Holiday in Greece (Jun 23 - Jul 4)

At the end of June Shannon had a Deloitte Conference in Athens, Greece, making it a good reason to extend the invitation to myself and thus create a vacation out of it! While Shannon attended his conference for a few days, I became acquainted with the ancient world of Athens. When his conference was finished, we ventured out to a few areas outside of Athens including Delphi and two popular Islands, Mykonos and Santorini (Sorry in advance for the long blog and photo shoot!)

We first visited The Temple of the Olympian Zeus which was a short walk from our hotel in Athens. Though only a few columns remain of the Temple of Olympia Zeus it does not take much imagination to realize that this was one monster of a building! Here are some facts: The building of the Temple of Olympian Zeus actually began in the 6th Century by Peisistratos but work was stopped either because of a lack of money or because Pisistratus's son, Hippias, was overthrown in 510 BC. The temple was not finished until the Emperor Hadrian completed in 131 AD, seven hundred years later. There were other attempts to continue the building. The Classical Greeks (487-379) left it unfinished because they believed it was too big and symbolized the arrogance of people who believed they were equal to the Gods. During the Third Century when the Macedonians ruled Athens work was begun again by Antiochus the IV of Syria who wanted to build the world's largest temple and hired the Roman architect Cossotius to complete the job, but this ended when Antiochus died. In 86 BC, during Roman rule the general Sulla took two columns from the unfinished temple to Rome for the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill which influenced the development of the Corinthian style in Rome. Originally there were 104 Corinthian columns of which only 15 remain standing. One of the columns actually blew down in a storm in 1852. Hadrian had erected a giant gold and ivory statue of Zeus inside the temple with an equally large one of himself next to it. Nothing remains of these statues. It is not known when the temple of Zeus was destroyed but it probably came down in an earthquake during the medieval period.

While we were in Athens we saw several sites with the most astonishing being The Acropolis. Here are some facts to help you understand the greatness of it. The term Acropolis means upper city and many of the city states of ancient Greece are built around an acropolis where the inhabitants can go as a place of refuge in times of invasion. It's for this reason that the most sacred buildings are usually on the acropolis which is normally the highest point of the city. The one in Athens is the best known of them all, and is therefore often referred to as "The Acropolis". Towering over the capital, it is quite an impressive sight. Walking around on its grounds, it gives the visitor a feeling of awe and a true sense of the greatness of the ancient Greeks. The Parthenon and other main buildings on the Acropolis were built by Pericles in the fifth century BC as a monument to the cultural and political achievements of the inhabitants of Athens. It took 9 years to build and was completed in 438 BC and is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. From a temple it became a church, a mosque and finally as a storage facility for Turkish gunpowder. Due to the bombing in 1687 by the Venetians, restoration has been going on for the last 30 years and may go on for another 30! The Erecthion sits on the most sacred site of the Acropolis where Poseidon and Athena had their contest over who would be the Patron of the city. Athena was declared the victor and the great city of Athens was named for her while Poseidon was given a small village in Syros. The building itself contains the porch of the maidens or Caryatids which are now copies, four of which have been placed in the Acropolis museum, hopefully to be reunited with a fifth taken from the Acropolis by Lord Elgin and put in the British Museum more than a century ago.

Below the Acropolis is the theater of Herod Atticus built by the Romans in 161 AD and still used today for concerts. Further on is the Theater of Dionysious the first stone theater and home to Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides and Aristophanes. It was rebuilt around 342 BC by Lykourgos and then enlarged by the Romans to be used for gladiator fights.

Another small temple known as the Thission can be seen from The Acropolis a short distance away. It was built in 449 BC and is virtually still intact. Supposedly named for Theseus because his exploits were shown on the frieze, it is now believed that it was actually a temple to Hephaestos and Athena. Unfortunately they realized their mistake too late and the entire neighborhood is called Thission. The temple was used as a Church.

We also visited Delphi, the site of the famous oracle. As we were riding the tour bus through the winding mountains to Delphi, we saw several olive trees growing wild on the hill slopes and in the valleys... I just wished they were ripe because I have turned to loving olives these days (hence the reason why we have an olive tree in our apartment)! Anyway, back to the facts... The Ancient Greeks believed Delphi was the center of the earth. Several pilgrims traveled here from 9th century BC to seek divine direction in matters of war, worship, love or business up until 391 AD, which is when the oracle ceased. The sanctuary site was rediscovered towards the end of the 17th century and at that time Archeologists began the excavation process. A theatre was revealed which was thought to have been built around the 4th century BC with a capacity of 5,000 people. It was thought to be associated with Dionysos, the god of ecstasy, the arts and wine, who ruled Delphi during the winter when the oracle was silent. A path leads up through cool pine groves to the stadium (5th century BC) which contains stone seats for 7,000 people. The Delphi site also contained several Treasury Houses, but only 1 or 2 have been restored. There is also a museum nearby which shows all the stone, bronze and gold statues that were once a part of the site.

