Marco and I had a few guests over on Monday night so he decided to make key lime pie:
It’s a great treat – not too sugary, and a hint of sourness from the lime and the raspberry smear (as well as the frozen raspberry stick on top). The pie crust is from Kelly’s expat shop.
Yum!
The city hall of The Hague has been repainted in the colours of Piet Mondriaan! Check out the photo I took this morning:
Pretty cool, right? The artwork is celebrating 100 years of the De Stijl art movement, which was founded in 1917 in Amsterdam. Piet Mondriaan (or ‘Mondrian’ after he dropped one of the a’s in his name) was well-known for his work with primary colors together with the colors black and white.
In the coming weeks other buildings will receive the same treatment, including the nearby Pathé Spui movie theatre, the Bilderberg hotel in Scheveningen and the Hofvijver in the center of the city.
If you are interested in seeing Mondriaan’s art, head over to the Gemeentemuseum (= city museum). With over 300 pieces, they have the largest Mondriaan collection in the world. They were closed today to prepare for the new De Stijl exhibit. They will reopen tomorrow, with tomorrow (only) featuring free entry to see the exhibit. If you have time you should check it out!
Here’s a look at part of the Valentine’s Day at Xenos (a discount store):
If you need candles or flowers, you’ll definitely in luck…!
I also took a picture of this cute snow globe. Inside you have the iconic Dutch clogs:
Not that we have much snow at the moment. After a week of cold, we have (relatively) warm temperatures, at least through the weekend. And of course, rain…
But we’re past January – it can only get warmer from here! In theory.
Random photo from Saturday, during the Chinese New Year festivities:
Cute!
On Tuesday night Marco, Roger and I went to the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam to see the punk rock band Green Day perform.
The setlist for the night is available at setlist.fm. They played for at least 2 1/2 hours (they were scheduled for 3, but even 2 1/2 seemed like a decent amount).
guitarist Mike Dirnt graces our corner (he came over frequently)
My favorite song that they played was Are We The Waiting (YouTube). From the new album I only wish they had played Say Goodbye (YouTube again), although they don’t seem to play that one on tour. Oh well – can’t have it all!
Instant wall of heat. It felt nice, since it was so brief…
It was a really good show. I definitely woke up sore in the morning, but it was still worth it.
On Thursday evening Marco and I went to Marks & Spencer for a coffee. In November of last year the company had reported that they would be closing the two Dutch stores, along with other international stores, in a cost-cutting measure. But The Hague store is still open… with no additional details about exactly when it would close.
A look at the cafe on the top level
Chocolates on sale for Easter – either the frozen castle or a R2D2. I think I’d go for the R2D2!
So… still open for now. Not that I am complaining! I really like their coffee.
This picture is from last week, from the nearby city of Rijswijk. Unfortunately the Netherlands is currently warming up again, so most of the ice has melted.
Marco reported that there were no… accidents… or falling through the ice while he was watching. Since Friday it has been warmer, so the chance of skating on natural ice is pretty low until it turns colder again.
A few days ago I mentioned that Media Markt would be holding their annual BTW vrije dagen this Thursday through Sunday. During this event, they pay for the tax on the item, effectively giving you tax as a discount.
So Marco and I went Thursday night after dinner. Thursday nights are also Koopavond (Shopping night) in The Hague. That means most stores are open late until 9pm, so it’s already busier. And then add on an event like this… yeah. Crowds!
It actually didn’t take too long to find the items we wanted (we knew exactly what we wanted to get), it just took a while staying in line.
Lines to the right of me, lines to the left…
Lines everywhere!
But we survived. No major purchases this year, just a water cooker. Total savings was €10. Not a lot, but still something!
Tomorrow the city of The Hague and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Netherlands will be hosting the Chinese New Year celebrations. 2017 is the year of the rooster!
Program at City Hall:
Other areas of interest:
One of my photos from the 2013 Chinese New Year celebrations
It’s official – The Netherlands has pitched itself to the US president, Donald Trump. This satirical video first appeared on the Dutch comedy show Zondag met Lubach. The voiceover is done by Greg Shapiro, a Dutch American comedian.
“Dear Mister President. Welcome to this introduction video about the Netherlands. It’s going to be a great video. It’s gonna be absolutely fantastic. … We speak Dutch. It’s the best language of Europe. We’ve got the best words. All the other languages failed. Danish is a disaster. German is not even a real language. It’s fake. It’s a fake language.” and “This is the Afsluitdijk. It’s a great, great wall we built to protect us from all the water from Mexico.” And more!
Stillshot from the video.
Madurodam – the miniature city theme park in The Hague – even got a mention. And that alone is enough of a reason to watch the video.
Life in the Hague 