Sleeping Beauty - Once Upon A Dream (Dutch)

@Final Touch pool and snooker bar

amsterdam

 leidseplein

Gouda by Candlelight

Welcome to the beautiful, 15th century Gothic village of Gouda.

I would guess most of you have heard the name Gouda before, and yes, this is the village where Gouda cheese is made. But us Americans pronounce it totally wrong. Intstead of "goo-daa", it is "kh-oww-dha", with that lovely, aggravating Dutch 'G'. 

Stole this from Dutched Pinay! Sorry!

The centrum of town has an amazing building in it, that even G said was particularly beautiful, even by Dutch standards.

But what could make a lovely little Gothic village even more beautiful?

Seeing it all lit up by only candle light!

(I am sorry my photos are not that great, so I will supplement with photos by other people as well as my own.) 

G and I arrived, asked for directions, and were greeted by lovely blue glowing water lanterns in the first canal we come to. 

In the entrance to the bank, there were carolers, singing English carols!

As we went along the street, a heavenly smell caught our noses. Stroopwaffels! Now, this is the first time I have had one, and once again the Dutch outdo themselves with pastries.

two fisting pastries

They were fresh and still warm, caramelized sugar syrup spread thickly between two waffle wafers (like waffle cones but flat). Really yummy.

A quick shot of the Calliope so you can imagine the sounds too!

We wandered around the darkened square, lots of contained fire, heaters, people sitting on the cafe terraces with blankets on and random women with candelabras on their heads. There were also people that had decorated themselves with lit Christmas lights. 

We found a terrace with fairy lights and a fire bowl, and had erweten(pea) soup  and an Unox Broodje. And Gluhwein! Another delicious and warm Sangria type beverage. That warmed us up good for a while!

We headed back to the main square, and the mayor started reading the Christmas story, followed by the choirs singing. As they were performing, every window in town began to be lit up with candelabras by the residents. Many faces lit by candles peered down at the large, festive crowd. 

When I say every window, I mean every window, including 1500 candles in the gorgeous building in the center of the square. 

Some of the crowd joined in the caroling, including yours truly and G. Some of them were in English, but many were traditional carol tunes with Dutch words. I just went along and sang in English, and I don't think anyone minded. 

The caroling and story reading went on for quite a while, and just when poor G's feet were frozen to the stone bricks, it was time for the count down. 

As we walked back to the car through the narrow, brick streets, people were singing, the Salvation Army Band was playing, the calliope was still banging and piping, and people with trays were offering fresh cut Gouda cheese on platters. It was a gorgeous, Christmas-y, romantic evening. What a beautiful experience. 

Sinterklaas (and Santa) as analyzed by David Sedaris

Dusseldorf

Well, Sinterklaas is gone for the season, and Kerstdagen Season is here! Last weekend we went to Dusseldorf to see a dear friend of mine, and visit the Christmas Market. To be honest, we didn't see much of the Market, as we were too busy drinking and eating.

Fire! This is feuerzangenbowle. It involves hot red wine in those big copper kettles, spiced with cinammon, lemon zest, and oranges. Above, in those barrels is heavily spiced rum. And then in the middle, is a packed sugar cone resting on a little bridge above the simmering wine. 

This is hard to see, but workers tap the rum and put it into a long handled cup. This is then poured on top of the sugar, which is then set alight. The sugar caramelizes and melts, and runs down into the wine, sweetening the whole thing, and warming the room too. It was served in little clay cups, to let you warm your hands as you hold it. The drink was great, but not half as much fun as the ritual of making it!

Thanks Flicker Photographer!

Then to the Dusseldorf Original, Killipitsch. Some of you reading may have been subjected to a Killipitsch tasting when I was responsible for alcohol at parties or events. I almost always brought it. It is a dark and heady liquor, or spirit or whatever. Burns so good doing down though. I happen to really like it, but it seems to come into it's own on a semi-cold night in Germany of course. We were without cups, but luckily, one of our group was incredibly resourceful and found gaudy Christmas mugs at a local store, so we were golden!

Next was a four hour dinner at a tiny four table fish place. It is helmed by an Indian chef, who studied in France, in Dusseldorf. How appropriate for our rather international group. The dinner was a amazing: lobster soup, scallops in a sweet sauce with grilled chicory salad, and a super creamy/lemony dessert. It was top notch, and helped to soak up some of that wine and Killipitsch. 

Last was a party at a club, with a crowd that was undoubtedly a fire hazard. I wish I had taken photos of the beefy male waiters that managed to squeeze their way through this packed house carrying two full trays of oude bier high above their heads, and not spill a drop. I think we had at least six rounds of beer, and possibly more, listening to a cover band of old dudes. It really was fun and smoky and loud. And lots of crowd watching. 

It was a really fun night, and lots of sights to see, and fun, interesting people who liked to laugh. I was super super happy to see my dear long time friend and I can't wait to see her again in Zurich. 

Sinterklaasfeest!

Now that the spirit of Christmas is in the air, and Santa Claus and his elves are showing up everywhere, one might wonder about the holidays celebrated in the Netherlands. 

Well, you just opened a door to a strange little mythology that is ancient, preposterous, and maybe slightly offensive to some, but no more strange than a man living at the North Pole, with flying reindeer and midgets. 