Next we were off to some fun in the sun in the Islands of Mykonos and Santorini! They are both situated in the group of Islands called 'The Cyclades' off the coast of Greece. We were surprised with the lack of vegetation on the Islands since they were mostly rocky and contained low shrubs with a few palm trees and bamboo, but still very cool to see. Most of the buildings on the islands were white with blue shutters or rooftops along with churches with blue domes.

Mykonos is known for its maze of narrow streets, Little Venice, beaches, numerous windmills and least but not last, it's wild nightlife. We had fun hanging out at the beach under a palm leaf umbrella with our lounge chairs and some foo-foo drinks. It was extremely windy when we were at the beach, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the crystal clear and refreshing ocean water (minus the salt)! The only downside to the gleaming sun was Shannon's polka dotted sunburn (very painful so he says), which was the result of my failure to rub in the spray-on sunscreen I squirted him with.

After spending 2 nights in Mykonos, we left for Santorini (also known as 'Thira' during the BC era) for another 2 nights. We actually preferred Santorini since we thought it was even more beautiful than Mykonos. Santorini is essentially the remnants of a former volcano after it erupted in 1647 and 1628 BC. The island's heart sank below the sea leaving a crater (caldera) 10 km in diameter, giving the island its current crescent moon shape. It's quite amazing when you first enter the island by the ferry since huge reddish-brown and black and grey cliffs rimmed with towns seem to rise up and clamp around you giving one an awesome view. Santorini still has an active volcano at the center of the caldera; people can take a ferry to see it. There are even hotspots where visitors can go for a swim. We also did some touring of the cute little towns of Fira and Oia along with visiting the black sand/rock beaches. Furthermore, we visited the remains of the Minoan civilization from 3000 BC which was mostly wiped out by the volcano mentioned above. We also tried some wine from Santorini since it is considered one of Greece's most important producers. Santorini is supposed to have amazing sunsets, so we made sure to take in one of those as well, but I still think Nebraska's are pretty dam good!

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Hadrian's Arch - infront of Zeus's Temple

Temple of Zeus (grounds) - more photos later since we saw it twice

Athen's Parliament: Changing of the Guards

Athens is Flea Market Heaven!

On a small mountain top near The Acropolis overlooking Athens

The Parthenon (located on the site of 'The Acropolis')

Old Byzantine Church (I think)

Tower of the Winds

Another Byzantine Church

My friend, Kassi, from Athens who I met Studying Abroad in England in 2001 (we met up one night and had a fabulous Greek dinner!)

Temple of Apollo at Ancient Delphi

Temple of Apollo with the mountanious surroundings

4th Century BC Theatre

5th Century BC Stadium

Overview of Theatre and other ruins of Delphi

Temple of Apollo up close

Treasury House at the site of Ancient Delphi

Delphi ruins - site of the famous oracle

Look at all those yummy olive trees!

Where we ate lunch after touring Delphi's ruins

National Libray (Back in Athens)

University of Athens

University of Athens

Academy of Athens

Academy of Athens - check out the ornate stone statues

Off to the Greek Islands! Our boat ride to Mykonos took around 5 hrs

Blue domed church on the coast of Athens

Pyros (our boat made a quick stop at this island before heading to Mykonos)

Pyros

Pyros

Mykonos

Mykonos (notice all the white houses with blue shutters - classic Greece)

Mykonos - overlooking bay

Classic Mykonos windmill

Maze of village pathways lined with shops, hotels and restaurants

Waterfront called 'Little Venice' in Mykonos

Mykonos is known for its old windmills

White, snow-capped looking church

Mykonos with windmills in background

Another white chalk-like church
This time a little variety, RED doors vs BLUE!
Infront of Mykonos's famous windmills
Shannon being creative, trying to capture Little Venice one more time!
See I told you it was windy on this Island!
More windmills
Row of windmills
Having a tropical drink at a bar in Little Venice
Our hotel in Mykonos (notice the rocky terrain of the Island, not what I expected)
Mykonos Beach (a few nudists out there!)
Our fast speed boat which transported us to Santorini
Santorini
Santorini - notice how it's in the shape of a crescent moon due to the massive caldera (crater) which occurred after a volcano erupted here several thousands of years ago
Santorini - walking along the rim of the caldera where most of its towns are located

