to find some café with outdoor seating, preferably in the shade, and watch the masses flow by instead of wandering around with the masses.

 These aren't actually near Koninklijk Paleis, but it gives an idea of the crowds (and nifty buildings!)

Once away from the central hub of things we managed to find a café and snag a table in the shade as a couple was leaving. We ordered sparsely, not really hungry or thirsty, and watched all of the people. Apparently Queen's Day is also a giant yardsale day, because every street was lined with tables that had been set up or just blankets laid out with stuff heaped on. We had seen all of these places marked off the night before and gathered that people would be selling things, or perhaps even just setting up chairs and hanging out, but somehow I didn't quite picture it to be like this. I was entertained watching people come by and poke around, though. There was also a band of four boys about 10-12 years old rocking out in onesies or bellbottoms or other slightly outlandish getups. They were actually pretty good, too, and played a lot of 70s and 80s stuff.

After about an hour we decided to walk around a little bit more, then start making our way back to the car to get Kennedy to the airport in time. If you gave me a map or plopped me down at our café again I could retrace my steps, but I haven't a clue what streets we were on or what part of the city we were in. We basically made a big loop, and this was pretty much our view the entire time:

I think this is about how 90% of the people around us felt...

We also passed a funk band playing on the other side of the canal and people were sitting along the wall on this side listening, too. I might have enjoyed that for a while if I had a good place to sit and maybe some ice cream (or a Belgian Waffle!) and didn't have anywhere else to be, but it wasn't a horrible loss.

The crowds were the most glaringly obvious and in your face as far as things to see in Amsterdam that day, but there were some other details that didn't escape my notice, too:

 Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Queen from 1890 - 1948(!) and more spiffy architecture

Really neat mosaic bench with really not neat trash surrounding it

Eventually we made it back to the car and out to the airport where we said goodbye to Kennedy. Neither Anna nor I were up to braving Amsterdam again that afternoon, so we got on the highway and drove south until we came across a little town, no idea what it was called, and stopped for a more leisurely and quiet lunch. We had all of two options of restaurants and as one didn't have any available outdoor seating, we opted for the Italian place. It almost looked like a chain to me, but I was really impressed with the meal I had.

Still a little sapped of energy and enjoying the weather but starting to get a little warm, we decided just to head back to the airport and kill the extra little bit of time we had there.

And thus ended our Netherlands Adventure. All in all it was a great trip, and now I feel a bit more prepared should I find myself in the midst of another Netherlands-wide celebration again.

My parting words of wisdom: