Traditions and Dam Square

on Sunday, Sinterklaas came to Amsterdam. and as Sinterklaas (and more importantly all the Zwarte Pieten) are a true Dutch tradition, there was no way i was going to miss out. well, once my 'family' started insisting that i go, i figured that whatever lack of enthusiasm i might originally have had wasn't worth the effort needed to convince them i wouldn't go.

when we got to Dam Square, there were tons of other families (ours was a bit bigger and older than most - it was usually one parent with one child - and we had about 6 kids and 12 adults). and we were greeted by familiar (at least to the Dutch) Sinterklaas songs with a predominantly techno beat. and i realized that i was glad i had come. after all, who would want to miss an event this big? (and miss the chance to dance a bit in the middle of Dam Square with friends?)

then off to find our place along the path where Sinterklaas and his parade would come. we bumped into quite a number of Zwarte Pieten - some climbing down from a building, others biking through the crowds. and even more came down the parade path, of different shapes and sizes and transportation. the best were those on rollerblades trying to avoid the rather large tram rails in the middle of the path (only one fell that we could see!). but the favourites were the Zwarte Pieten with bags - because they had candies (pepernoten) and we'd put out our hands and bags - and between all of us we me home with a pretty good stash.

Sinterklaas came (on his white horse), we hurrayed, begged the Zwarte Pieten for more candy, tried not to get wet from the 'typical Nederland rain,' and wandered back to Dam Square to catch the rest of the show. a bit more music, a cannon spitting out toys and food, watching the excitement of the kids, the rain finally stopping - and then it was over. and off we went back home for a warm cup of tea - and to eat what was left of our pepernoten.

it was fun to get to enjoy Sinterklaas with the family. all of the 'hoopla' would have been too much for me by myself but when it's shared - the dancing in the Square, envying the Zwarte Pieten coming down on ropes, helping the children get candies, laughing over the rain (and trying to fit 5 of us under my little umbrella), sharing the excitement of the children and so on - the sharing as part of a family is what makes the tradition even better.