Sinterklaas is based on St. Nicolas, a patron saint of children, and sailors. He was a bishop in Greek controlled Turkey, and was known for a number of miracles, including resurrecting children killed by an evil butcher, and ending the storm that threatened the pilgrimage ship he was on. His most famous story is one of him donating gold to a poor man with no dowry for his many daughters (who would have been sold into slavery if they could not find husbands). He did this by throwing sacks of gold through the window of the poor family's home, and the gold landed in the shoes and stockings by the fire. (Sound familiar?)

St. Nicolas' feast day is December 6th, but Sinterklaasfeest is celebrated the evening before. 

The mythology in the Netherlands is a little different than the traditional saint story. At some point St. Nicolas moved to Spain, and it is from there that he travels to the Netherlands on a Sunday in Mid-November. 

On November 14th, Sinterklaas arrived in Purmerend, and every other city in Holland

Sinterklaas arriving in Purmerend

He arrives by steam ship(remember his connection to sailors?), from Spain. 

And waves at all the kids waiting at the canal side, many of whom are dressed up for the occasion, and are yelling his name. 

Sinterklaas doesn't have a sleigh or reindeer. Once he gets off the steam ship, he gets onto his grey dapple or white horse, Amerigo. 

Dutch children put their shoes next to the fireplace, and put a carrot in them, and maybe some hay for Amerigo. 

On Sinterklaas Avond, the family gathers for snacks and singing of Sinterklaas songs. Suddenly there is a knock at the door! And there is Sinterklaas and his helper, carrying a sack of goodies! Or maybe, (if the parents don't want to hire a Sinterklaas-for-rent) just a knock at the door, a handful of cookies tossed in the door, and the sack of presents waiting outside. Boy that Sinterklaas is fast!

Now like Santa, Sinterklaas watches children and keeps track of naughty or nice children in his big book. There are no "Mall Sinterklaas'", the kids tell their parents or write a letter and give it to their parents, who will tell Sinterklaas themselves.

 But what are the repercussions for naughty children? This is where it gets interesting... and for that we have to discuss the sensitive subject of Sinterklass' helpers, called Zwarte Piets. 

Sinterklas arrives with many many Piets in tow. Some of them have roles, like Staff Piet, Navigator Piet, Sack Piet, Book Piet and Present Piet. There are marching bands of all Piets. There are Piets on rollerblades. There are Piets playing guitars. And most of them have sacks full of little cookies called Pepernoten, which taste a little like ginger snaps, and they pass these out to the kids. They act silly, do acrobatics, make all the kids smile and laugh, and generally act goofy. 

Zwarte Piet isn't just the jolly figure that he presents. Rather than just getting coal in your stocking if you are a naughty child, Zwarte Piet can come and beat you with a switch. Really! And if you are really really naughty, Zwarte Piet will stuff you into Sinterklaas' sack of gifts and take you back to Spain. 

This is an often repeated threat by Dutch parents to their kids: "If you don't behave, Zwarte Piet will take you to Spain!"

Now, Zwarte Piet wasn't always the innocent guy with his face black because of the soot from the chimney (yes, Piet is the one that delivers the presents down the chimney). He was originally Sinterklaas' slave. And stuffing naughty kids in the sack was a way to get more slaves for Sinterklaas. How awful! How did this beat down and evil slave become the festive chimney sweep that we see today? 

Zwarte Piet isn't just at the parades, he is in every Sinterklaas decoration, mural, or advertisement for gift shopping. In many places, I saw more of Zwarte Piet graphics than Sinterklaas ones. There is even a very very popular tv show starring a bunch of Zwarte Piets, including "Cool Piet Diego" and an Elvis Piet. 

Ok, no offence to any of my Duchie friends, but Zwarte Piet really shocked me. In the US, a white person dressing up in black face, with red lips, is so incredibly taboo. Worse than using the N-word. It hearkens back to the minstrel shows, and a time when black people were considered a lesser race. So you can understand my surprise.  

But after watching the shows, and seeing how the kids love Zwarte Piet, I know there isn't anything offensive behind it. Yes, Zwarte Piet may have an offensive background, but I don't think the sentiment of racism is still around. There were kids at the parade with dark skin, dressed up like Zwarte Piet and calling his name just as loudly. They even had black paint on their faces, because after all " Piet is black because he climbs down chimneys and gets soot all over him, not because he is a certain race" .  That is a bit of revisionist mythology I think, but it makes sense if they want to keep the tradition.

Now, I am not Dutch, but I am surprised that Zwarte Piet has maintained his look, despite all the immigration, expats, and general sensitivity about racism in western society.  For one of the most open and accepting cultures on the planet, I find it rather interesting that such a throw back to imperialist times is still so popular.

But it really is lots of fun. You dig through the "sac van cadeautjes"and pass them out one by one. There are hand written poems to tease your loved ones. You always get your first initial in chocolate. 

There are songs to sing and traditions to follow. And there aren't many long term traditions that don't have some kind of dark past (just look into Grimm's Fairy Tales and poems like Ring Around the Rosey). So I can't say that I can ever fully accept Zwarte Piet and his look, but I can accept that the kids love him, it is rather innocent, and maybe I am being too sensitive anyway. 

For my first Sinterklaas, we spent the evening at G's mother's home, who had prepared a sack of presents. All were nicely wrapped, and we spent a good hour opening gifts, and reading poems written by his mom, and eating chocolate. Then, we went and got Chinese Take-away (how is it that every Chinese food restaurant looks the same, no matter what country you are in?). I got an A in chocolate, and said "dank u Sinterklaas" after every gift. Het was leuk!

Vrolijk Sinterklaasfeest!