30 April ’04, Friday. Happy Birthday Queen Beatrix !!!! Well, we were there and so was the whole country of the Netherlands. We caught a shuttle bus up the street that took us right into town and smack-dab in the middle of the whole nation in celebration. The City was all decked out in ORANJE !!!!! Oranje, oranje, and still more. As you know, the Queen descends from the “House Of Oranje”. It was beyond our imagination (otherwise we would have STAYED HOME !!!). I would imagine this was what you would find in New York City for their New Year’s celebration. Solid shoulder to shoulder, butt to butt, chest to chest and everyone suffocating and looking for air….. Quite a kick for a while (actually a short while). We wanted out and there were those that still wanted in. We tried to tell them what they were getting into but they didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Dutch so it was a push and squeeze 20-30 minutes until we broke back out for good. Now we will take some credit for being dumb but this was our first time to see the Queen…. We did make it out and we did find a place to sit down for a while and we did have a lot of fun listening to all kinds of bands on just about every corner and we did some shopping and we did find the bus for our return so in retrospect a great time was had !!!! Just after we left the bus we found another happening just outside of the campgrounds. They were having Harness Racing. Well neither Louise or I had had this opportunity before so we got in on “Senior Passes” ($4 EU ea.), bought a couple of beers and sat on the grass, leaning on the fence (race track side) and watched the races….. GREAT FUN was had !!!! This was like having the race track right in your own back yard. For a fact you wouldn’t be allowed to get on that side of the fence in the States. Birthday Celebration still going on (we can hear the pop bands all this way), races over and hamburgers from the barbecue done…. Tomorrow….?