nAntilles Day (?)
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nIt’s interesting to find out about holidays I didn’t even know existed in places I’d hardly heard of—but, in this day of tons and tons of info at my fingertips, courtesy of the Internet, what I find interesting about this particular holiday and place is that I cannot find out what I want to know!
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nThe Netherlands Antilles was the name of a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was located in the Caribbean Sea and was made up of five major islands. On October 21 each year, stores and offices and schools closed up for a national holiday called Antilles Day.
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nBut the Netherlands Antilles dissolved earlier this month (October 10), so my question is, will this holiday even happen this year?
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nThe five islands have different fates. Three of them—Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius—became special municipalities of the Netherlands, but the other two—Curacao and Sint Maarten—became constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
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nMy guess is that the islanders will celebrate Antilles Day just as before—it’s always nice to have an excuse for a vacation day, right?—but I couldn’t seem to spot any information about planned school closures, say, or festivities.
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nEnjoy…
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n…some photos of the Antilles.
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n–be sure to click each photo on this page—it leads to a gallery of other fantastic photos!
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n–notice the TONS of variety—creatures and sea life, beaches and historic sites—great stuff!
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n…a virtual tour, from the website Green Antilles.
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n…jigsaw puzzles of the Antilles.
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