Shame on me! There is so much to do that I almost forgot to post the one event with royal presence I attended this month. On 7 July 2015 I had to wake up early as at 8.30am (!!!) King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands was to come to Assen, which is a 15 minute ride by train from my town. Lucky for the King and many others the weather was pretty good, but not too warm (which it had been the previous week). In “De Bonte Wever” the King registered as a competitor in the 50th “Drentse Fiets4Daagse” (four days cycle tour through the province of Drenthe), as did many others. He followed in the footsteps of his grandmother Queen Juliana who in 1975 was present for the 10th jubilee of the event, and his father Prince Claus who visited in July 1990.
The King also met Liesbeth Ypey, the only person who has taken part in all editions of the event since its start in 1966. There were cycles for the King and his entourage, and then the small group took off.
In the meantime the group of journalists and photographes rushed back to their cars and literally speeded to a point halfway to the TT-Circuit in Assen to be able to take a few pictures on the way. Then rushed back in the cars and drove to the TT-Circuit itself. Here the Dutch TT motorcycling event is being held once a year. The King clearly thought it was his chance to drive on a small part of the circuit and crossed with his bike to his own final destination, after about half an hour cycling: the VIP-room of the TT-Circuit. The others members of his group could hardly follow.
The King met in the VIP-room with people who had been invited. Then he finally left, this time by car. But not before he had greeted the people who were still waiting for him outside.