Remembrance Day: (Bevrijdingsdag): The May 4th Remembrance service commemorates Holland’s liberation from the Nazi’s in 1945 and the end of the war with the Japanese. It also includes street parties and festivals in the city’s parks.
On May 5th Liberation Day is celebrated with The annual (free) Haarlem music festival in the Haarlemmerhout.
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Last week the area where we normally walk our dog was blocked off from the public as preparations were made for the anticipated crowds in Haarlem coming to celebrate Remembrance Day and Liberation Day.
Yes....these are urinals!
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Saturday morning we went over the Intratuin (Garden Supply Store) to pick up the sod we had ordered the previous week so that we could finish the back yard. To the rear of the store there are fields of tulips! What a nice surprise!
We worked on the yard the rest of the day and we were able to sit on the patio and enjoy it for a bit before dinner! Now, we hope we can keep the grass alive!
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At 1800hrs the flags all around the Netherlands were dropped to half mast in honor of those who died during WWII. The flag was then lowered at sunset.
At around 1930hrs we knocked on our neighbor Bruce's door and he went out with us to watch the Remembrance Day ceremony. On March 7, 1945 15 men were executed by the Nazis at the spot where the statue sits on the Dreef in Haarlem. Every year there is a ceremony with two minutes of silence which occurs from 2000-2002 hrs. Afterwards the national anthem was sung. The national anthem is entitled "Wilhelmus":
In Dutch:
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed, den Vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geeerd.
Mijn schild ende betrouwen
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen,
Verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik Doch vroom mag blijven,
Uw dienaar t'aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven
die mij mijn hart doorwondt.
Translated into English via Google Translate:
William of Nassau
I am, of German blood, the Fatherland faithful
I remain until death.
A prince of Orange
I, free and fearless
the King of Spain
I have always honored.
My shield and trust
art Thou, O Lord my God,
on you as I want to build,
Leave me never.
I may remain pious,
Your servant t'aller stood,
the tyranny
that wounds me my heart.
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In honor of those that lost their lives at that particular spot on the Dreef in Haarlem...their names:
Hugo Ruijs 21 years old
Wilhelmus Alb. Jiskoot 28 years old
Albert Scheepstra 19 years old
Jacob Miedema 53 years old
Martinus Molenkamp 46 years old
Johannes Oelschlager 32 years old
Jacobus Oelschlager 31 years old
Johannes Volkers 40 years old
Johannes Rosekrans 44 years old
Willem de Jager 33 years old
Pieter van de Haas 22 years old
Jacobus van de Haas 32 years old
Peter van Slooten 30 years old
Cornelis Hartog 25 years old
Jul Alkema 19 years old
There were a lot of people in attendance of the ceremony. The Mayor of Haarlem spoke. Bruce was kind enough to interpret for us. Apparently there were other spots in Haarlem where ceremonies were taking place where others had died.
These pictures were taken Sunday morning...the day after the ceremony.
_________________________________________
Sunday morning our plan was to take public transportation down to the Keukenhof Gardens
http://www.keukenhof.nl/
We had gone last year and loved it! I had also gone twice before when we had traveled to the Netherlands in previous years.
The plan was to take Bus 300 from across the street from V&D in Haarlem to Schiphol Airport. From there I had read there is a bus that goes directly to the Keukenhof Gardens. We didn't want to drive because of all the crowds expected in Haarlem for the free concert given in celebration of Liberation Day. Thousands of people were expected, and we were worried about getting in and out of the garage with so many people.
Soooooo, we took the Bus 300 to Schiphol, which took about 30 minutes. As we were heading towards the Airport, more and more people were getting on the bus wearing:
We realized there was an Ajax (soccer) game today. Which meant that on our way back home in the late afternoon there would be a lot of people on the bus with us who would most likely be heading home intoxicated. When we arrived at the Airport, we looked all over for the next bus (#858) to Keukenhof. We finally asked at the Tourist Information office. We went to where we were directed and found a very very very long line for the bus. I overheard a man in line saying he had just asked someone how long the wait was.......about 2 hours! Sooooo, between the Ajax fans and the wait to just get to Keukenhof, we decided to go home, and go another day. The Keukenhof is open till May 20th, so we still have a couple of weeks to make it down there. We hadn't wanted to go earlier because the weather was so cold few tulips were out before this week! So, we got back on the 300 Bus to Haarlem and headed back home.
The crowds in town are unbelievable!!! When we got back to Haarlem we could see people starting to come in....it looked like a river of people heading to the Hout (the woods down the street where we normally walk the dog!).
