GNO and Sinterklaas with Zwarte Pieten!

Friday night the American Women's Club of Amsterdam all met in Haarlem for a Girl's Night Out!  We all met at the Dodici, which is a nice wine bar in Haarlem at 2000hrs.

There were about 12 of us there. We ordered a few bottles of wine and stood at a table near the door, as the place was packed!  About 2 hours later we decided to walk over to another place to see if we could get in......we walked over to the Vigh (pronounced "Vee") Wine Bar:

It was nice to have an evening to sit and talk and get to know a few women from the club. By the time we got to Vigh though, I was about at my limit for loud and crowded places, so I didn't stay very long. It was just too much for me. From there, I walked home...it was about midnight and I felt perfectly safe doing so in Haarlem! I heard for the first time that there are nicknames for the two groups of women.....The women from Amsterdam are referred to as the "Amsterdames" and the women from Haarlem are referred to as the "Haarlots"!

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Saturday Andrew and I ran some errands and just took it easy that day. We went to the "big" Albert Heijn in town to stock up on groceries and paper products. We've been going about once a month with the car, the rest of the time I buy groceries by walking to the store. We also went to Intratuin to get dog food and a few things for the house. We also hung up a Christmas wreath on the front door with some ribbon we bought.

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Sunday, November 18th, 2012

We had seen posters all over town advertising that Sinterklaas is coming to Haarlem!  The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas day on December 5th.  From Wikipedia:

Sinterklaas (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French; Sankt Nikolaus in German) is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders (Lille) andArtois (Arras). He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including South Africa, Aruba, Suriname, Curaçao,Bonaire, and Indonesia. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America.^[1]

Although he is usually referred to as Sinterklaas, he is also known as De Goedheiligman (The Good Holy Man), Sint Nicolaas [ pronunciation (help·info)] (Saint Nicholas) or simply as De Sint (The Saint).

He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas — patron saint of children, sailors, and the city ofAmsterdam, among others. Sint Nicholas being a bishop and this geographical spread make clear that the feast in this form has a Roman Catholic background.

Zwarte Pieten are the helpers for Sinterklaas: 

In the folklore and legends of the Netherlands and Belgium, Zwarte Piet ( pronunciation (help·info)) (meaning Black Pete) is acompanion of Saint Nicholas (Dutch: Sinterklaas) whose yearly feast in the Netherlands is usually celebrated on the evening of 5 December (Sinterklaas-avond, that is, St. Nicholas Eve) and 6 December in Belgium, when they distribute sweets andpresents to all good children.

The characters of Zwarte Pieten appear only in the weeks before Saint Nicholas's feast, first when the saint is welcomed with a parade as he arrives in the country (generally by boat, having traveled from Madrid, Spain). The tasks of the Zwarte Pieten are mostly to amuse children, and to scatter pepernoten, Kruidnoten and "strooigoed" (special sinterklaas-candies) for those who come to meet the saint as he visits stores, schools, and other places.

From what we've heard from the Dutch Zwarte Pieten (the helpers) went down the chimney and got full of soot, that's why they paint their faces black. 

Sooo, around noon we headed to the Spaarne river. There was a parade of boats going down the Spaarne here in town!  There were hundreds and hundreds of people...The children were sooooo excited!  Traditionally the children dress either as Zwarte Piet or Sinterklaas. There are "official" Zwarte Pieten that go around and hand out candy and nuts to the children!

 Moving the bridge so Sinterklaas and other boats can get through!

 Sinterklaas and his helpers, Zwarte Pieten arriving by boat!

 After the boat parade we headed to the Grote Markt where Sinterklaas was scheduled to make an announcement at around 1345 hrs.

 The old City Hall building, just refurbished:

 Great view of the Grote Markt from up there!

 Zwarte Piet handing out candy and nuts to the kids!

We watched the festivities from the patio of the Doria Cafe where we had mint tea, beer and some bitterballen!

 Sinterklaas being introduced by the Mayor of Haarlem!

Our flowers this week!

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Today I had to go pick up my residency card. It cost 400 Euro for the card, my old one was due to expire in December. I had submitted the paperwork over two months ago.  I took Connexxion Bus #140 down to the town Hoofddorp (about 20 kilometers away). The bus stopped at the train station in Hoofddorp where I walked across the plaza to the IND (Immigration and Naturalization Service) building. I got a number and waited my turn. I handed the woman my old card and my letter stating where to pick up my card and she gave me my new card. It's good till January 2016!  So, no more fees (at least not for that!). On the way back I took Bus #300 (Red bus) to the stop over by V&D and walked the rest of the way home. On the way I stopped at my favorite store "Mabrouk"

 and then at Albert Heijn for just a few little things that I needed. After I got home, I took Sammy for a short walk in the woods. It was only 1630, but it was already getting dark! 

Our neighbor Linda stopped by after Sammy and I got home and we arranged a time for me to go to their house Friday to bake pies together!  Should be fun!