K-Day

Old Apr 27th, 2017, 03:22 PM
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K-Day

I've read that K-Day has been rather cool and quiet.Was anybody there with a reaction?
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 09:45 PM
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In Rotterdam we ventured out to Westerpaviljoen for coffee. Cold, no rain, did I mention cold? It was colder than it was at Christmas. People were sitting outside on rugs selling the contents of their attic. From what I saw on morning news programmes yesterday, Amsterdam was pretty subdued too.

The interview with WA on the 26th was a big thing (because he was "so human") and the Royal Visit on King's Day itself (Tilburg) was widely watched on TV.

And that was it. Next party: May 5th, liberation day. Let's hope for better weather.
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 11:58 PM
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Cold as menachem says. Sunny here.We didn't bother to go to the local celebrations, but then we rarely do.
Youngest son was in Tilburg - he went to uni there and still has friend there. He enjoyed it and said the atmosphere was good. He didn't see Wimlex, Max or the kids though.

Oldest son spent the day working on his new boat in Harlingen, but said it was gezellig druk there.

I am not sure Konings day raises the same enthusiasm amongst people here as Koninginnedag did, even though it is only three days earlier. You certainly see less orange stuff in the shops and less orange ads on TV. This year it is also part of the May holiday for school kids and lots of people have gone away for a week or two.

When we next get a queen it will be interesting to see what she does. Her birthday is 7 December, so right after Sinterklaas and a time of year that doesn't lend itself to outdoor events. It would be good if she chose her great-great grandmother's birthday for it and moved it the end of August. As it is we have tons of days off in April/May and then nothing until Christmas.
Menachem - most people don't get to celebrate 5th May. It isn't a general holiday.
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 12:41 AM
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The Guardian has some photos https://www.theguardian.com/world/ga...ay-in-pictures
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 04:16 AM
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Hetismij, I think you are right. Maybe because people are not yet as enthusiastic about the King as there were about Queen Beatrix?
My kids like going to Amsterdam, but if they have tickets for one of the events, not just to hang out in the city. There are more and more of these ticketed events, apparently - that will keep many people away from the city center celebrations.

An Amsterdammer I spoke to the other day said that people still go to Vondelpark with their kids. Young people go to the events. Out-of-towners and foreign tourists hang out on Leidseplein. And many local people take a break somewhere else.
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 08:32 AM
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@hetismij, my budding dj son is organising the liberation day festival in Rotterdam: those are pretty well attended.

@Tulips: WimLex's interview (with Wilfried de Jong, a generally "with it" guy, politically left of centre, sports minded, "alternative") was very well received. I expected it to be a run of the mill interview and it was hyped a good deal, but it was very good, touching even. There was general praise for him being so open and personable, a quality that is generally well regarded in Dutch culture.

For instance he remarked that he had learned the The Hague dialect from watching Van Kooten & De Bie. That's quite a fundamental nod to the national sensibility.

Here he is, crying over the death of his brother, Friso. It's towards the end of the fragment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WctZs22q5cI
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 10:03 AM
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I think WimLex's interview did him a lot of good.
I think people are still getting their heads around April 27th instead of 30th after it had been the 30th for so many years.

I don't expect to be around when it's Amalia's turn, but as I said I hope she chooses Wilhelmina's birthday to spread the days off our a bit. As a Brit it always seems incredible that there is a) no public holiday between Whitsun and Christmas, and b) there is no compensating day when a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday.

Enjoy May 5th Menachem. Just another day here.
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 10:55 AM
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Changing the date is really stupid. The kingy boy should sober up and go back to tradition,
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 11:10 AM
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spaarne, it's his birthday, which is what we are celebrating.

30th April was Juliana's birthday, which Beatrix kept as her actual birthday is in January. Juliana's mother, Wilhelmina had August 31st as Koninginnedag - her birthday.

If you understand Dutch, which I assume you do you should watch the interview with him.
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 11:14 AM
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@spaarne it's the 27th instead of the 30th. Lighten up. It was Beatrix who broke with tradition by celebrating Queen's day on her mother's birthday, instead of her own (January 31st). A wise choice, but unorthodox all the same. Having Amalia day on Wilhelmina's birthday would be really nice.

@hetismij: you could go live in Leiden (Leidens Ontzet, October 3rd) or Groningen (Gronings Ontzet, August 28th)

And also, now that we've left the identity - political minefield of King's Day behind (Leon de Winter tried to start a band wagon but it didn't work), we'll now be knee deep in heated discussions about May 4th, Remembrance Day.
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 10:09 PM
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I like Willem Alexander - and I'm a big fan of Maxima. It's just that they are they same generation. Friends of mine used to go out with him during his student days. They don't feel as 'regal' as Beatrix did. But they are doing a good job as King & Queen, I have a lot of respect for they way they deal with their public life.

Saw bits of the interview, very moving.

Did you see Maxima at the women's conference in Berlin? She's impressive. Unlike some of the attendees.
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Old Apr 29th, 2017, 01:17 AM
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I like WA too. We used to see him, and his brothers, in town when they were visiting their grandmother. I met her a couple of times in shops too, she even asked me what I thought of an English book once.
My boys, like many in the town made a sport of seeing how far they could get in the palace gardens before the Marachausee threw them out. Juliana loved the game and enjoyed meeting the kids on occasion. At least before she became to ill to do so. Very different to her daughter.
A friend's husband worked at both Soestdijk and Drakenstein, and preferred the atmosphere at Soestdijk. He was grateful though to keep his job and stay at Drakenstein many of his colleagues lost their jobs when Bernhard died.

Maxima has been very good for WA. A tough gig for her, but I think they had a chance to develop a good relationship together before it became public, and she is an intelligent woman with a life of her own which also helps. Can't help comparing her to Kate, the useless clothes horse, who set her cap at William and never seemed to find a life of her own, nor have much desire to do so.
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Old Apr 29th, 2017, 02:17 AM
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I like Maxima's focus on microfinance, especially for women. She is a special UN envoy on the subject. Knows what she's talking about too. And a good influence on WA.
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Old Apr 29th, 2017, 04:23 AM
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When WA studied history at Leiden University, I was in the Indology department, but attended lectures by Prof. Wesseling, who was his prof too. So we were in the same lecture rooms on a number of occasions. And he was in the same fraternity I was in (Minerva) although he arrived a few years after me and we weren't in the same debating clubs. He was relentlessly made fun of by his year club when he got acquainted to Maxima. I do recognise the Leiden sensibility and the Minerva style.
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Old May 1st, 2017, 11:02 PM
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>>And also, now that we've left the identity - political minefield of King's Day behind (Leon de Winter tried to start a band wagon but it didn't work), we'll now be knee deep in heated discussions about May 4th, Remembrance Day.
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Old May 2nd, 2017, 12:29 AM
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Sadly yes, that is true Menachem, but it is also true in so many countries now.
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