Author Archives: Niki

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About Niki

I run the blog http://www.lifeinthehague.com

Neon Neighborhood Map of Chicago (Or: Another completed puzzle)

Posted on August 31, 2024 by Niki

Okay, the title makes it sound like I do puzzles all the time, but that isn’t the case. I tend to take too long to finish one, so I lose interest for a while and it sits in its puzzle “briefcase” (bol.com) under the couch for way too long.

Also note this post refers to the older version of the puzzle, with weirdly shaped pieces and no accompanying printout to show you how it looks. I purchased it in Chicago some years back from the Transit Tees store, but the puzzle they have on their website looks a bit different now. In a good way, as there is less black in their version than there is in this old version.

With that being said, it was a pretty fun puzzle to put together. It showcases all of the neighborhoods that make up the city:

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Almost December already? (Or: Kruidnoten spotted by Albert Heijn)

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Niki

Kruidnoten spotting is a tradition / sport in The Netherlands. The earliest I have spotted them is August 1, although this year I haven’t seen them yet. Marco did, though, and took a photo of them at a local Albert Heijn earlier this week:

I am sure if I went to the local Jumbo grocery store (pronounced Yumbo) I would find them as well. Although I don’t see them offered online quite yet…

Kruidnoten are a confectionery to celebrate the December 5 Sinterklaas holiday. Personally I am waiting for the gevuld speculaas, which is a cake with almond paste inside. It looks like this (laurasbakery.nl). Yum!

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Punselie’s stroopkoekjes (Or: Gone… for now?)

Posted on August 18, 2024 by Niki

Recently I read on omroepwest.nl that Punselie’s in Gouda would (at least temporarily) stop producing stroopkoekjes (=small syrup cookies) at the end of this month. See also the message on the official website, in Dutch, which says they hope to be producing cookies again in 12 months after they find a new location and secure new machinery.

Oven from world famous stroopkoek to be turned off: “Difficult and emotional” (article in Dutch at omroepwest.nl). It’s possible if you were on a KLM flight that you were served one of these. The linked article mentions that these were very popular on flights back in the day, but that the company lost a lot of revenue after 9/11. These days the cookies are only sold within the Netherlands because the machinery used to make the cookies is too old to be certified for sale outside of the country.

The cookies are pretty good. They are pretty small*, which isn’t a bad thing when you just want a cookie with your “after dinner” coffee. The ratio of cookie to syrup is also a bit more even here, so they are a bit less sweet than the bigger stroopwafels you can get on the street or in the store. All in all, a nice treat!

* The size of the cookies is given in the name right on the box, with the -je ending: stroopkoekjes. Adding -je (or -jes for the plural) to a word makes a regular sized object small. So, stroopkoekjes is small syrup cookies.

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Robotic servers (Or: Dadawan in the Mall of the Netherlands)

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Niki

A few months ago a new restaurant by the name of Dadawan opened in the Mall of the Netherlands. They bill themselves as “Asian fast food” although there are fusion options. But more importantly, they have robots…!

Okay, okay. The robots generally just bring you your drinks, not the food. But still, it’s a first for me. It was good food as well, although I oddly had a craving for – and went for – a hamburger at the Asian fast food fusion place. It was good, and not so large that it was messy. It wasn’t the best hamburger I’ve ever had, but it hit the spot. If that makes sense.

After you grab all your drinks, he prompts you to send him back to the starting point. Although he’ll go back automatically after a few minute or two if you don’t press anything.

And of course the joke on the screen was “Rice to meet you Leidschendam!” (Leidschendam being the name of the town the mall is in).

And yes, I just called a robot a “he”. Chat-GPT is also “he” for me.

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Tour de France Femmes (Or: Coming next week to The Hague)

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Niki

On Monday, August 12 the first stage of Tour de France Femmes will start in Rotterdam and end in The Hague. The neutralized start is at 12:15 with the expected arrival in The Hague around 15:33. Here is a look at the route posted on The Hague’s website. It skirts the city centre on the far right side, riding past the HCM Westeinde hospital in the top right before turning left again, heading to the beach.

