Here comes Sinterklaas!

One of the Netherlands' most famous holiday traditions is the arrival of Sinterklaas in Amsterdam on November 15th. His story is based on St. Nicholas, and he is one of the figures that inspired current-day Santa Claus. Apparently he comes to Amsterdam from Spain on a steamboat, and he stays in the Netherlands until early December. He also brings with him a handy helper named Black Pete. Allegedly Pete's face is black from climbing down into all the chimneys to deliver toys for Sinterklaas. 

But enough with the backstory, here is our adventure - the arrival of Sinterklaas!

We arrived a few minutes before his scheduled arrival along the parade route near the Heineken museum. We waited for quite a while, and Sinterklaas was running late, so Dad and Marion decided to go for a walk.

We found a canal.

And a park.

And a big funny-looking tree. 

 And the backside of the famous Rijksmuseum.

And then we went back and joined Mom in the crowd to wait for Sinterklaas to show up.

But Sinterklaas didn't show up. So went to a nearby cafe to grab a snack. And they had a carousel, which Marion quite enjoyed.

Eventually the parade started to arrive so we headed back to catch a glimpse. The first thing we saw was Black Pete. And then another Black Pete. All together there were 600 Black Petes in this parade. This is an example of a typical Black Pete costume.

After a bunch of very strange floats (actually there were tractors, delivery vans, and Black Petes on rollerblades) Sinterklaas finally made an appearance. He rode in on his horse named Amerigo and waved hello to everyone in the crowd.

Then he came around toward us and we got a good look at the Sint.

But Marion got scared and needed a hug and kiss from Mom.

After Sinterklaas departed, we were treated to some Black Pete DJs on a soundstage, who were playing a remix of Psy's legendary hit Gangnam Style. "Heyyyyy, Sinterklaas-eh. Op, op, op op." Believe it.

Thanks Netherlands for a holiday tradition we will never forget.