Queen Beatrix
Holland celebrates Koninginnedag today. Konininiwhat? Koninginnedag, which means "Queens Day", on which we celebrate our Queen Beatrix' birthday. It's not actually her birthday though, but her mom's, our former Queen Juliana. It gets more complicated with every sentence, doesn't it? Beatrix's birthday is in January, and with Holland's weather the way it is (rain rain rain!) that isn't a nice day for outdoor activities and festivities, so when Juliana died, we (don't ask me who this "we" is!) decided to keep Queensday on April 30th, like in the years before.
Orange Tompouce. Usually they are pink, but on Queens Day we have orange ones. They are delicious!
Holland celebrates Koninginnedag today. Konininiwhat? Koninginnedag, which means "Queens Day", on which we celebrate our Queen Beatrix' birthday. It's not actually her birthday though, but her mom's, our former Queen Juliana. It gets more complicated with every sentence, doesn't it? Beatrix's birthday is in January, and with Holland's weather the way it is (rain rain rain!) that isn't a nice day for outdoor activities and festivities, so when Juliana died, we (don't ask me who this "we" is!) decided to keep Queensday on April 30th, like in the years before.
Almost our entire population is dressed in Orange this day (as our royal families last name, Van Oranje, means "Of Orange"), we eat Orange "tompouce" (see picture above), and there are parties and fleamarkets all over the country. It's mainly kids selling their old toys, and stuff from their parents attics. I used to sell there too when I was younger, every year on Queens Day I got up long before dawn, and set out to the old village part of my city, to make sure I'd have a good spot for my wares.
One day when I was about 12, I sold all of my Barbie dolls, and the gorgeous Barbie doll house that my dad once made for me and my sister when we were little. Oh how I regret that now! I made enough money to buy my own TV that year though, one I still have and use, so I guess it was a good investment. (Despite the fact that my boyfriend claims the 7 inch screen on my Asus EEE laptop is bigger than the one on the TV!)
Aside from selling my beloved Barbie dolls, the fleamarket on Queens Day was also the first place I sold my handmade jewelry! Earrings mainly, but also hair clips if I remember correctly. We made a lot of them using this foamy type of rubber. It was very popular in those days, but I have no idea what it's called. We used to call it "Klippemaakspul" (Clip Making Stuff"), but that clearly wasn't the correct name for it ;)
Do you remember where you first started selling your craft? Was it forever ago, like with me, or was your current shop your first step to selling your creations? I would love to hear your stories!
Edit: It seems like this Queens Day wasn't such a happy one after all. This morning a car drove through the barriers (and the various rows of people in front of them!) in the city of Amersfoort, attempting to drive straight into the bus with the royal family. The driver lost control of the vehicle though, so he didn't hit the bus, but a monument instead. The members of the royal family are safe, but 4 or 5 people lost their lives in the accident. Festivities all over the country were cancelled after what happened.
You can see a video of the incident here, and one of the chaos afterwards here. I'm sorry for the heavy, serious and sadness this post turned out to be, but after posting about Queens Day, I could not ignore what happened here.