Just another shot of the cliff
Santorini
Long ways down there!
Black pebble beaches of Santorini
Sun umbrellas made out of palm tree leaves were everywhere, same with Mykonos (we dropped by early in the morning; hence no one was there)

Hiking up the mountain to the ruins of Ancient Thira where the Minoan Civilization once thrived (Santorini)
Ruins of Anicent Thira
In case you can't make the long haul back down!
Old carvings in the rocks (lion and bird)
More ruins
Top of the mountain where Ancient Thira once existed
More ruins

Beautiful white church - back in the town of Fira in Santorini

View of the town of Fira (taken on our long walk along the ridge)

Church bells

The island in the back is actually the center of the caldera (crater) where people can still see signs of an active volcano, tourists swim in hotspots surrounding the small island

Rim of Caldera with huge cliffs

Shannon with the caldera view

Shannon's artistic side!

Notice all the red crosses

Walkway down the cliff

Oia - another town in Santorini

More blue roofed churches

Typical blue and white church and surroundings

On our walk through Oia

Shannon's artistic side again!

Another blue-domed church in Oia

Classic blue-domed church in Oia

Overlooking the Mediteranean

Olive Trees grow everywhere in Greece...they love the rocky soil (the rest of the photos were taken back in Athens)

Trying to find some ripe ones! (no luck though as we were too early in the season)

'Panathinaiko' Olympic Stadium from the 1st Modern Olympics in Athens during the Summer of 1896

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Two columns from Zeus's Temple, Hadrian's Arch (right) and The Acropolis (between pillars) in the background

One of the columns collapsed in 1852

Standing on the site of Zeus's Temple with The Acropolis in the background

The Parthenon (on The Acropolis), is currently being renovated

The Parthenon

At The Acropolis with The Parthenon in the background

Theater of Herod Atticus - slightly below The Acropolis and still used for conerts occasionally

Theater of Dionysious - next to The Acropolis (the first stone theater)

The Erecthion sits on the most sacred site of the Acropolis where Poseidon and Athena had their contest over who would be the Patron of the city. Athena was declared the victor and the great city of Athens was named for her.

Columns from The Erecthion building

The Erecthion structure contains a porch of 5 maidens or Caryatids which are actually copies (four of which have been placed in the Acropolis museum, hopefully to be reunited with a fifth taken from the Acropolis by Lord Elgin and put in the British Museum more than a century ago).

The view from The Acropolis of The Temple of Zeus

Another small temple known as the Thission can be seen from The Acropolis (it's actually in better shape than The Parthenon)

Thission Temple

Back to the "Good Life" aka Nebraska (May 22 - Jun 9)

As most of you know I went back home at the end of May (Shannon had to stay and work). I wouldn't say I was homesick, but there were a lot of things going on back home which I wanted to be a part of. I was also excited to see family and friends and bring them a taste of Belgium goods, like chocolate and beer and even stroopwafels from Holland whom my sister-in-law, Kathy, loves which I didn't even know! I guess she got hooked on them while she was working at her old job in Austin where they would send people over to Holland for work and they would bring back tons of stroopwafels. Luckily, she will periodically still get them since Holland (aka The Netherlands) is so close to Belgium.

The most important reason I decided to go home was my grandfather's health. As many of you knew, he was diagnosed with liver cancer in March. I was fortunate enough to see him before he turned for the worse. He passed away on May 30 at the Harvard Nursing Home. He was a wonderful grandfather whom I have several memories of golfing, playing games, watching sports, farming and all the fun holiday family gatherings at his house. He was a very generous and kind-hearted man who I dearly miss, but I know that the Lord is taking care of him now.

On a happier note, my cousin, Ashley, got married over Memorial weekend in Des Moines and I was lucky enough to attend her and Brian's special day. Everything looked so beautiful and I was happy to be around family that I hadn't seen in a long time. My nephew, Garrett, was the Ringbear and he was as cute as ever...he even managed to bow with the flower girl at the altar like all the bridesmaids and groomsmen. I think Shannon and my wedding paid off as practice!

