Arrival of Sinterklaas!

Last Saturday, the one and only Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) came to town; it was the moment I have been waiting for all year! The streets were packed with families and little tikes trying to sneak a peek at Mr. Sinterklaas himself. He arrived on a ship with all of his little helpers called Zwarte Pieten (those guys are going to give me nightmares for a month). There was a big parade in the city center with many exotic animals, pepernoten (typical Dutch ginger cookies), and singing. Sinterklaas was welcomed by the mayor and even gave a speech about his journey to Groningen. All in all, it was a pretty cool new experience, despite the lack of snow.

And there he is

How creepy are they?

Pretty impressive

The big speech