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First off, Happy New Year…

Friday, January 11, 2008

Yeah, it’s 2008…didn’t you get the memo?

Somehow or ‘nuther, I survived the New Years celebrations in Amsterdam. When I was last in Amsterdam for the change, it was back in the pre-Millenium of 1999-2000 crush in Dam Square. This time I was safely above the fracas on a dear friend’s rooftop terrace—or so I thought.

Amsterdam is a battlezone on New Years. Officially, the fireworks over Dam Square were canceled due to rising insurance costs, but you’d not know it from the lights in the sky. It’s tradition to light your own fireworks over here, and even with a recent tragedy still fresh-in-mind, people run to the local hardware stores to buy fireworks. Is it me, or is there something wrong with selling fireworks next to the paints and lacquers?

And I don’t mean bottle rockets - I mean mortars, skyrockets with multiple paylods, 3-story tall roman candles, the kind of flares used at sea..everything! A friend in Bussum actually bought 20 kilos of fireworks…20 kilos!

And if it’s not big enough or voluminous enough, then you can easily drive over the borders to Belgium or Germany and get the REAL fireworks, often for as much as half the price of Amsterdam.

Posted by Admin on 01/11 at 09:30 AM
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