It is carnaval again in the Netherlands. When, south of the Rhine, you can’t walk the streets without running into people who’ve spent three days straight pub-crawling in fancy dress singing oompy-poompy songs! North of the Rhine things are a bit quieter. Except in Ijsselstein that is, where, defying all geographic conventions the Apeluiders are busy celebrating carnaval with the best of them.
In Ijsselstein Carnaval has its own peculiar twist and somehow its all confused with a monkey from the 14thC. I’m sure all the beer thats flowed since has had a bit to do with it too. You can even listen to Ijsselstein specific Carnival songs.
Meanwhile in Brazil, 1.5 million people flooded the streets of Rio de Janeiro.
Here in Amsterdam we settled for the madness of Prenatal on a Saturday and bought Jacob a box. A round box. Gek genoeg!
postcards from the north 