Also while I was home, one of my good friends, Missy, had a BBQ which a lot of my friends attended. She called it a Tea Party Nebraska style with beer replacing the tea and hamburgers the crumpets...basically making fun of my occasional tea parties over here! The food and company were great and we even were able to play some yard games, bean bag throw and yard golf. It was nice catching up with everyone and made me realize how fortunate I am to have such good friends!

I also made a stop at Nelnet to visit my former coworkers and drop off a box of Belgium Neuhaus Chocolates, which I heard were a hit! It was fun to see everyone since I truly do miss the people. It also made me miss my old job, but then I remembered it's not too bad having my life at the moment! I'm applying for jobs occasionally, but still no luck. Recently Shannon's partner at Deloitte sent an email about a business that helps spouses of expats try to find employment, so I will be looking into it.

I traveled out west to Shannon's parents in Bertrand to say hello one day and by the end of the night ended up taking cover in his parents' basement because of all the tornado warnings (I don't miss having those around!) Shannon's grandma, Mildred, had a girls get together, so besides Shannon's mom, Lynda, I was able to see his Aunt Trudy and cousin Jill and her new baby, Shali. It was fun sharing some European experiences along with catching up with all of them. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see much of Lonnie, Amy and the kids since they were all sick. They stopped by Terry and Lynda's while I was there for a quick hello.

Since I haven't played much golf here, I made sure to get my fill of it while I was back home. I think I played around 5 times. Garrett even came out with my dad and me once! Thankfully, I haven't lost my touch yet! I played mostly bogey golf which I was happy with considering I wasn't even using my own clubs. Though, I really did like Kathy's clubs; mom's, not so much (please someone buy her some new clubs!) I played mostly at Crooked Creek in Clay Center, but made it up to Lincoln one time to play at Wilderness Ridge with Evan since he's working there for the Summer. On a side note, I got a stinking speeding ticket with my parent's car on the way to the golf course! However, ask Evan about his which happened the same day!

I also supervised some fishing back at the Fisher Pond! One evening, my cousins, Jake and Jacey along with Evan, Garrett and I did a little fishing while the rest of the family hung out around a fire pit up by the house. Not sure how many we ended up catching. Not this evening, but another time while I was back, I actually caught one which I called a whale since it took me forever to reel in!

Cousins: Courtney, Ashley and me at Ash & Brian's Rehearsal in Des Moines

Ashley & Brian exiting the church
My stunning nephew, the Ringbear!

Clay, Kathy, Emma and Garrett

Cousins: Christina, Jake, me, Evan & Jacey at Ash's wedding

Missy's BBQ with cute little Camryn

The gang at the BBQ: Missy, Tarah, me, Gina, Emily, Charity and Elizabeth

Shannon's parents putting our old couch to good use! (when they aren't working!)

Shannon's grandma and cousin with her new baby

Cousins along with Evan and Garrett fishing at my parents

Garrett and me golfing

My parents and me golfing

Garrett's favorite place, the Park, which I took him one day

Our Apartment in Brussels

Finally I've decided it's time to show you pictures of where we live! I took pictures of most of the rooms except our bathroom/toilet room, extra bedroom and tiny office area. I've also included photos of our apartment's surroundings. Our apartment is very small compared to American standards, but we're getting along just fine! The toilet room (yes, it is in a separate room than our bathroom) could be a bit larger as your knees tend to hit the wall while sitting, especially if you're a tall person. We had some friends here in May and they took a picture of that room because they thought it was so funny...we've learned to sit at an angle!

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Just the other day, we went to Midi Market (huge Sunday Market with everything you can imagine) and bought some additional plants to make our apartment more lively. We purchased a few flowers to put in a planter outside our middle window. We also ended up with an olive tree and some beautiful purple and white orchids. Maybe I won't have to buy olives at the market anymore if our tree does well! It's a little over 5 ft tall...we couldn't have anything too large because it's in our living room (we unfortunately don't have a lawn/garden area). It was either an olive tree or a grapevine, we couldn't carry both! You can see that we miss our yard in Lincoln.

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Since our apartment didn't come with any light fixtures or blinds (very normal), Shannon had to

put those all up when we moved in. Gradually we've been buying light fixtures as they are quite expensive...we've become accustomed to light bulbs hanging by wires here and there! Shannon may also add some cupboards to the kitchen so our pantry can be moved from the dining room cupboard. You will notice in the kitchen there is no dishwasher; hence my hands are in suds every day, well I guess I do have the time! Also in the bathroom we have a washer, but no dryer since they are not energy efficient, thus I air dry about everything.

