22 April ’05, Friday.
Two days in a row…it’s amazing how good the sun makes you feel… It’s not summer, but it’s still really comfortable and your not getting wet !!! We’ve been hanging around camp, with the exception of a walk into town and breakfast and a look around IKEA. One of our purchases today was a vacuum cleaner. It has been one of those items we’ve thought about many times, so today we got it. It was a $40 Euro item, that was on sale for $9 Euros…that could have been the reason why today was the day… The internet café was next, but didn’t have on-line service this afternoon, so we went to the public library to check our mail. Thanks for the emails… Boy, the campground has a lot of campers still coming in. It gives us a chance to meet a lot of people from all over Europe. Yesterday we met a couple from Great Britain (never too many to meet), and today, one of the couples we met was from the Netherlands but now after traveling in the summer, winter in Portugal. They have their own yellow and white “Bumble Bee”, but about 6 years older. It still looks and runs like new. A few years ago, they shipped their van to Montreal and traveled Canada and western USA. We got an invitation to stop by their condo in Portugal this winter and we definitely look forward to it.
Well, Saturday has arrived. We were up, showered, had breakfast, and were headed out to the front gates of the campground to catch our bus to the annual Flower Parade. We had no idea when we signed up and paid our $8 Euros each, that we were signing up for a whole days events. This parade runs 40km or about 24 miles. We were bussed to Wassenaar (a very small Dutch village) and told that the parade would start in about 30 minutes (11am). As we arrived we were only one of many busses to arrive and settle into the streets to await this parade. It kind of reminded us of the 4th of July parades in Carnation, with the kids all dolled up, riding anything that has wheels, and everything fully decorated with (in this case) flowers… come parade time, we saw the typical motorcycle police start out and then followed with all the kids, and more kids, and more kids… it was a hoot !!! After they had all peddled, walked, or were carried, past, we expected more, but…nothing. That is, not for the next 15 minutes or more and then, the parade that we were expecting, finally reached our village. Now this was a great day for a parade and it was a great parade for this day as well. We saw it all, and it was worth every minute and dollar (Euro) we spent, and more. The cars, trucks, horses, buggy’s, trailers, all decorated with live flowers, peddles, stems, and more were absolutely beautiful. Of course there were the marching bands, twirlers, flaggers, and more to make it complete. You can sure understand why Holland is the “Flower Capital” of the world. Yep, we had a good time !!! By 1, we were back at the bus and were starting off for Scheveningen on the coast. This was a “free stop” for walking on the beach, shopping, eating, or just lazing around on the boardwalk in the sun. We were to be there for 2 hours, so it gave us plenty of time to do it all. By the way, the name “Scheveninggen” was used by the Netherlanders as a test to determine if a person was really Dutch or…possibly, German during WWII. If they could pronounce it correctly, they were Dutch…if not… Back on the bus again and additional tours through the streets of Den Haag to see the palace of the Queen, the Prince’s office, the Summer Home, and a lot more…not a bad $8 Euro value for the day…
Two days in a row…it’s amazing how good the sun makes you feel… It’s not summer, but it’s still really comfortable and your not getting wet !!! We’ve been hanging around camp, with the exception of a walk into town and breakfast and a look around IKEA. One of our purchases today was a vacuum cleaner. It has been one of those items we’ve thought about many times, so today we got it. It was a $40 Euro item, that was on sale for $9 Euros…that could have been the reason why today was the day… The internet café was next, but didn’t have on-line service this afternoon, so we went to the public library to check our mail. Thanks for the emails… Boy, the campground has a lot of campers still coming in. It gives us a chance to meet a lot of people from all over Europe. Yesterday we met a couple from Great Britain (never too many to meet), and today, one of the couples we met was from the Netherlands but now after traveling in the summer, winter in Portugal. They have their own yellow and white “Bumble Bee”, but about 6 years older. It still looks and runs like new. A few years ago, they shipped their van to Montreal and traveled Canada and western USA. We got an invitation to stop by their condo in Portugal this winter and we definitely look forward to it.
Well, Saturday has arrived. We were up, showered, had breakfast, and were headed out to the front gates of the campground to catch our bus to the annual Flower Parade. We had no idea when we signed up and paid our $8 Euros each, that we were signing up for a whole days events. This parade runs 40km or about 24 miles. We were bussed to Wassenaar (a very small Dutch village) and told that the parade would start in about 30 minutes (11am). As we arrived we were only one of many busses to arrive and settle into the streets to await this parade. It kind of reminded us of the 4th of July parades in Carnation, with the kids all dolled up, riding anything that has wheels, and everything fully decorated with (in this case) flowers… come parade time, we saw the typical motorcycle police start out and then followed with all the kids, and more kids, and more kids… it was a hoot !!! After they had all peddled, walked, or were carried, past, we expected more, but…nothing. That is, not for the next 15 minutes or more and then, the parade that we were expecting, finally reached our village. Now this was a great day for a parade and it was a great parade for this day as well. We saw it all, and it was worth every minute and dollar (Euro) we spent, and more. The cars, trucks, horses, buggy’s, trailers, all decorated with live flowers, peddles, stems, and more were absolutely beautiful. Of course there were the marching bands, twirlers, flaggers, and more to make it complete. You can sure understand why Holland is the “Flower Capital” of the world. Yep, we had a good time !!! By 1, we were back at the bus and were starting off for Scheveningen on the coast. This was a “free stop” for walking on the beach, shopping, eating, or just lazing around on the boardwalk in the sun. We were to be there for 2 hours, so it gave us plenty of time to do it all. By the way, the name “Scheveninggen” was used by the Netherlanders as a test to determine if a person was really Dutch or…possibly, German during WWII. If they could pronounce it correctly, they were Dutch…if not… Back on the bus again and additional tours through the streets of Den Haag to see the palace of the Queen, the Prince’s office, the Summer Home, and a lot more…not a bad $8 Euro value for the day…
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