Webcam - Nijmegen

Never know when we might be "on" waving to you all :-)

http://www2.nijmegen.nl/bezoek/fotos_en_webcam/webcam_waalkade

Alli xxx

The "Queen" of all flea markets

It's almost that time of the year again when all enterprising Dutchies mark out their territory on the pavement (with either chalk or tape), and try to sell as much bric-a-brac (read: junk) as possible - yes, it's almost April 30 and that can mean only one thing, Koninginnedag (Queen's Day). For some reason this day is not really celebrated with pomp and ceremony, but rather with a sort of nationwide garage sale!

Just about every inch of the pavement in every city, town and village in the country is taken up with people squatting on rugs selling off mostly useless but strangely intriguing stuff. Koninginnedag is the one day of the year that anyone who is that way inclined is allowed to "set up shop" without a trading licence. A good thing it IS only for one day, as most of the "bargains" purchased on the day will either end up in the garbage by May 1, or be stashed away in an attic or garage to be sold again at next year's festivities!!

One could argue that selling junk is a rather curious way to celebrate Queen Beatrix's birthday, especially given that her birthday is actually in January! But being the good old sport that she is, the Queen decided in 1980 when she ascended to the throne that Koninginnedag would remain on April 30 to honour the birthday of her mother, Queen Juliana. I think it probably has more to do with the fact that the weather in January is not really all that conducive to outdoor festivities! Royal spotting is also an important element of the day, and each year the Queen and other royals make an official visit to one or more parts of the "realm" to meet and greet her subjects :-)) The closest she gets to us this year is Den Bosch (about a 20 minute train ride away). Here in Nijmegen we will just have to make do watching it all on television (the broadcast starts bright and early, and continues for most of the day) and with Oranjepop, a home grown outdoor music festival featuring 100% local artists. Here's hoping the fabulous sunny weather continues and I can take some photos of the orange tinted madness to give you a better idea.

Alli xxx

Hello Kitty's words of wisdom

A new princess is born

Yep, the House of Orange has a new member.

Princess Maxima (the wife of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander) gave birth to their third daughter late last night and ALL the newspapers are full of the news this morning, with speculation rife over what her name will be! hhmmmm....I'm betting on something starting with an A - seeing her sisters are called Amalia and Alexia.

She has already been out on "display" at the hospital this morning and people must be eating beschuit met muisjes (rusks with "mice") all over the country to celebrate. It is a Dutch tradition to eat these biscuits sprinkled with the little sugary, aniseed balls called muisjes when a baby is born - pink for girls and blue for boys (muisjes lit. translated means little mice 'cause they have little mouse-like tails!). However, when a member of the royal family is born apparently orange muisjes are sold!

Alli xxx

PS Yep, she has a name (13/04) and yep, it starts with an A!! Her full name is Ariane Wilhelmina Máxima Ines, but she will just be called Ariane amongst friends :-))

Spring colours in Nijmegen

It was such a nice sunny afternoon today that I went for a bit of a walk around our local neighbourhood to check out the flowering trees and bulbs in peoples' gardens :-) Jeroen must have picked up some kind of flu virus whilst in London and is not feeling very well, so I left him at home! On my wanderings I also came across a lovely collection of sculptures scattered throughout the various little green spaces. You can see a sample below.

We are pretty lucky that Nijmegen is quite a green "city" and most Dutchies are very proud of their little gardens, so at this time of the year there are plenty of things blooming and sprouting. Hope you like them!

Alli xxx

mmm...hot cross buns

Happy Easter everyone! Well for me it is a bit like Xmas - Jeroen got back home last night after spending a few days visiting our friend Ali in London :-D Needless to say I was VERY happy to see him again! It was a bit weird (and quiet!) being here "home alone" for the first time.

Anyway, it's Good Friday today and I have a week off school AND the sun is shining. We don't have anything special planned for the long weekend because it's straight back to work for Jeroen. But I must try to get to the supermarket asap to buy a paasbrood (Easter bread). It's the closest thing I can find to good old hot cross buns. It's kinda like one giant hot cross bun (without the cross), stuffed with almond marzipan filling, and covered with flaked almonds & icing sugar - yum!

Hope everyone has a lovely long weekend, and try not to eat too much chocolate :-)

Alli xxx