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Overall, we love the location and have grown to like our apartment more and more as we are almost done furnishing it. I especially enjoy the large bay windows both in our living room and our bedroom. Our living room windows overlook a nice green space with ponds and our bedroom faces some cute old buildings; although, a tram does run by us, so occasionally I put some ear plugs in, but I'm getting use to it. There is also a forest near our house that we occasionally go biking in since it has several nice paths and some additional ponds. We also have some restaurants, pubs, grocery stores, clothing shops and other stores within a 5 - 15 minute walk.

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Our Apartment Complex (bay windows 2nd floor) - Brussels (Ixelles Commune)

Living Room (overlooks ponds)
Dining Room
Our bedroom
Tiny kitchen...oh well, it's not forever!
Our neighbors down the street also facing the ponds (a bit nicer than our place!)
The Ponds outside our Apartment Complex (Christina and me) The Ponds by our Apartment

The Ardennes (May 10 - 11)

Since Shannon and I both like to camp, we decided to take a mini adventure to the Ardennes which is located in the southeast region of Belgium (mostly French speaking). The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests and rolling hill country, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France. The region is typified by steep-sided valleys carved by fast-flowing rivers, such as the Meuse and the Ourthe. Most people associate the Ardennes with the Battle of the Bulge which took place here at the end of World War II and the Battle of the Ardennes which took place in World War I. Many of the towns of the region were badly damaged during the two world wars.

We began our trip by going to Dinant which is an old city dating back to the 11th Century. Two of the city's fascinating landmarks are the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame and the Citadel (fortress) on the cliff. Instead of taking the cable car up to the Citadel, I made Shannon walk the 408 steps up the cliff with me! Then we took the short tour through the Citadel which consists of a museum of armaments, several dioramas, a collapsed shelter cave, and a beautiful view of the Meuse River Valley and the city below. Dinant is also the birthplace of Adolphe Sax; hence the picture of Shannon with a saxophone below. The 'Leffe Abbey' is also located here which is where they initially began brewing Leffe beer, but eventually they decided to join a commercial brewery, so only a Leffe Museum remains. We even tried the famous Dinant ginger biscuits called the "Couques de Dinant" which are shaped in all kinds of molds, ours being a lion biscuit. I don't recommend it; I almost cracked a tooth gnawing on it because it appeared to be as hard as a dog biscuit without much flavor (note, this is one biscuit/cookie I will not eat and as most people know I eat most kinds of cookies!)

The next town we went to was called La Roche-en-Ardenne and was also the area where we camped. We borrowed one of Shannon's coworker's tents, sleeping bags and sleeping pads and roughed it out in the wilderness of the Ardennes. We pitched our tent with some trailer homes near a river where there were also a few campers. We didn't realize it was a permanent trailer park until we had walked around the area; it was quite funny to see some hill billy French people because I didn't picture them living in these surroundings. The next day we kayaked down the Ourthe River which flows through La Roch-en-Ardenne. Thankfully, we didn't take a spill, but saw a few youngsters purposely flip their kayak by standing in it rocking it back and forth; not sure why they would want to do this because the water was freezing this time of year! After kayaking we visited the ruins of The Feudal Castle built between the 11th and 14 centuries. It is currently being renovated since it was buried under 3,000 sq meters of dirt by the French to protect the vaulted artillery emplacements. This town is rich with war history, so we also went to a war museum which Shannon was quite thrilled about. The museum consists of mannequins of American, English, German and even Scottish soldiers with their equipment and armament, uniforms, light and heavy arms, photographic documents, personal objects, equipment found on the battlefield and military vehicles.

We will probably go camping again since I brought back our tent while I was home in the States in May. Camping is an inexpensive way to see some of the countryside in the Ardennes, so I'm sure we'll be back to visit other towns in that region along with military shows, my husband informs me!

Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame sitting below the Citadel on the cliff - Dinant

Top of Citadel (Meuse River below - Dinant)

Trying to play the sax (home of Adolphe Sax - Dinant)

Kayaking down the Ourthe River

Town of La Roche-en-Ardenne with The Feudal Castle in background

Shannon all giddy with the war equipment/vehicles everywhere in this region

Alsace, France (May 1 - 4)

Since there are so many holidays in May in Europe, Shannon and I decided to take a little trip to the eastern border of France to a region known as Alsace for a few days. This area is a major white wine producing region which enticed Shannon and me to find out more about it since we both enjoy fine wine! A few of Shannon's coworkers have been to this area and really enjoyed it as we did as well.

