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Liberation Day 2010
On May 4th, the Dutch hold the Remembrance of the Dead for the people who have fought and died during World War II, and wars in general. As a little girl I was taught respect for this day, rightfully so. Born to parents who lived through the war, and with a grandfather who served 20+ years in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and who had been a prisoner of war, there was no talking, playing or doing anything during the 2 minutes of silence we have at 8pm.
Now, as an adult, May 4 is even more emotionally charged for me. It’s also the day my mother died, two years ago now.
So, let’s quickly move on to May 5, Liberation Day, the day that marks the end of the occupation by Nazi Germany. A day to celebrate! Since 1990 this day has been declared a national holiday, one that is commemorated every 5 years. 2010 is one of those years, so I took my camera down-town with me.
This, to me, is the real Gouda. Old, small and characteristic houses with windmills in the back yard.
Not all our cars are small, mind you. We have SUV’s! Just no place to park ‘em.
Walking down our main shopping street. Do you see what I see?
Now there’s a sight for sore eyes! What can I say? I’m a McDonald’s gal and not afraid to admit it. I’d sell my soul for a Big Mac, it’s true.
This one’s for all the Dutchies living abroad. Hema worst, anyone?
The main square is where it all happens. Though at this point we still had no idea what it would be. Check out these crowned lanterns. Is that cute or what?
I loved seeing all those flags hanging from our town hall.
It looked so cheerful and impressive at the same time. The flags are an expression of the many nationalities that live in our city.
The fire of liberation. Starting in Wageningen as the symbolic center of the Dutch liberation, in the night of 4 to 5 May the liberation fire is lit and (in relay form) brought to all corners of the Netherlands.
Where would we be without our barrel organs?
The remembrance plaque on the side of our town hall.
And the flowers from the wreath-laying ceremony on the 4th.
My son quickly spotted the cow/bull. Think of it as the bovine version of a bouncy castle.
And within exactly 2.3 seconds he’d made a new best friend for life.
Which gave me a chance to cruise the place to see what else was going on. It appeared to be a Montmartre—a market for old and antique stuff.
You can buy paintings of someone’s mom there. And lots of old and dusty books.
And old pottery. I fell in love with those 4 little red herb jars (see arrow) and asked the salesman how much they’d cost. He said E250. I grinned, totally convinced he was pulling my leg. He wasn’t. I instantly fell out of love with them.
And you get to see women with really red hair. I wish I’d have the guts to paint my hair like that. But I don’t. I’m kinda beige, really.
Want! Covet! I waved at the dude who drove off on it. Just kidding. But wouldn’t it be awesome if a guy actually did drive off on it?
There were people dancing in the streets.
I simply couldn’t keep my eyes off of this couple. See what I mean?
Four little red riding hoods polishing off all of gramma’s cookies.
Not sure what kind of sport this was, but it seemed to be something like Martial Arts Meets Dance. Looked really great. Young and old, they all performed.
This dude had moves!! And cute Calvin Klein boxers. Wait. Did I just say that?
Check him out. The last time I could do this was…
… oh, never. I’d tear ligaments, tendons and all kinds of other fun stuff.
From the looks of it his buddies couldn’t either. But they sure had a good time.
Everybody looked so cheerful. Doesn’t it amaze you how everyone has its own distinctive style of dress?
Better close up of the liberation fire.
I just love this building. I really, really do.
Just thought I’d sneak in a photo of the Toko I buy my curry masala in bulk. It’s small but filled to the brim with all kinds of really tasty things.
And Bram Ladage. Oh, my darling Bram, where would I be without you? What can I say? I’m a French fries junkie and Bram is my house dealer. Bram Ladage is one of our ‘famous’ French fries places. I refrained from getting my weekly ‘Patatje Oorlog” (War fries—fries topped with mayonnaise and satay sauce), it just didn’t seem appropriate.
I know Jamie Oliver is on a healthy eating crusade for America, but check out how they’re luring our kids: by placing gigantic bags of fake fries and mayonnaise at their entrance. Save us, Jamie!
Want! Covet! Have you noticed my somewhat unhealthy love for these kinds of bikes? I’m bound to buy one… some day.
Heineken should be celebrated. It’s the only right thing to do. I had no idea how different Heineken tastes in the US compared to here. Really gross. Sorry you guys are stuck with watery beer.
When your feet start to get tired, you head over to the Zeugestraat. Where these pillows are waiting patiently for you to plant your butt. Gotta love Gouda.
All kidding aside. Back to what this day is all about.
Where they found the courage, the determination and the will to sacrifice will probably always be a mystery to me. Most likely their disgust for the Nazi’s and the cruel German occupation. It makes me humble and silent. They gave their lives so we could be free. We owe them eternal gratitude.
