Christmas is a bit different in Amsterdam. Saint Nicholaas was the patron saint of sailors, and it was in Amsterdam that he became associated with Christmas. In Amsterdam Sint Nicolaas arrives every year from Spain on his great ship, riding a white (or gray) horse. He is accompanied by hundreds of Zwarte Pieten - about 450 this year. Zwarte Piet is from Spain. If you are good, he will bring you exotic gifts from the ship. If you are bad, he will stuff you into a sack and sell you into slavery! It adds a bit more uncertainty to that whole Christmas thing.

What bewildered Eric and I is that these are obviously men in blackface - certainly not very politically correct in the US!

My reaction when I first saw the Pieten was a lot like this little guy!

But here it seems to be no big deal.

In fact, the kids love Piet. The kids in this crowd were all shouting Piet! Piet! which made them sound like an enormous flock of tiny birds.

The Sint comes on his horse, but how do the Pieten arrive? Well, being Amsterdam, some just have to come by bicycle.

Sinterklaas later came by our area, with a few of the Pieten in tow.

No sack for Eric! He must have been good this year, Piet is giving him koekjes.

The Sint himself was a bit busy to pose for a picture, but we did get one as his caravan came by.

The Sint and Piet in Madame Tussad's wax museum hold still much better.

We did manage to find a photogenic Piet though, on the Nieuwemarkt.

The things in Piet's cage are multicolored doves. I have no idea what they have to do with anything, but here they are.