Who knew that southern Holland has its own Catholic Carnival tradition, dating back to 1385 and inspiring paintings by Pieter Breugal and Hieronymus Bosch? On Monday, the Carnival is in Breda (about a half-hour train ride from Rotterdam) and while festivities in this small city may not exactly be on par with those in Rio or New Orleans, we are nonetheless exposed to some very high energy celebrating by seemingly every Dutch person under the age of 80 within a 200-mile radius. Basically, there are zillions of freaky floats, tons of confetti and streamers, cacophonous music coming from all corners, everyone is in costume (plush animals, Indians, fairies and anything showing off the chest area seem to be the most popular), everyone is singing, everyone is dancing and everyone is drinking copious amounts of beer (well, I can’t vouch for the kids)…. Paolo succinctly sums it up: Kinda like Gay Pride without the Gay.
Seriously Crazy! I love that Popeye!
Those Dutchmen know how to party! Looks like a fun time.
Pa XO