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Fantastic shots! Love the dancing couple.
By the looks of it (the instruments are a good indication, too), the “dancers” do <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira”>Capoeira</a>, a Brazilian form of martial arts. It does indeed look awesome because it’s so elegant.
Beautiful post. I always love it when you show scenes around Gouda. So beautiful and so different to where we live.
Everyone living in freedom today owes a debt of gratitude to the WWII generation for their sacrifices. What a great way to honor them!
Hi, Kay!
The martial art / dance is called Capoeira. It is from my country, Brazil, and it comes from the slavery period. ;)
Beautiful pictures and a beautiful way to honor the people who fought in WWII.
I just love when you blog about your life in the Netherlands. Your town just looks so quaint and friendly.
On another note Fries and mayo???? Seriously??? Can’t even begin to imagine what that would taste like but it’s not sounding to good. And quit blaming the advertising, it sounds like you’re going to be the one to turn you kid on to it without any help!
Seriously though, I love your pics and reading about your little corner of the world. I still plan on winning the lottery and coming for a visit. (Did you still want that kitchenAid now that you have mixer?)
@Teri:
Did I ever mention my kid just isn’t that into French fries? He wouldn’t touch one for the first 3 years of his life (or ice cream and white bread) and now he’ll eat them sporadically, but only a few pieces. Good kid, even more for mommy!
We have a special mayonnaise for that called ‘frietsaus’. It’s not regular mayo, this stuff is lighter, thinner and sweeter. Most Americans actually like it.
Of course I still want that KitchenAid, geez :)
I agree with the others, I really like it when you blog about your life there. The dancing couple photo is gorgeous. Beautiful pictures, Kay.
Hola Kay, McDonalds heb je hier natuurlijk ook, gelukkig niet al te dicht bij, haha, maar een patatje oorlog, jemig, dat is lang geleden! Een eitje natuurlijk om zelf thuis te maken, maar de laatste pot Wijko satésaus (en dat is de enige echte snackbar satésaus!) die ik met Kerst heb meegezeuld hiernaartoe is nog maar een vage herinnering… En ‘t is ook niet hetzelfde als uit een lekkere puntzak….
Such beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing!
Wow great pics and thanks for posting them…I was watching a bit of the ceremonies last night and this morning (luckily Canadian TV was pretty much streaming it all day). I was happy/sad to see all the Canadian veterans, I can’t imagine how they feel going back, seeing the markers of their friends that never made it back.
In Canada (specifically in Ottawa) we celebrate with the tulip festival, though now it has grown into this music festival I wonder how many even remember the history! (Wow I just sounded old didn’t I?!)
Originally 100 000 tulips were given by Dutch royals (can’t remember names!) in appreciation for the safe haven for the exiled royal family and for the Cdn troops part in liberation during WWII. Now I am not sure if we still get tuplip bulbs from the Netherlands but now we have a crazy number of tulips each spring and the festival is pretty huge too!
On to happier stuff, my high school junk fav used to be to mix ketchup with mayo for fry dip. Couple of weeks ago I had, garlic and mayo mixed for dip, yum!
@Yosha:
Re the happier stuff: if you throw some finely minced raw onions into the equation, you have what we call a “patatje speciaal” .
As the daughter of a WWII Veteran, I’m very humbled by these celebrations and thank you for sharing yours with me. I love the colors and the various dress and want to know if you find it very drab when you visit the US?
I had never been a McDonald’s fan until I spent 8 days in Italy. After 4 days of eating everything covered with tomato sauce (I don’t like tomato sauce) I was never so happy to see those golden arches. Now I enjoy an occasional Big Mac, when I’m feeling particularly naughty.
Beautiful post with fabulous pics!
I love to ‘see’ other countries, thanks for the photos.
CAPOEIRA!! That is what those guys are doing. It is a form of martial arts found in Brazil with origins in Africa that has been spurring interest in many other countries, as you can see. There is a Capoeira school one block from where I live. I love the juxtaposition of martial arts and music in Capoeira; it is so o jeito brasileiro (the Brazilian way)!
The rest of the photos is so lovely and colorful!! What a great day of commemoration. You are hilarious (re: fries and Jamie Oliver). Thanks for sharing these great photos!
Fantastic photo’s of my birth town on Liberation Day. Thank you for this trip down memory lane Kay!
Seeing the Gouda town hall always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside *deep sigh* ;-) I remember standing there as a little girl, I just couldn’t get enough of the puppet show…
Love the photos!
My Oma and Opa had their farm taken over by Nazi soilders during the war. Oma had to cook and clean for them and they took over the entire farm forcing them to live in one room in their already small farm house. Since this is the first year that they’re not around, thanks for the reminder of their sacrifice and the sacrifice of millions to keep our world free.