Sinterklaas is the Dutch and Belgian version of Santa but his day falls on December 6, which is also Ava's birthday. She is very happy that she doubled the amount of gifts simply by being here in Belgium.
Santa and Sinterklaas are very different but has some similarities. Sinterklaas wears red and has a white beard like Santa but he is more religious looking. He arrives from Spain on a steamboat and has horses instead reindeer. Sinterklaas has "elves" but they called Zwarte Piet, translating directly to "Black Pete". I was informed of this in my first few weeks in Belgium and I could not wait to see this for myself. In Antwerp, they make a big deal out of Sinterklaas' arrival with a parade in the city. He comes along on a boat along the river and descends on the streets of Antwerp with a posse of Zwarte Piets.
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| Super excited for Sinterklaas |
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| Trying to get a peek at Sinterklaas (Ming's crying because she had to share the prime view) |
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| Zwarte Piet on stilts |
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| Juggling Zwarte Piet |
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| It's mayhem as they make their way down the street |
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| This should have been our Christmas card this year |
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| Took a break with warm waffels and hot chocolate |
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| Ethan's in heaven! |
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| All prepared for Sinterklaas the night before - shoes are left out for the gifts, carrots and water for the horses (Ming thought the horses would like to eat the carrots out of the shoes), and a booby trap for Sinterklaas courtesy of Ethan. He thought Sinterklaas would land on the dogs' squeaky toy, wake up the dogs, and then wake him up :) |
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| Ethan got to make his own Zwarte Piet hat at school. He also won bowling tickets from a coloring contest! |
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