Kings Day

Spending 10 days in Utrecht was never in the plan, but reworking the plan is half the fun. Six weeks was enough of Italy and it was time for a change in scenery. Besides, leaving Italy early allowed us to experience Kings Day in the Netherlands. This is the biggest of the Dutch holidays- think Fourth of July costume party held on the grounds of a giant flea market, only the flea market covers the entire country- There are concerts, food vendors, and parties on every corner. We had the pleasure of experiencing the coldest & wettest Kings Day celebration on record, so we spent most of the day ducking in and out of pubs and shops in between rain & hail showers. Regardless of the weather, we had a great time. I feel very comfortable here and love the Dutch way of life. The word gezellig is hard to define, but it is at the the center of Dutch culture and loosely translates to cozy. Thats good because we haven't experienced temperatures this cool in some time. Utrecht was a great stop for us. We had a superb host and our first functioning big screen TV in months. Next up...Amsterdam!

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