Here’s an image from the official Tour website to show you just how flat the Netherlands is… woo boy, we go from 10 meters height to 8 meters, after 123 km (76.5 miles) of racing. Or maybe I mean that we are just low and close to the sea level? That is the meaning of the Netherlands after all (=lower countries).

Yep, the Netherlands is very, very flat and/or low…

Here is a look at the banner at The Hague’s city hall. Ignore the construction – there is a project going on to finally replace the stones around the city hall and main library.

Here is a prettier look, albeit from the side.

I probably won’t attend in person as I need to work, but I’ll try and follow it online since it will be cool to see the racing going through the streets of The Hague.

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What summer needs (Or: An ice cream cone from the Ijskabinet)

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Niki

What do you do on a warm summer evening? You go get ice cream, of course.

The Ijskabinet (literally “ice cabinet”) is an ice cream store in The Hague’s city centre, across the street from the Buitenhof/Hofvijver. They have been there since 2019 but this was our first time.

I knew I wanted a cone, but I quickly opted for a decadent chocolate cone. Then they asked if I wanted sprinkles, and I said yes, thinking they meant the sprinkles would be on top of the ice cream. Nope…

Apparently that meant sprinkles on the cone itself (Lekker! Tasty!).

I got coffee flavored ice cream and Marco got two scoops: yoghurt and lemon meringue pie. Mine was great and hit the spot. Marco liked his as well, although he said the lemon meringue pie flavor could have been stronger.

Ijskabinet does not have a working website, but they do have an Instagram page. I get the impression that the flavors change day by day, so you just need to walk in and see what they have. There is ample seating outside because it is right next to the statue of Johan de Witt which has nice seating opportunities at its base.

Categories: Daily Dutch living, The Hague | Tags: , | Leave a comment

13678 characters of Boredom *yawn* (Or: Exhibition at The Hague Library)

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Niki

The Hague’s main library has an exhibition entitled “13678 characters of Boredom *yawn*” (scroll down for English). It’s actually pretty cool, if you’re into word searches.

Ten writers created two sentences each, in a sort of “chain writing” exercise where each sentence was related to the one that came before it. The words found in those 20 sentences can be found in the giant word search in the library.

I didn’t have any time to stop and work on it when I spotted it over the weekend, but I’ll probably go back and see if there are any words left.

The other side of the board was also a giant word search, as you can see below:

The closing event is on 18 September, so you have some time between now and then to find some words. On that day the entire poem will be revealed. Happy hunting!

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Overlooking the Hofvijver (Or: A relaxing place to be)

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Niki

Here’s a photo I took of the Hofvijver last weekend:

I suspect the area was crowded today. Our summer is apparently two days long: today and tomorrow the temperature is around 28C/82F, before the temperature drops back down to 21C/69F on Sunday.

Did you know there is a live webcam of the beach at Scheveningen available at strandweer.nu? (strandweer = beach weather). Of course the sea itself is still pretty cold, considering the summer hasn’t been overly warm, yet.

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Flowers in The Hague (Or: Anna Paulownastraat)

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Niki

Last week I was walking along Anna Paulownastraat, a street in The Hague not far from the Peace Palace (Wikipedia). I had to stop and take a picture of some of the flowers by one of the front doors. The color of the flower against the black door worked really well:

It’s also close to the Anna Paulownaplein (a plaza honoring Anna Paulowna, a former queen of the Netherlands). The plaza has a beautiful statue of her which I posted about back in 2019.

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Looking out over The Hague (Or: Binnenhof’s “uitkijktoren” now open)

Posted on July 11, 2024 by Niki

uitkijktoren = watchtower in English

Binnenhof’s uitkijktoren is now open. It is 28 meters (92 feet) tall, which gives you lovely views of both the city centre as well as the renovation work in the Binnenhof. Anyone can freely go up during the day:

I don’t know, maybe I will go up there at some point and get some good pictures for you. In the meantime, take a look at the pictures at this article in Dutch over at omroepwest.nl. There’s also an article in Dutch over at indebuurt.nl with a few more pictures.

149 steps up, 149 steps down…

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