It’s a dead end street. Normally not much happens. In the summer the neighborhood has plenty of room to do some fun things, in the winter it is very quiet. But this afternoon it all changes. Then King Willem-Alexander walks through the KE Borgerlaan in Meppel.
There are a few houses, one of them empty. At the very end of the street, Hedwig Dijkstra lives with her boyfriend, happily. “It is a special place, actually next to a gray industrial estate,” she says, pointing to the other side, where Agrifirm is located, among others.
Dirt is brushed away. A cleaning team is busy spraying the railing along the Meppelerdiep. The high-pressure jet makes a lot of noise, while in the meantime the green, gray and black dirt drips from the beams. The handrail becomes white again, where it is never actually cleaned.
See below how Meppel prepares for the arrival of the king