Mural

Winterfestivities always starts at saint Martens day, November eleventh, in the Netherlands. A few days later, today, Sinterklaas arrives with his disputed helpers. Within one week we went from pumpkins to wrapped boxes, chocolate letters and pepernoten, small short bread cookies with spices like pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg.

People buy each other presents, make easy poems and have a very huggelig evening on or some evening near December fifth. It is a bit like Santa.
We haven't had presents for sinterklaas night for a couple of years and tried Santa for a while, but this year we will celebrate it.

Bert can't make poems, he says.