Two Saints
On November 11, I had to go to the Netherlands. It was somewhat odd to suddenly go from WWI documentaries and Wilfred Owen to celebrations of Sint Maarten.
Following that was the official arrival of Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) in the Netherlands on Saturday the 15th. There's a Nationaal Sinterklaas Comité that decides which town has the honour of welcoming the good saint. The town has to have some kind of port of course, so that his steamboat has somewhere to park. The committee also decides what "story" will run on TV until December 5th. A couple of years ago, the Black Pete helpers were made homeless, this year there are problems with the steamboat, which started with it running aground in the harbour. One presumes it was not inspired by the QE2's last voyage, which also made the Dutch news. *g*
Following that was the official arrival of Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) in the Netherlands on Saturday the 15th. There's a Nationaal Sinterklaas Comité that decides which town has the honour of welcoming the good saint. The town has to have some kind of port of course, so that his steamboat has somewhere to park. The committee also decides what "story" will run on TV until December 5th. A couple of years ago, the Black Pete helpers were made homeless, this year there are problems with the steamboat, which started with it running aground in the harbour. One presumes it was not inspired by the QE2's last voyage, which also made the Dutch news. *g*