Presépio com Vista para o Canal

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

4 en 5 mei: Dodenherdenking en Bevrijdingsdag

May 4: Remembrance Day in the Netherlands (Dodenherdenking)

(last wednesday, Begijnhof, Amsterdam)

On May 4, the Netherlands pays its respects to the civilians and members of the armed forces of the kingdom who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the outbreak of World War II.
The main ceremonies take place in Amsterdam at the Dam Square and it's usually attended by members of the cabinet and the royal family, military leaders and representatives of the resistance movement.
Two minutes of silence are observed at 8:00 p.m. throughout the Netherlands.
These are my flowers to those who lost their lifes in WW II, other wars and peacekeeping missions.

May 5: Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag)

On the 5th May, 1945, the Canadian General Charles Foulkes and the German Commander-in-Chief Johannes Blaskowitz reached an agreement on the capitulation of the German forces in the Netherlands, in the Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen.

From Coisas Minhas

To celebrate this day, I have bought this book. I'm very curious about it.

Hidden like Anne Frank is a book by Marcel Prins which tell us twenty-two stories of surviving Dutch Jews hidden during the Holocaust.

The site about the book is in English too.
Listen to their voices, look at their photos, click on the map to know the places where they were hidden. I think it's very interesting!

Happy Liberation Day, Netherlands!!

For more information about this year's celebrations, please, click on this link:
4 en 5 mei.

Sunday, 1 May 2011

Koninginnedag (Dia da Rainha)

Yesterday, April 30, was Koninginnedag (Queen's Day/Dia da Rainha), a national holiday of the Koninkrijk der Nederlander (Kingdom of The Netherlands/ Reino dos Países Baixos).

As usual, people went to the streets in the four countries of the kingdom,
(Aruba, Curaçao, The Netherlands and Sint Maarten) dressing in orange, the colour of the ruling Dutch Royal House, the House of Orange-Nassau.

From Koninginnedag 2011

The Orange dynasty was established as a result of the marriage of Hendrik III of Nassau-Breda from Germany and Claudia of Châlon-Orange from French Burgundy in 1515.

From Koninginnedag 2011

Hendrick's nephew, William, de Zwijger (William, the Silent/Guilherme, o Taciturno) was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648.
The present Kingdom was established in 1815, after the Napoleon's defeat in 1813. Some years later, Belgium seceded from the Kingdom (1830) and Luxembourg ended its personal union with the Netherlands (1890).

From Koninginnedag 2011

It's tradition of this national day to participate at the flea market. In each street, we find people trying to sell the result of their spring cleaning: toys, books, clothes, shoes, china, name it. This is the only day of the year that the Dutch government permits sales on the street without the payment of value added tax.

From Koninginnedag 2011

Yesterday, we saw second-hand articles quite in good condition and brand new too (they were never used as they had the plastic covers yet). As a pro-recycling person, I like this kind of second-hand market.

From Koninginnedag 2011

A friend of mine was once in Bussum, a whealthy area, and he bought by a couple of euro very nice toys for his child.

From Koninginnedag 2011

Look! What a very creative manner of selling old books. ;-)

From Koninginnedag 2011

We enjoyed our Queen's Day very much. :-)

The terraces were like this...

From Koninginnedag 2011

People were singing 70's hits like ABBA and others.

From Koninginnedag 2011

These ladies were singing "Le Freak ". Suddenly, I remembered my childhood...;-)

Meanwhile, Queen Beatrix was, as usual, visiting two places of the kingdom. This year, she went to Weert and Thorn, in Limburg.
I think this is a very good way to promote the tourism in the country, specially the less known towns and cities. I never heard about the Planetarium in Franeker (Friesland) until the Queen was there in 2008.

This is the promotion film about Thorn and Weert.You will be able to see the typical Thorn white houses and the Weert horses, as well as the traditional clothes and the monuments of both places.

Queen's Day is celebrated on the 30th April, Queen Juliana's birthday (1909), as a choice of Her Majesty, Queen Beatrix, not only as a tribute to the former Queen, but also because the weather is better this time of the year.

Have a nice week! Stay well! :-)