The biggest fleamarket on planet earth

So on Queen's Day Holland is basically one big flea market. I tried to take some of pictures of it on the day,  but it was pointless - photo's simply can't convey the vastness of it. Instead imagine this: streets and streets full of secondhand stuff, as far as the eye can see. It goes on for kilometers and kilometers. And this in every village, town and city in The Netherlands. It's unbelievable. It's heaven.

Like with charity shops you need to go to the more swanky areas to find the best deals, and in the case of Amsterdam this is the southern part of the city. Most of the sellers are just ordinary people: groups of friends or families who had a spring cleaning try to flog their surplus on the streets for bargain prices. But you'll come across all sorts of stuff and sellers. You'll get the occasional antiques trader with highly priced but quality stuff (I drooled over a snakeskin record case, but the guy wanted €50 for it. Alas...). Kids get creative trying to earn a few quick bucks by selling lemonade and homemade cupcakes, by having you play their games (having water balloons thrown at them was popular this year), or by giving a musical or dance performance. All very cute. There were stylists offering clothes, shoes and accessories, and even a famous writer (Abdelkader Benali) had set up a stall where he was selling books from his private collection. I was kind of gutted because the very first item I had picked up that day was his book Bruiloft aan Zee. Because I didn't feel like carrying it around all day  I left it. Who could have known I could have had this well-read copy signed by the author only an hour or two later!

For various practical reasons I couldn't buy as much as I'd liked to, but I am very pleased with the few items I got that day:

 ∧ embroidered cushion €0.50

 ∧ 1960s Danish or Finnish design fondue set €5

 ∧ €1! The heels were a bit battered but nothing a marker couldn't fix.

 ∧ bubblegum new wave from 1982 by The Go Go's on vinyl €0.50

Nothing rhymes with orange

For one day a year the entire country of The Netherlands turns orange. This is on April 30th, when we celebrate the queen's birthday. Because Van Oranje is the royal family's last name we all dress up in the most impossible color on planet earth. It's actually the late queen's mother's birthday that day, but as Queen Beatrix' Bday is in January they decided to stick with April because of the greater chances of good weather. And for some reason it is always beautiful weather on Koninginnedag (Queen's Day)!

∧ The food is orange.

 

∧ The only day you're allowed to wear orange Crocs!

Now I'm by no means a royalist, but I think Queen's Day is the best day of the year in Holland. Because we celebrate her royal highness' birthday by turning the country into one big flea market slash street party. It is the one day of the year that people are allowed to sell their junk on the street without a permit (garage are yard sales are non-existent in The Netherlands) and the Dutch do it en masse! It is a national holiday and everybody gets a day off. So everybody gets pissed the night before (Queens night). I love it.

For the last few years I hadn't been in the country on April 30th, so the time was high to go this year. I decided not to go wave to the Queen in my hometown Rhenen (where they honored her with - I kid you not - a contest toilet bowl throwing!); instead I opted for Amsterdam. Because that's where the party is really at. 

In the weeks leading up to the big day I had obsessively kept an eye on the weather forecast. Because when it rains all the festivities 'fall into the water', as we say in Holland. But as by the grace of God it was a gorgeous, hot, sunny day. It had been horrible weather on the days prior and the rain came again in the night, which proves in my opinion our queen is truly blessed!

Queens Night was great fun, watching my brother play with his band on Leidseplein till the wee hours (as we headed back home people were already setting up there stalls for the flea market!). On Queens Day we roamed the flea market for hours, slowly making our way from the posh area of Amsterdam South to the city centre. There we watched the boats on the canals, wandering from one street party to another, while sipping Heineken and having Dutch delicacies such as poffertjes (puffy mini pancakes with butter and icing sugar) and broodjes kroket (deep-fried meat ragout covered in breadcrumbs on a white bun). Best. day. ever.

∨ Bumber to bumber on the canals.

∨ Singing along to the Dutch tearjerking music in a showerhead attached to a scoot mobile.

The world should listen

Not long now! My pal Rutger, who nowadays carries the alias of Bart Constant, will release his long awaited new album Tell Yourself Whatever You Have To on January 13 (well PIAS will :-). Which is still a good four weeks... BUT until then you can stream the album from Dutch website VPRO 3voor12! By clicking here. You should. Everybody should, because it is absolutely brilliant. A masterpiece. Maybe you don't believe me and think I'm biased, but just have a look & listen at this award winning video and be converted.

Bart Constant - "Do Better" (with Dustin O'Halloran) from Kimmo on Vimeo.

January 6 Bart Constant will celebrate his release in gallery Meneer Malasch in Amsterdam. And if you're very lucky you can catch him live at the Noorderslag Festival in Groningen on Saturday January 14.