Today was the big day for Holland with Kroonprins Willem Alexander marrying Máxima Zorreguieta of Argentina. What a spectacle and the whole country had their eyes glued to the television set all day. Having grown up in America where such a formality called royalty is foreign, I have found it very difficult to understand why people get so caught up with this kind of fairy tale stuff. Queen Beatrix and her exotic hats, all the gossip around the royal family, hard-core societies who follow and worship this like they are some kind of super heroes.

Well, not for me. Not exactly. But with the very nice ceremonies, first at the town hall and then at the cathedral in Amerstand, I could feel a little inside the emotions other more enthusiastic Dutch folks share. Propbably because I am by nature a very sentimental type of guy. They quoted out of the Bible and used symbolic speeches to initiate this brave couple into the world of leadership which would be a necessary burden held intact through the power of their love for each other. Okay, so I have to admit that at one point my eyes welled up when the soprano sung so meaningfully and with vibrant energy the Ave Maria of Frans Schubert. Wow.

My less interesting life goes on, and I will carry on with my daily, perhaps somewhat less spectacular chores, activities and fatherly responsibilities as they were meant to be.