I started off my first Queen’s Day in the same way I set out on Queen’s Night, with no expectations or plans. I’d researched the holiday on the internet, talked with my Dutch RA about what would be happening, and ended up with only vague conceptions of what to expect. So I put on an orange shirt (of course!) and set out. My friend characterized it as half yard sale, half party, and that’s pretty accurate, although I’d throw some carnival in that mix. There was music everywhere I went yesterday. I walked along Haarlemmerstraat on my way to Damrak, and was amazed by all the stuff around me. I walk along this street everyday, but it was totally different – tons of people, streamers and confetti all over the place, people selling household stuff and toys on the sidewalks next to food stands selling every kind of food imaginable. It’s a good thing that there were no trams, buses, or cars, and very few bicycles, because there is so much to look at that it’d be impossible to watch out for cars. I stopped along my way and bought an awesome bag for 5 Euro from some friendly Dutch. It came in purple (grape) and yellow (mango), but I decided that I could rock the orange. I normally stay away from orange, even though it’s one of my favorite colors, because it looks odd on me, but Queen’s Day convinced me I could pull it off. The bag is hand-made from recycled materials, so I can feel good while looking good!
The Jordaan area that I walked around seemed to be the same as Haarlemerstraat, but with less food. Then I went to Damrak, where the local yard-sale appearance was replaced with a carnival/street-seller appearance, with a long row of professional stands sold foods, bags, novelty t-shirts, and every orange thing they could find. There weren’t as many local people selling their unwanted stuff in the middle of Amsterdam, although one could still find them on side streets and on the bridges over the canals.
The canals! Now there’s a party. Bicyclemark blogged about the experience of being on a boat, and I’m quite jealous, even though I disliked boats in general. Every boat I saw seemed to be having quite a good time. There was music blasting from every other boat, and while the boats appeared to be moving incredibly slowly, no one much cared. The sides of the canals were lined with people partying in moored boats, and observers cheering on the sidewalks.
There was a lot of drinking going on, but everyone was well-behaved. I’m from Boston, where drunkenness can turn pretty rowdy pretty fast, but everyone seemed to be having a good time peacefully yesterday. Maybe that’s because all the beer was outrageously priced and no one could afford to get drunk.
I’ve been to Leidesplein three days in a row, and have watched it get progressively more insane. Queen’s Day was the height of crowdedness – people were literally squished shoulder-to-shoulder just trying to get into the square. It was an interesting experience simply because being in such physical proximity to strangers is usually socially inappropriate. To be stuck in a crowd in physical contact with a million people I didn’t know was novel and kind of fun. You end up talking to people just because you’re sharing this crazy experience. It was a battle to get to the Haagen-Dazs, though, but the sweet sweet reward made it worthwhile. My new giant bag was difficult to navigate through the crowds. Luckily, it prevented pick-pocketing (an otherwise easy feat in such a close crowd) because all my possessions were so far down in it.
Other observations: The line at every ATM was absolutely insane. This was a problem, since I had approximately no cash on me, but I managed to get by. And take Janelle’s advice and carry lots of change for the bathrooms. The nice thing about paying to use one is that they are generally clean. Watch out for the free-standing urinals—they leak. Also, there was bungee-jumping at Waterlooplein!
Overall, Queen’s Day was crazy but definitely fun. I was astonished at how dirty this beautiful city got over the course of Queen’s Night/Queen’s Day, but I’m sure Amsterdam’s skilled street cleaners will return the streets to their ordinary shining glory soon enough.