Sinterklaas, chocolate, ribs and bubbles!

I successfully made it to the Netherlands for the official arrival of Sinterklaas. Getting there I learned a few things:

1. always check the address of the airport you are traveling towards, even if it states it is in Dusseldorf, you may land in Weeze, 85 kilometers away,
2. do not trust the phone number listed on a hostel site, when you dial, you may reach a German-speaking woman at an ungodly hour and feel really bad about waking her up and
3. I may be getting a bit too old for hostels to still be cool, even if I am still a kid at heart.

My trip started on Friday evening flying from Bologna to Weeze, hopped an hour and half bus ride to Dusseldorf, slept for about four hours then took the train to Dordrecht. Dordrecht was the city chosen for the official arrival site for Sinterklaas.

Sinterklaas arrived on his steamboat followed by a boat of Zwarte Pieten (Black Pete). They were dressed in costumes with some carrying bags of goodies and others playing instruments. Kids were also dressed up as Sinterklaas and Zwarte Pieten. Following the steamboat’s arrival, they marched through the streets in a parade. Pepernoten, small gingerbread like cookies, were tossed from their bags into the crowds during the parade. After the parade, I wandered around a bit, found a Sinterklaas picture book, meaning no Dutch, and lots of chocolate, then hopped on the train to Den Haag.

In Den Haag, another Sinterklaas parade was happening. I was lucky and met a Zwarte Pieten carrying some cookies and he gave me two handfuls worth, so tasty! Received a tour of the area, including their Parliament building, and enjoyed a delicious dinner of spare ribs. The meal was delightful and filling.

Stayed in a hostel in Rodderdam, situated right beside the train station in the cubed architecture; very cool!

The next day I visited Amsterdam with the goal of going to NEMO, the science center, which basically is a giant playground with human-sized bubbles, a tire-spinning chair and a giant chain-reaction display happening every half hour. NEMO was a lot of fun, even the kids weren’t too bad.

Overall the visit was a great success. I came home quite exhausted on Monday evening with lots of Sinterklaas goodies and photographs.