King’s Day

The big day finally came. We had been waiting for this day ever since we all arrived in Amsterdam in February. I woke up not knowing what to expect. The only thing I knew for sure was that I needed to wear my orange shirt. I hurried to eat some breakfast and went over to the kitchens to meet up with my friends. We had bought tickets back in February for a festival that would be taking place at the Olympic Stadium. However, talk began circulating among the group about instead wanting to get on a boat and ride through the canals. I must admit that I was much keener on this idea, being that concerts and festivals are not really my thing (I only bought the tickets for fear of missing out). Eventually, we decided to get on a boat. Luckily, by friend’s boyfriend (he had come with us to Amsterdam from Arnhem the night before) has a sister who just so happened to rent an entire boat for us.

We went over to the pick-up point which was all the way in the city center. On our way there, I saw countless street parties and an insane amount of people crowding the streets. As we passed by some of the canals, I saw at least 30 boats filled with people all decked out in their orange outfits. Once it was finally our turn to get on a boat, we realized that we would have unlimited food and drinks which was a big plus. Side note, we also found an inflatable Fanta crown on the sidewalk, so we took it and made it part of our looks. The boat was very fun for the first half hour or so, but then I began feeling very seasick. To be fair, I’m not usually on boats, so the sensation is still very different to me. It got to a point where I had to lay down on the boat or else I would have been sick.

As fun as the day was, I must say that I was relieved when the boat ride finally ended, and my feet were back on land. We were all fairly exhausted, so we decided to head home. We all took a nap in our own rooms, and I was awoken at around 11:30 to the sensation of my phone vibrating on my chest. I picked up the phone and realized that everyone was texting me telling me that we were leaving in ten minutes. Luckily, it doesn’t take much time for me to get ready, so I got dressed and brushed my teeth and went out the door.

We decided to head over to a club (something else we had bought tickets for back in February). We were obviously planning on having a good long night, but I guess we all underestimated just how tired we would be that day. I kid you not, four of us lasted literally twenty minutes before we decided that we were indeed very tired and just wanted to head to bed. However, as good Americans, we had to make a pit stop at McDonald’s because obviously. I got my usual, which consists of a quarter pounder, small fries, and a small sprite. At around 2 am, I was finally back in my own bed, drifting off after a hectic day.

But all of this made me wonder one thing…How does the King spend King’s Day? Surely not how I spent it or how most Dutch people spend it…right? He most likely hosts a super fancy dinner, that sounds more royal. Regardless, happy birthday to the King.