Week Thirteen

Cultural

Dressed to impress for Queen's day

What an exciting week I have had, I got to experience the last Koninginnedag (Queen’s day) What is this event well  Rodney Bolt ,2013 of the telegraph describes it the day well, ‘The day is celebrated with street parties all over the country, for example most cafes and many restaurants will set up on the pavement outside their doors. It is also celebrated with something quintessentially Dutch - a nationwide flea market.’ We decided to attend one of the street parties in Eindhoven, but to do that we needed to blend in, so off to the shops we went to find clothes and face paint and basically anything orange we could get our hands on. All dressed up and ready to go a large group of our Erasmus group who had not returned home for the two week break, boarded the train in high spirits. When we arrived it was amazing, there where people everywhere, I was lost in a sea of orange, it was quite like being back at home in Belfast in the summer when people decided to put on their fake tan. We spent the rest of the day listening to music, enjoying a few beverages of the alcoholic persuasion, dancing in the street and just having fun, it is one cultural experience I will never forget.

The week ended with myself and Eimear deceiving to visit Bruges, most people have seen the film starring the beautiful Colin Farrell who in a famous line states ‘Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.’ (Colin Farrell 2008) I wanted to see if the famous city would impress me.

It took us four hours by train with three changes, one in the station of Antwerp which is simply stunning, we met a teacher and her husband from Australia who were taking a bike tour of Europe, we helped each other find where our train was and talked a little bit about teaching in Australia which gave me food for thought about my future. When we arrived in Bruges we decided to go on a search for our hostel, without a map, we just wandered along the cobbled streets taking in the city. I have never been in a more beautiful place in my life, if you go anywhere in the world go to see Bruges, it’s a city that will transport you back in time, there was not one modern building in the centre and it is filled with history and culture. After mix up with the hostel we go ourselves settled and enjoyed Bruges by night, I would recommend doing this as most of the crowds of tourists have gone to bed and you have the city mostly to yourself. We discovered courtyards filled with greenery, canal boats hidden under bridges and a frog that if you are the 100,000 person to kiss will turn into a beautiful prince and carry your backpack around for the rest of your lives together, which sounds wonderful except when I kissed the thing it just stayed a frog, so my romantic dreams were shattered.

Kissing the frog

Our last day we saw Michelangelo’s Madonna, lollipops being made by hand, some of Picasso’s early sketches and bought some Belgium chocolates. The city certainly impressed me with its quaintness and sheer beauty. Although the cobbles actually destroy your feet (I don’t know how the locals can walk around in heels), it is defiantly worth a visit and I am glad that we took a weekend to explore it.

Telegraph 2013 can be found http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/netherlands/amsterdam/10020591/Amsterdam-how-to-celebrate-Queens-Day.html accessed on (07/05/13)