As I’ve said before, the Dutch don’t need much excuse to party. A bit of sunshine usually does the trick, but this weekend – not just sunshine, but jazz and ships, the perfect excuse for a mega party!
Haarlem has been hosting its annual jazz festival. A large stage has been erected in the Grote Markt with two smaller stages competing with each other just around the corner of the church. There are also performances in various bars and clubs. You can move from one area to the next – a bit of funk here, a bit of soul there, and some Dutch talent contest winner somewhere else.
I've no idea who these performers were, and from the reaction and size of the crowds in town, I imagine some of them must have been quite famous. But still, now that we are pseudo-Dutch, we didn’t really care. Friday evening was dry, it was warm, it was the perfect evening to stand in the square listening to music with a Scorpino or two.
I have only recently discovered the Scorpino. It appears on the dessert menu in several restaurants, an intoxicating combination of lemon sorbet ice-cream, Prosecco and Vodka. How can you go wrong? It now ranks above apple pie as my favourite Dutch food, although technically, if you leave it to melt, it’s a drink.
On Saturday we braved we the crowds and headed into Amsterdam to see the Tall Ships taking part in Amsterdam Sail. This was a spectacular event. I’m not particularly fond of ships but even I was impressed – even more so when we jumped on board a 95 year old traditional wooden sailing vessel to go on a cruise around the harbour. (OK jumped isn't probably the correct term to describe a precarious walk across a gangplank. I'm not good on boats, even less so when they are actually moving on water.)
I’ve never seen so many ships in one place – or so many people.
The event took place in an area of dockland which has been transformed into swanky apartments. It was probably a right pain for the people who lived there, and the Dutch being Dutch, some of them still insisted on riding their bikes against the tide of visitors, or taking their regular Saturday morning jog along the waterfront. There were also people who had insisted on bringing their dogs – because we all know how much a Chihuahua loves to look over an old sailing boat.
The afternoon grew hotter and hotter, and Amsterdam busier and busier. I couldn’t wait to get back to the relative quiet of Haarlem, where after an early evening BBQ we headed back into town for more jazz, and dessert, of course.
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