Closed Dutch Ado About Nothing Solo

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Time: 26-29 May 2022
Word Count: 1,363

For as long as Colina could remember, her neighbour, Holly, would take her across the English Channel for a trip to her homeland, the Netherlands. Holly would always take frequent trips over to the country she grew up in, but it grew harder and harder to find the energy to do so as the years went on. Colina changed that for her, having a young girl fascinated with everything about her past rekindled that joy of returning home, showing Colina everything she loves about her country.

Usually, Colina and Holly would venture over sometime in mid-July to the quiet part of Utrecht Holly grew up in, but this year was special. This year, as a treat for Colina's first year at Hogwarts, Holly took her out of school for a long weekend to the capital of the country, Amsterdam, for the festivities of Ascension Day.

A large Catholic holiday taking place forty days after Easter Sunday, Ascension Day has taken on a similar mystique that Christmas has, being celebrated by both religious and non-religious people alike. Holly, being non-religious, would spend the weekend with her parents attending the various festivals and parades.

Early morning on Thursday, Colina is woken up by Holly calling out to her from the kitchenette in the B&B they're staying at for the next couple of days. She groans as she rubs her eyes. Holly warned Colina that the first morning would be an early one, but it was still a massive pain for Colina, who was not a morning person in the slightest.

Before eating breakfast, Holly brought Colina outside to walk on the grass as the sun rises. Holly said it was called 'dauwtrappen', a tradition that many Dutch people participate in on Ascension Day. That was made abundantly clear by the number of people actively avoiding the sidewalk next to them to walk in the grass that stained their shoes and dampened their socks.

After the sun was high enough up in the sky for Holly, they walked a short distance to a nearby cafe. Holly ordered a 'koffie verkeerd', which Colina knew was essentially a latte. She asked for one as well but Holly told her, as she has every time she asks for anything with caffeine in it, that she was far too young for coffee. So instead, Colina settled for a plate of buttered bread with hagelslag.

Holly sighed as she looked out at the city in front of her, "Every time I go back to the UK, I miss how relaxed everything is here. Even though I don't have a job anymore, I just couldn't imagine myself relaxing with a friend at a cafe this late into the morning or taking a walk around town with no purpose."

Colina didn't fully grasp Holly's sentiment, still unburdened by the pressures of adult life, but she generally understood what she meant. It was so peaceful watching families enjoy the start of their holiday, walking leisurely along the canal. She imagines it would be nice to be able to do that with Holly and her dad.

The next day, the peacefulness of Thursday was thrown away, now it was time to start celebrating. After waking up at a reasonable hour for Colina (approximately nine-thirty), the two of them ventured down to the main square, where a parade was being held. She watched as various parts of the Netherlands' culture and history were brought to life as women danced around in traditional dresses, paired with pointed bonnets or veils and children handed out the vibrantly colourful flowers the Netherlands is known for.

The entire parade was exhilarating, filled with people laughing and dancing, paired with a constant stream of lively music. It was all incredible for Colina, but she also felt a sort of circular connection with Holly as she watched her laugh and her eyes shine with glee. She could practically see Holly when she was her age, enjoying the parade with her parents, a rare moment she could experience a lively change of pace outside of the small town she grew up in.

After the parade was over, Holly took her over to the local music festival. Every genre of music was on display, from traditional Dutch music to indie bands to DJs blasting the latest popular music. Colina had never seen so many different bands in one place at once.

Colina was most enthralled by the Dutch bands that were covering English pop songs that she heard all the time back home. It was the best of both worlds to her. She didn't understand most of the lyrics, the amount of Dutch Colina has picked up on over the years with Holly is pretty much just 'Mijn naam is Colina' so she didn't understand most of the lyrics. There was still familiarity in the song in other regards like the melody and the instruments being played, so the Dutch lyrics were just the dash of culture she needed during the festival.

After hours of listening to sets after sets of music, Holly and Colina finally go home. As they're walking to their B&B, Holly chirps up, "You know, I'm really glad that we're still doing these little trips after all these years."

Colina smiles as she bumps her shoulder with Holly's, "'m glad too, Miss Holly."

Holly chuckles as she looks down at Colina with a warm smile, "I always wanted to have a little one of my own that I could share my homeland with, but being an Auror got in the way of that," She pauses, looking off into the distance, as if contemplating her life decisions for a moment, "So when you and your father moved in and he asked for me to look after you, I was so excited to have another chance at that."

Colina matches her smile right back up at her. She was so lucky to have such a positive constant force in her life like Holly. She was like a grandmother to her, only she got to see her practically every day. One of the hardest adjustments when attending Hogwarts was not seeing Holly for extended periods of time. They would exchange plenty of owls, but there's not much that beats Holly's warm smile, funny remarks, and delicious baked goods.

The Saturday that followed was more of the same. A parade in the afternoon, followed by another music festival, except these events felt a bit more catered to the tourists and less to the actual Dutch citizens which Colina didn't like as much. It was so cool experiencing a genuine display of Dutch culture yesterday. Now, it just feels like the surface-level performances a tourist would want who was going to this country for the sake of going to the Netherlands.

Holly could tell that Colina didn't seem to like the festivities as much today, so she took Colina away from the festival. She felt incredibly bad, she wanted to make this weekend as enjoyable as possible for Holly. Instead, she made Holly feel bad for taking her to her homeland.

At least, that's what Colina thought until she and Holly stopped in front of a small tavern. Colina makes a confused face, causing Holly to chuckle, "The festivals were all starting to feel less Dutch to me, so I figured we change up the game plan a bit and we go out to eat somewhere."

Colina looked up at the sign for the tavern, which read "De Spinnenherberg". Holly smiled as she started reminiscing, "An old friend of mine from back before I knew I was a wizard runs this place. I didn't take you here originally since I know you probably wanted lots of fun and excitement for this year's trip since I took you out of school and all that."

Colina shakes her head, "No, no. I love it, Miss Holly!"

Holly smiles and ushers her in, where they're both greeted by a friendly-looking man whose eyes light up when he sees Holly. They're sat down in the quaint little tavern, empty except for them and the staff on shift. And Colina couldn't think of a better way to end the trip.