Amsterdam Gay Pride Canal Parade
The Gay Pride Parade of Amsterdam is one big street party. Tens of tableaus pass through Prinsengracht while thousands of people cheer on from both sides of the canal. A lot of these tableaus start their journey from right behind our house and for a while we were tempted to sit on a bench with our coffees and enjoy the show from a distance. As the first tableau, sponsored by Behind The Candelabra, sailed past us, we realized that our benches were a bit too far from the action.
So we moved to a spot that would afford us a better view. Just then we spotted the Belastingdienst (the taxmen here) tableau. It looked full of serious looking, middle-aged tax officials trying to put their most cheerful foot forward. The tableau’s punch line — ‘Kluerrijker dan je denkt’ (more colourful than you think), made the whole thing look a bit surreal. Talking of colours, the blue Belastingdienst envelope in the mail, always strikes in me a fear unlike any other.
During any event of this scale, there is as much going on outside the canals as inside them. I persuaded the wife to leave her cozy spot to walk through the crazy spectacle the streets are.
People go out of their way to dress for the occasion. Pink and rainbow dominate. The pets are accessorized in the proper colours too. Any elevation that can be scaled to obtain a better view, is scaled at least an hour before the parade begins.
The armed forces had a tableau too and it was easy to spot. It featured a giant, inflated soldier in camouflage uniform on the forecastle. But just in case you missed this subtle cue, it would announce its arrival by playing a drum-roll followed by the famous line from the Status Quo song - ‘You’re in the army now’. The liveried soldiers on the deck (most of whom looked like real high ranking armed forces officers) would then proceed to salute the crowd. The crowd would respond back with a loud cheer.
The houses along the canals offer the best view. And indeed, there are families and friends looking through every other window. The exteriors of a lot of houses are decorated with balloons, streamers, banners, scrolls and flags in the gay pride colours.
Despite the crowd, most shops on Prinsengracht were open as usual. They just made sure that their pink merchandise was prominently featured outside and inside.
The mascots were done up too.
Unlike the Queen’s Day party, which takes over the entire city, most of the Gay Pride celebrations were contained around Prinsengracht. Life went on at the serine pace of a warm, summer Saturday in Amsterdam, just a few paces off Prinsengracht.
As I walked back home after 3 hours, I spotted a few more boats getting ready to enter Prinsengracht. People cheered on with the same energy as 3 hours ago. Days like these make me love Amsterdam even more. But what I like most about this city, is that for the most part, it just lets people be.
p.s. The security folks were dressed in blue. I guess that during a gay pride parade, the colour blue constitutes high visibility.
On cycling to work
While I’ve been cycling fairly regularly for the last two years, I never managed to muster sufficient courage to cycle by Amsterdam’s canals. As a pedestrian, the chaotic mix* of delivery trucks, cars, rash cyclists and tourists crossing the road with their noses buried in their maps, appeared too daunting to negotiate on a bicycle. Besides, my folding, gear-less cycle would never have been able to negotiate the steep climb that the bridges over most canals present. By getting a full-sized adult bicycle with 6 gears two months ago, I overcame (quite literally) the problem presented by the steep slopes of the bridges. Now all I needed was a little bit of encouragement to take it to the road.
When, after two years of struggling in the depressed job market here, the wife found a job, she was pretty clear that the public transport companies weren’t going to see a single cent of her hard earned money. She deployed her trusted bicycle right from day one. Since the route to our offices is about 80% common, I had no choice but to follow her.
The first day was a bit jittery, but within a week I have settled into a rhythm. It’s a brisk 20-minute ride through the picturesque, centuries old canals that reminds me each morning how beautiful this city is. Taking public transport, even on a day when the conditions aren’t ideal for cycling (30-45kmph winds and rain — practically every other day here), now feels like a fate worse than a Kafkaesque trial. Besides, it’s free exercise that I certainly could do with!
*Not chaotic at all by standards of Indian cities I’ve lived in. I guess which is why I never learned to cycle for so long in the first place - there was nowhere to go.
p.s. Pictures that combine two of my favourite themes — bicycles and canals - from the brand new Canon 5D Mark III:
p.p.s. These lyrics from the Company of Thieves song ‘Look both ways’ often loop through my head when cycling:
For so long you’ve buckled under a watchful eye Never feel alive until you are risking your life Risking your life, you’re Right
Look left, look right. Look both ways before you. Look left, look right. Look both ways!
p.p.p.s. I tend to give rather elaborate hand signals when taking a turn. I am afraid I’ll knock someone off the pavement one day. I even feel tempted to give the very same hand signals when I am walking. It hasn’t happened yet, but that’s only because of the considerable force of will I exercise on my arms each time I am close to a turn.
