Let’s hear it for the queen

Just got back from a quick trip to Amsterdam to celebrate Queen’s Day, an annual day of revelry, commerce, and orange-wearing all over the Netherlands. On the evening before Queen’s Day, DJs and bands play on stages set up all over the city until late in the night. Then the next morning, folks get up super early to buy and sell a whole bunch of junk. Anyone is allowed to set up shop, and people reserve their selling spots (with tape or chalk) days in advance. The city looks like one big festive garage sale. The selling and the partying continue throughout the day.

Shunning sleep, my friends and I were on board for the late-night Queen’s Day Eve partying as well as the crack-of-dawn crap selling. Check out our fabulous stand:

We hawked stuff from 6 AM to about noon, with all items priced to move. Our stand was set up on a main route very close to my friends’ apartment. J provided us with fresh-made grilled cheese sandwiches and copious amounts of coffee to get us through the early hours. Overall our stand brought in well over 100 euros, but mostly we were in it for the fun. I contributed the decorated sleep masks, which made a cool 10 euros, as well as a particularly hideous wedding present (which will remain anonymous).

After we closed up shop, it was time to walk around and soak up some atmosphere. The whole city felt pretty crowded, although I hear it was much less so than last year. The canals were full of boats which were full of people wearing orange. I’m not sure why orange and Queen’s Day go together, but I’m guessing it’s the queen’s favorite color. Makes sense, no?

The weather was changeable, going from sunny to windy to cloudy to sprinkles for most of the day, ending with a gloriously dramatic sunset. The photos don’t begin to do it justice.