Fall

Sinterklaas's arrival is nearly upon us, but we've already had a holiday with a distinctly Dutch flavor: St. Martin's Day.

Now from what I understand, St. Martin's Day is not celebrated equally in every part of the country. It's kind of a protestant thing, and so the southern parts of the Netherlands where Catholicism predominates doesn't really get into it. But it cosmopolitan Amsterdam it is definitely celebrated.

The first and most exciting part of the evening (to those of us who aren't kinderen) is pannekoeken. That's Nederlands for 'pancakes', in case you hadn't picked up on that.

Plates heaped with pancakes were brought to the table. The Dutch way to eat pancakes is to cover them in powdered sugar, jelly, or stroop (A sort of thick syrup. It's not exactly maple syrup, and it's not exactly NOT maple syrup. Either way it's yummy.). Then you roll them up and eat them with a fork.

Some pannekoeken may also have cheese or ham baked into them. Both are delicious. The whole affair is basically one big salute to culinary hedonism.

I was somewhat bemused when they served dessert.

I didn't participate in the next part of the festivities, but I did snap some pictures. The kinderen parade through the streets with lanterns and go door to door asking for candy. The kids may also dress up in costume. Yeah, it's kind of like Halloween, but who stole what from who depends on who you ask. I will note that the Wikipedia page says nothing about 'dressing up'.



In this neighborhood the kids don't actually go door to door. But OZ 100 is big enough that they make several stops at the main house alone. The adults escort them to friendly doors in the neighborhood.

The end result is candy. In case someone hadn't had enough sugar that evening!








The lanterns are mostly constructed by the kinderen with a generous portion of help from grown-ups. They buy little lights hanging from sticks that you put inside.

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That was Tuesday. Today is a cold, gray day, but that didn't stop Anne and I from exercising our Museum Cards. Today we went to the Jewish Museum, which we got into for FREE NINETY-NINE. Sweet. But on the way I thought I would snap some shots of the buurt (e.g. the neighborhood).



And this is Oudezijds 100. Well, I've cut off a bit of the building on the right, but you get the idea. The windows at basement level are for the kitchen, and are a convenient way for passing tourists to stare in in surprise around dinner time.



Jorene and Eric kick back and enjoy the warm morning (which lasted, I believe, for about five minutes).




The window girls don't appreciate being photographed, but they aren't out and about until late morning. These ARE actual windows, although Anne is not an actual window girl.



Waterlooplein! Hosts a thriving market where you can get, among other things, clothes. The prices are quite reasonable, and occasionally you can even talk them down. There are also 'snack stands'. I tried yet another burger at one, but once more I get some sort of wurst between two buns. What's up with that? Well, it was better then the one on Damstraat.



And this is New Market. It's only a block over from the District, but it has much nicer cafes. In spite of being called "New Market," it's a fairly small market and sells only only flowers. That big castle thing in the background was once a weighing house for merchant goods.



A gray day in Amsterdam. It's windy. The leaves lie in drifts along the sidewalk and the trees have skeletal reflections in the canal. But it's still a beautiful city. And sometimes? The sun even comes out.