Queen's Day and the Shock

We normally go to Utrecht Center for Queen’s Night but Dutchman and I arrived late from London and were too knackered to check out the festivities. This is by the way the first time Dutchman and I were traveling to the same city for the same business purpose but flying on different planes and staying on different hotels, lol. I find it a bit funny.

Anyway, Queen’s Day, we woke up late, had brunch, and turned on the TV and saw the breaking news in Apeldoorn (a city to the East). A mad man in a black car raced through the crowds watching the Queen’s parade go by. People were instantly sent flying from all directions, some left scrambling and rolling on the street. The car missed the bus of the Queen and smashed into a monument. Shrieks and confusion followed. People were in shock.

Stories in English here: CNN and BBCWorld
Shocking vivid pictures here: Geenstijl and Nieuws.be (in Dutch)

The 38 year old man in the black car is said to have lost his job and have been late in paying rent. His neighbors were puzzled as they thought of him as a good man. Police are still investigating why this happened and what the motive is.

With all the tragedy, Dutchman and I still went to Utrecht Center. The mood is still celebratory but it wasn’t the same after seeing the drama in Apeldoorn.

Here are some of the fotos we took:

Young girls selling drinks and orange pastries with Dutch flags. They probably baked the cupcake pastries themselves (my little neice can bake really well!). The girls knew Dutchman was going to take a foto of them and responded in a very bashful way. Aren’t they cute? He-he.

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Boats in Utrecht Oudegracht and the fake Queen Beatrix on a boat enjoying the limelight as she is cheered by everyone. Music in the background is the Netherlands national anthem.


Boats in Oudegracht. There was a mini concert here and that approaching boat has a Queen Beatrix look-alike dressed in an orange ball gown! Next foto are the candy bunny women selling sweets. The left one told Dutchman to pay EUR 1 for the foto and Dutchman replied - Ik maak het over (means to transfer money via online banking), lol.


A full canal restaurant in Oudegracht and next foto are people selling stuff that I randomly took pictures of. The orange wigs of the girls and their checkered skirts were eye catching I have to admit.

I will post a foto link soon and videos too.