Goudaland! (Amsterdam & Utrecht, 27th April-1st May 2007)

Not long had I begun my studies in Berlin before I was on the road again. It’s becoming something of a force of habit now, but at least this time I had good reason. Michiel, a Dutch friend from Sweden (if that makes sense), had spent the past few months organising a bit of an ERASMUS reunion for Koniginnedaag (Queen’s Day), a big national celebration in Holland. Not that I needed an excuse, but after 7 hours of train journey I made it to Utrecht by the evening of Friday 27^th, and was welcomed at the train station by Michiel and Outi, who had flown there earlier in the day. It was good to see them again, though the strangest thing was that it wasn’t actually strange…just like normal. Always the best way, I feel! A few hours after me, Jane arrived, then Johannes (D) and Raquel (E) a little later. That night we just had a couple of quiet drinks in Utrecht, then retired to our beds. It was, after all, going to be a long weekend…

We awoke the next day to the sound of drums being played badly and noisily, as if by an uncontrolled child. It should have been no surprise, then, when we shuffled down to breakfast to find our entire hostel was populated by German school kids intent on making the most of the novel facilities provided. The place was absolute chaos – it was difficult to move, let alone get food – but luckily the hostel possessed a plentiful larder, and after a few minutes the children disappeared completely, leaving us to breakfast in peace.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that the remainder of our party was due to arrive, so after taking our repast we wandered into Utrecht to have a look around. It really is a lovely little place, lots of canals, cafes and pretty little houses – just what one might expect from Holland. It also boasts a rather impressive Gothic cathedral, which I went rather snap happy with. Myself and Jane also caused a passing policeman some distress in our touristing efforts, to the extent that he pulled up next to us as we were taking in the canal to ask in Dutch why we were taking pictures of green water. I’m not sure what Michiel told him, but it probably involved the words “crazy” and “foreign”, which seemed to be a satisfactory excuse. After a few hours in the centre, we took ourselves to a café and then back to the lawn outside our hostel to relax and enjoy the glorious Dutch weather while waiting for the others to arrive. By late afternoon the rest of our group (Werner, Mareike, Anne, Bruno, Julian and Doro) had arrived, and they went having a look at Utrecht while Jane and I went on a desperate hunt to find shorts with which to combat the almighty sun. After 2 hours, we failed miserably, and got lost into the bargain. That wasn’t great, but that evening we all went out together and ate at an Italian place by the Kraach (canal – think that’s the right spelling!), before relocating to a bar for the rest of the night. All good fun, and it was good to spend time with so many people from Sweden again.

Sunday we finally made it to Amsterdam. Queen’s Day wasn’t until the next day, but it was still really busy, and incredibly hot. Overall though, we had a good day, got to see plenty of Amsterdam, including a boat tour along part of the canal system, though I did miss out on nearly all my food aims for the day (prawn sandwich, waffle, pancakes, ice cream). Later on, myself and Jane found our way to the Anne Frank house, which was very interesting. It was set up by her father, the only surviving member of her family after the war, and tells her whole story. The evening was quiet, as we were all somewhat knackered, so we crashed early in preparation for the big day.

I have to say, I’ve never quite seen anything like Queen’s Day. For one thing, I never knew so much Orange existed in the world. The streets were full of it, and the people covered in it, including ourselves, on Michiel’s instructions. I think the reason there isn’t that much Orange in the rest of the world must be that the Dutch horde it all for this special occasion. It was quite amazing. We spent the morning wandering the streets, wearing silly hats, drinking beer and eating waffles, as it seemed to be the done thing. The atmosphere was great, people dancing and singing all over the place, and lots of little stalls selling various related items. Jane treated herself to a big orange whistle, I’m not quite sure why. Personally I stuck to the inflatable orange crowns I was planning on hording as the day went on – a plan soon put to bed by the rather excitable wind present at the time. By early-mid-afternoon-ish we’d made our way to a central park, where they’d put up a big stage which was showcasing Dutch musical talent. I’m not sure I’d normally describe the entertainment as such, but all the same it was very much fun, though we did eventually all tire quite early, and by about 7 we were on the way back to Utrecht. Needless to say, we didn’t go out that night, as most of us were due to leave relatively early in the morning, so we just spent a bit of time lazing around the hostel, as the children had disappeared by this point.

All in all, I have to say I rather like Holland. The lack of hills somewhat disturbs me, but despite that it’s a very picturesque place with plenty to offer. It was great to see everyone again, and I’d love to go back there sometime when it’s a bit less manic to see things properly. Big thanks to Michiel for organising the whole thing!