Sushi place setting up an outside counter:
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It's 2030 hrs. now and the music is going strong! There are intoxicated people starting to wander around.......Andrew tells me that last year it was going till after midnight last year. We'll see how it goes!!! We are staying inside away from the crowds!
The concert went till around midnight. We are a few blocks away, I can't imagine what it was like for the people living closer to the woods where the concert stages were! I hope everyone had a good time.
Entrance to the concert...taken Sunday morning, before people starting flooding in!
____________________________________________
Saturday morning we went over the Intratuin (Garden Supply Store) to pick up the sod we had ordered the previous week so that we could finish the back yard. To the rear of the store there are fields of tulips! What a nice surprise!
We worked on the yard the rest of the day and we were able to sit on the patio and enjoy it for a bit before dinner! Now, we hope we can keep the grass alive!
____________________________________________
At 1800hrs the flags all around the Netherlands were dropped to half mast in honor of those who died during WWII. The flag was then lowered at sunset.
At around 1930hrs we knocked on our neighbor Bruce's door and he went out with us to watch the Remembrance Day ceremony. On March 7, 1945 15 men were executed by the Nazis at the spot where the statue sits on the Dreef in Haarlem. Every year there is a ceremony with two minutes of silence which occurs from 2000-2002 hrs. Afterwards the national anthem was sung. The national anthem is entitled "Wilhelmus":
In Dutch:
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed, den Vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geeerd.
Mijn schild ende betrouwen
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen,
Verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik Doch vroom mag blijven,
Uw dienaar t'aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven
die mij mijn hart doorwondt.
Translated into English via Google Translate:
William of Nassau
I am, of German blood, the Fatherland faithful
I remain until death.
A prince of Orange
I, free and fearless
the King of Spain
I have always honored.
My shield and trust
art Thou, O Lord my God,
on you as I want to build,
Leave me never.
I may remain pious,
Your servant t'aller stood,
the tyranny
that wounds me my heart.
___________________________________________________
In honor of those that lost their lives at that particular spot on the Dreef in Haarlem...their names:
Hugo Ruijs 21 years old
Wilhelmus Alb. Jiskoot 28 years old
Albert Scheepstra 19 years old
Jacob Miedema 53 years old
Martinus Molenkamp 46 years old
Johannes Oelschlager 32 years old
Jacobus Oelschlager 31 years old
Johannes Volkers 40 years old
Johannes Rosekrans 44 years old
Willem de Jager 33 years old
Pieter van de Haas 22 years old
Jacobus van de Haas 32 years old
Peter van Slooten 30 years old
Cornelis Hartog 25 years old
Jul Alkema 19 years old
These pictures were taken Sunday morning...the day after the ceremony.
Sunday morning our plan was to take public transportation down to the Keukenhof Gardens
http://www.keukenhof.nl/
We had gone last year and loved it! I had also gone twice before when we had traveled to the Netherlands in previous years.
The plan was to take Bus 300 from across the street from V&D in Haarlem to Schiphol Airport. From there I had read there is a bus that goes directly to the Keukenhof Gardens. We didn't want to drive because of all the crowds expected in Haarlem for the free concert given in celebration of Liberation Day. Thousands of people were expected, and we were worried about getting in and out of the garage with so many people.
Soooooo, we took the Bus 300 to Schiphol, which took about 30 minutes. As we were heading towards the Airport, more and more people were getting on the bus wearing:
We realized there was an Ajax (soccer) game today. Which meant that on our way back home in the late afternoon there would be a lot of people on the bus with us who would most likely be heading home intoxicated. When we arrived at the Airport, we looked all over for the next bus (#858) to Keukenhof. We finally asked at the Tourist Information office. We went to where we were directed and found a very very very long line for the bus. I overheard a man in line saying he had just asked someone how long the wait was.......about 2 hours! Sooooo, between the Ajax fans and the wait to just get to Keukenhof, we decided to go home, and go another day. The Keukenhof is open till May 20th, so we still have a couple of weeks to make it down there. We hadn't wanted to go earlier because the weather was so cold few tulips were out before this week! So, we got back on the 300 Bus to Haarlem and headed back home.
The crowds in town are unbelievable!!! When we got back to Haarlem we could see people starting to come in....it looked like a river of people heading to the Hout (the woods down the street where we normally walk the dog!).
___________________________________
It's 2030 hrs. now and the music is going strong! There are intoxicated people starting to wander around.......Andrew tells me that last year it was going till after midnight last year. We'll see how it goes!!! We are staying inside away from the crowds!
The concert went till around midnight. We are a few blocks away, I can't imagine what it was like for the people living closer to the woods where the concert stages were! I hope everyone had a good time.
