So what do the Queen B's birthday (Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands), which just happened to be the same day she abdicates and her son, the Dutch Prince Willem-Alexander becomes King, bright colourful feathery costumes, stinkin' hot but gorgeous day in Philipsburg (capital of Sint-Maarten), a fun-filled day of adventurin' with friends Paul and Sheryl, have in common ?
Why
Carnival 2013 of course !
Carnival comes from the French tradition of Creole Mas and is celebrated on both sides of the island. On the Dutch side, it's a grand parade dedicated to the Queen of the Netherlands. And today happens to be ex-Queen Beatrix's 75th birthday.
But first, as we left this morning, dinghy-ing towards the Bridge to get to our appointed meeting spot, when Dave says,
"I bet the Captain's PUCKER factor is way up right now, LOOK ..."
Talk about a tight squeeze, this mega-yacht barely made it through with enough inches to spare, and was the reason we were late meeting up with Paul and Sheryl at our appointed meeting time at the dinghy dock of the Yacht Club. Thankfully being seasoned sailors themselves, they saw the bridge opening and knew full well why...
So the plan was to take the bus here using Sint-Marteen's very elaborate bus system. This is how it works: you stand by the side of the road going in the direction you want to go, and when you see one of these, you hail them by waving your arm, they stop,
you get in, bus-etiquette 'round here should have you greeting everyone with "good morning's", you tell the driver where you're going,
and he takes you there, at the cost of anywhere between $1 or $2. The buses run, oh, every few minutes or so. How cool is that?
We were going to Philipsburg, which is the capital of Sint-Maarten. It took perhaps all of ten minutes to get there, and it was nice to see part of the countryside. Once there, the driver dropped us off, showed us a bit of the area and what was what (literally, there was Front Street and Back Street, how could we get lost?).
We were fashionably "early", although quite surprised to see that there was no-one, but no-one walking about, which was kind of nice as we explored the beachfront minus the crowds and we slowly sauntered into the morning sunshine.
Brunch at Barefoot's: "Johnny Cake with ham or bacon or sausage 'n' eggs with freshly squeeze grapefruit juice. Yum...
And with all that energy in our tummies, we walked around some more. Saw pineapples on court-house rooftops,
African Art sculptures,
a moment of ZEN on the beach,
and a beautifully tiled plaque on the ground reminding you of just where you were,
in case you forgot.
And with the festivities about to begin,
the line of six brightly shined and waxed SUV's, all carrying dignitaries we are sure, and just so they could be told apart, or part of some elaborate seniority system who knows, they were all licence plate identified (not to mention driven in order) as Mr 1, Mr 2, Mr 3 we kid you not... here's proof,
and they were allowed to pass through the meticulously arranged and highly monitored security system.
This would be a future parade contestant in the making,
and the spectators that are always intriguing to behold,
to the locals doing their thing,
It was a long wait, but soon, the ground shaking boom box holding 18 wheeler trucks rolled by and we knew without a doubt, as it reverberated within our souls, that the parade was coming, and we positioned ourselves carefully, first by the shade of the building,
and then when things started getting busy, right by the action,
(IN THE SHADE of the palm tree), to watch these incredible people with their colourful costumes, shake their booty and shake it but good, seemingly with wings on their feet to speed them along the at least 4 hours they have danced their way along the streets of Philipsburg.
Here's Paul, live in action and getting the best shot, for his and Sheryl's amazing TV Travel Show,
Distant Shores
and here is the pretty-ness, the joy-fullness, the dancing colours that the Carnival is all about :
For the beautiful pictures of the paraders themselves (as I've already posted enough photos here), check (and LIKE !!) our Facebook page, and share with your friends (so they can check and LIKE our Facebook page)...
Happy Celebrations Sint-Maarten... you're all just beautiful !