Sunday 28 February 2016

Edmondo de Amici's "Holland and its People"

I have to thank Sara Veronica M. for unearthing this gem!

Edmondo De Amicis is an Italian writer from the XIX century, know and possibly loathed by generations of school children who had to study his most famous novel Cuore (heart) a collection of morality tales based on life in a classroom of the '800.

I was not aware however that after travelling to The Netherlands, he wrote a book called Holland and its People.

The whole book is available here (in English).

Here's the part where he talks about Scheveningen (Chapter V):

Scheveningen is a village about two miles from the Hague, and approached by a straight road bordered by a double row of beautiful elms that allow no ray of sun to penetrate them. This road, which is gay on either side with villas and gardens, is the favorite promenade of the people of the city, but on other days is almost solitary. You meet no one but one of the figures described above, or a carriage, or the diligence that plies between the city and the village. With its deep shade, rich vegetation, and solitude, it reminds one of the grove of the Alhambra at Grenada, and one forgets that he is in Holland, and thinks no more of Scheveningen.

But arrived at the end, an instant change of scene dissipates the image of Grenada, and nothing remains but a desert of sand; the salt breeze blows in your face with a low continuous murmur; and if you mount a little hillock, you see spread out before you the North sea.

For anyone who has never seen any sea but the Mediterranean the spectacle is a very striking one. The beach is composed of sand as fine and light as ashes, and upon it the spreading waves for ever fold and unfold themselves like a carpet. This sandy beach extends to the feet of the downs, which are composed of little hillocks of sand - steep, broken, and corroded, deformed by the eternal flagellation of the sea. Such is the entire Dutch coast, from the mouths of the Meuse to Helder. There are no mollusks, nor star-fish, nor living shells, nor crabs, nor a shrub, nor a blade of grass. Nothing but water and sand, sterility and solitude.

The sea is no less melancholy than the coast, And answers truly to the image we have formed of the North sea, in reading of the superstitious terrors of the ancients who fancied it lashed by eternal winds and peopled by gigantic monsters. Near the shore it is of a yellowish color, beyond, a pallid green, and still further off, a dull blue. The horizon is in general veiled in mists which often descend to the shores and hide the sea, like an immense curtain, leaving visible only the wave that dies upon the beach, or some specimen of a fisherman s bark not far distant. The sky is almost always grey, traversed by great clouds which cast dense and moving shadows on the water; at some points it is black with a darkness like night, raising in the mind images of tempest and horrid shipwreck; at others, illuminated by streaks of vivid light, serpentine, and like motionless lightning, or rays from some mysterious planet. The wave, always agitated, rushes to bite the shore with impetuous rage, and gives forth a prolonged cry of grief and menace, as from a crowd of lamenting creatures. The sea, the sky, and the earth turn sinister looks upon each other, like three implacable enemies, and the spectator shudders under the dread of come great convulsion of nature.


Friday 5 February 2016

It's Carnival time!

In many European countries (and several others around the world) people are celebrating Carnival this weekend.

In the Southern Provinces of Holland, Carnaval is (and we are understating it here) quite a big deal, with people actually taking off on Carnival Monday and Tuesday to celebrate it properly.

With celebrations covering the week before Ashes Wednesday, Carnival is strictly connected to the Christian calendar, although, as with many other celebrations, it is also most likely rooted in pre-Christian festivities. Ashes Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter: since Easter’s date is, unlike Christmas, changeable and depending on the March equinox, it means that the Carnival’s date varies from year to year too, although it normally takes place either in February or March.

Coming back to The Netherlands, here are the things you need to know if you are planning to celebrate it "Dutch" style.

First of all, you will have to go "South of the Big Rivers", because they are predominantly Catholic. Northern provinces, mostly Calvinistic and hardworking (or just boring, according to colleagues coming from the South who wish to remain anonymous ;), have not caught the Carnival bug just yet.

Be aware however, that you might have issues getting to the Carnival cities, since they change name during this season. Den Bosch turns into Oeteldonk, Nijmegen is Knotsenburg and Maastrich becomes Meestrech.

Every city elects a Parliament of the Eleven and the King is announced around or on the 11/11 of the previous year.  The King and his Eleven helpers wear elaborate and richly decorated costumes, reminiscent of medieval lords’ attire

The highlight of the celebrations is of course the Optocht or Parade, featuring floats with giant papier-mache statues, often animated, dancers and groups in costumes based on a specific theme. As is typical during Carnival the world over, local and national authorities are mocked and ridiculed.

Marching brass bands playing carnival tunes (check on the web for a selection of typical carnival songs) are joining the parades and will then roam the streets of the cities when the optoch is over.

As a Dutch colleague put it to me "I think this + a lot of booze sums it up".

Beer of course feature quite prominently among the intoxicating drink of choice during these events (according to 2012’s statistics, and average Limburger drank 36 glasses of beers in 2.6 days), and it’s not uncommon to come across "beer barrel speakers": ironic speeches given in the local dialect from the top of a beer barrel. Like speakers at the Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, just drunk(er).

All in all, Carnival in The Netherlands is an event to be experienced at least once while you are in the country, just make sure you take Monday and Tuesday off … they are not among  Europol’s holidays (yet).

Want to know more? Here are some links:

 
 
 
 
 
Copyrighted image from Google images