Monday, May 01, 2006

Queens and labor

This past weekend was a long weekend. That was the most important for most people I think. Saturday was “Queen’s Day” in the Netherlands: lots of orange (the color of the royal house), lots of kids selling things at special markets, special concerts and a visit from the queen to a few chosen towns. Anybody visiting Amsterdam on this day would have been overwhelmed by the mass of people just having a good time. Usually this all happens on April 30, but since that fell on a Sunday this year (and everyone already has that ‘free’), they decided to move it to Saturday.

And Monday is May Day, or the Day of Work (or Labor Day as some of you might call it). In Belgium and Germany this is a holiday. Lots of red (it was originally a socialist holiday and celebration), special activities for ‘workers’ (but everyone can get in on the celebrations – even white collar workers) and closed shops that are usually open.

Since we work in Maastricht – a Dutch city surrounded by Belgium and Germany – the whole weekend is busy in the city. But tomorrow gets back to normal. Sean is already dreading the biology test tomorrow, but he’ll do just fine. Life goes on.

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