Since Alsace is on the eastern side of France, it borders Germany and actually was formerly occupied by it; thus, the villages resemble German architecture. Most of the streets are full of colorful half-timbered houses and quant cafes and shops. Some of the villages we visited also had castles either in their towns or on hills nearby, which we were able to hike up to. One of the castles we visited, Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg, dated back to the 12 century and had been restored quite spectacular. Each of the rooms was furnished to show what it was like in the olden days.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast also known as a "Chambre d'hote," in a cute town called Colmar in the Haut-Rhin Region of Alsace. Every morning we were served fresh croissants, French bread and other kinds of breads with jellies along with tea and orange juice. Since it was a holiday weekend there were several travelers in Colmar and the other towns we visited. Other towns we visited included Obernai, Ribeauville, Hunawihr, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim which were all basically within 20 km of each other (no more miles, only km's here!). The Vosges and Ballons are small mountain ranges near these villages where we were able to do some hiking up to old castle ruins.

We also visited 4 wineries and ended up bringing back around 2 - 3 cases of wine...like I said, we enjoy our wine! As you can see from one of the photos below, the hillsides were covered with grapevines; though, not the prettiest this time of year since they hadn't put any leaves on yet. Basically, all you saw were grapevine stalks everywhere, but I can imagine it would be quite beautiful during the Summer and Harvest time...more reason for us to go back! This region is mostly known for its Rieslings (my favorite), Pinot Gris and Gewürstraminers. The Rieslings in this region are much dryer than what most Americans think of Rieslings because they are thinking of German produced ones which are actually much sweeter than Alsace Rieslings. We even found a winery that included our name, 'Meyer Jean-Luc' (Eguisheim), which thankfully had good wine! Two other wineries we liked were called Paul Zinck (Eguisheim) and Sipp Mack (Hunawihr). We enjoyed good conversation with some French customers that were at Sipp Mack; though it was very slow paced because they insisted that we try to speak some French...it was good practice for me, though I'm still in the beginning stages. Luckily, one guy wanted to practice his English, which his wife said he needed to do, so Shannon wasn't left out! He plans to start French classes once things slow down at Deloitte.

In Colmar by canal with half-timbered houses

More Half-timbered houses - all villages look similar

Patio dining area in Colmar within the shops / canals
Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg
Grapevines with Castle above

Castle ruins near Ribeauville

More Castle ruins near Ribeauville

Winery we visited - Paul Zinck

Queens Day - Amsterdam (Apr 30)

Some background on Queen's Day: Queen's Day is a national holiday in the Netherlands on 30 April. It basically celebrates the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands and is supposed to be a day of national unity. The tradition started on 31 August 1885 on the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina. Since 1949, after the ascension of Queen Juliana, Queen's Day is Queen Juliana's birthday on 30 April; regardless of the current Queen's actual Birthday. Furthermore, Queen's Day is known for its "fleemarket / garage sales" all over the country, where everybody is allowed to sell things in the streets. There are a wide range of activities that go on throughout the day like, children's games, musical performances and music concerts. During the celebrations as reference to the colors of the House of Orange-Nassau, people dress in the color orange which is sometimes called "orange craze". Also the night before Queen's Day is celebrated too in some cities and is called Queen's Night.

Since one of Shannon's coworkers wanted to go up to Amsterdam to see what this celebration was all about, I decided to join him; unfortunately Shannon had to work. First, we began by checking out some of the garage sales which were on almost every street. We didn't buy anything; though, at the end of the day, one lady just started giving away things free, so I grabbed a brown pitcher that I could put flowers in. We also stopped by the Heineken Brewery for a quick photo. Later on we went through Vondelpark where we saw a variety of things, such as kids/adults selling 'compliments', kids singing, kids hosting games they created, martial arts choreography and many other unique things. For the most part, I felt that Queen's Day was basically a huge party with everyone dressed up in orange shirts or costumes. There were DJs playing mostly techno music on every main square with people dancing. There were also live concerts with local artists from the Netherlands, I believe. The canals were jammed pack of people on their boats...dancing and drinking away. Like I stated in an earlier blog, Amsterdam is a city of its own and might I add, full of people who like to have a good time and are extremely laid back!

Canals full of party boats

Everyone wears orange (not Shannon and I, maybe next yr!)

Brewed in Amsterdam