“Look, yonder comes the steamboat, From Spain again…. It brings us Sint Nicolaas, I see him standing (there) already”. Today it has been raining off and on all day long today, but that don’t make no nevermind… Because the arrival of Sinterklaas was yesterday. Last year the weather was miserable, we were miserable and even the kids were miserable, for it rained the whole time. Bah! Well, alrighty then— so it was grey and a sort of moist cold…buuuuut, dry. We got there at a good time, we could hear the steamboat’s throaty horn blasting just outside the the harbour’s entrance announcing to everyone who was lining the inner harbour that something thrilling was imminent. The blasts came closer and closer. The kids were becoming antsy. Finally the nose of the boat pushed past the ancient lock and the kids went wild. It was great to see all the adults and kids enjoying the entrance of the Sint into our land. He will spend some time now visiting all the communities in the Netherlands, and on 5 december the packages will be distributed. Here a good view of the package boat: Sinterklaas is dead centre of the pic. In this final pic below, you can see the folks gathered all along the quay. Just to get you in the mod, the typical song, “Zie ginds komt de stoomboot”. Now, on the boat, you noticed the people in the colourful clothes. They are the Sint’s helpers. When the Sint disembarks the boat, he hops up on his white horse and rides along a pre-planned trajectory where the helpers give little goodies to the, by then, already wild and singing children along the course. The typical goodies are ginger nuts. After his ride the Sint returns to the boat and sails away into the sunset with a few toots of the horn. He has other cities to visit.
This is wonderful Sjoerd. I can see why the children were so excited. What a lovely tradition. And a fabulous boat!
Oh my, we ought to copy your Sinterklaas tradition! That sure beats an old man in a red suit coming down the chimney. The whole tradition, the boat and the helpers are just wonderful!
Mel— Thanks. It really is a special day for the children. Such a feeling of excitement. That boat really is impressive from close-up. Marlin— thanks so much f or liking this tradition. It is such fun as child or adult. You sorta get swept-up in the goings-on. As for taking over the tradition— you guys did sort of take over the man in a way. The boat was swapped for a sleigh drawn by flying deer. A bit different from a steamboat. The man— while Sint Nicolaas was a real person, the Santa Claus was a promotion idea from Coca Cola. It is like someone wanted to take up the idea, but gave their own scenatio to it. Haha, Even the dates of celebration are different. Sinterklaas died on the 6th of december and 25 december is the birthdate (more or less) of Christ. Well, you know what, if the kids are happy that is the most important thing. Addendum: My Bride and I went to Myra (present day Demre) in Turkey to visit The tomb of Sinterklaas. It was quite interesting to be there, see the ruins and to learn about the life and times of St. Nicolas. There are some interesting legends surrounding this person, not always patently believable, but ach. Apparently his bones were stolen at one point and taken to Bari, Italy.
