Author Archives: Niki

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About Niki

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

Herengracht in The Hague (Or: Mostly empty on Sunday mornings)

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Niki

Here is a photo of the street Herengracht in The Hague, not far from Centraal Station.

If you keep walking, you’ll come to the Korte Poten street, with the American Book Centre (or the “ABC store”, as some call it). They are open for limited browsing and order collection only. In the same area on your left is the Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives in English, literally “the second room”). And just a bit farther is the Centrum tram/bus stop which is of course a ghost town these days.

A few news stories about animals today:

Japanese aquarium urges public to video-chat eels who are forgetting humans exist (theguardian.com)

After four months of waiting, a baby panda is born at Dutch zoo (DutchNews.nl)… this was after 16 years of campaigning to bring pandas to The Netherlands for breeding purposes. Talk about the long game!

The urban wild: animals take to the streets amid lockdown – in pictures (theguardian.com).

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Support local (Or: Lebkov in The Hague)

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Niki

This morning I took an extended walk, ending at Lebkov which is a café not far from Centraal Station. I ordered two large cappuccinos, both with an extra shot espresso. One for me, one for Marco. (Or maybe both were for me – you’ll never know!)

Since I used to steal their wifi so much during weekends–and want to do so again in the future–I need to make sure they survive. I love that place.

Are there any places that you want to highlight for the #supportlocal movement?

In other news:

  1. For those of us with Disney Plus: Prop Culture is now available. These roughly 30 minutes episodes show you props from various Disney movies, including Honey, I shrunk the kids!, Mary Poppins, Who framed Roger Rabbit, Chronicles of Narnia, and more (8 episodes total, all available now).
  2. Just a few more days until Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian starts, also on Disney Plus. Premiering on May 4th, of course. May the fourth be with you. This is the behind the scenes show for The Mandalorian.
  3. Available to everyone: have you seen the At Home With Olaf series?! Each clip (lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 90 seconds) is a-dor-able. If you’re an Olaf fan. Which you are, right? Unfortunately yesterday’s clip was the last. Boo!
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A look at how my mind works (Or: Spoiler–it gets confusing)

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Niki

So last week you had this article at omroepwest.nl:

The first time I saw this article I translated it as ‘Two men attack each other with knife and cow foot after fight’.

Cow foot? Okay, that’s strange, but that’s what it says: koevoet. Koe for cow, voet for foot. Maybe it was a frozen cow foot from the butcher?

Repeat a few days later when I see the article again: oh, that fight with a knife and a cow foot, okay. I figure it’s really not that, but it’s too fun picturing a man wielding a cow foot so I decide not to consult the translating friend of Google.

Repeat last night, when I see the article again. But this time Marco is around to ask. I let him know I have a “Dutch” question, as I like to put it. I repeat the article title and then translate it to English.

I’m barely finished when he tells me that a koevoet is a crowbar.

Awww. That’s logical…

But a part of me is disappointed none the less. Can’t you picture a man running down the street, screaming and wildly brandishing a frozen cow foot?

I can.

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1.5 meters (Or: Social distancing at the local Asian store)

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Niki

Here is a quick photo taken outside of the local Asian store, Amazing Oriental. Sometimes it is busy enough that you just gotta social distance yourself. There are small bits of caution tape along the wall letting you know where to stand.

Kudos to the store for keeping a manageable amount of people inside at the one time – you’re only able to enter when the worker brings back a free shopping cart. It was also a relatively fast moving line as the average wait was only two or three minutes.

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#HoudjeHaags (Or: Sign by Sostrene Grenes)

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Niki

Here is a sign spotted a few days ago by the Sostrene Grenes store:

I’ll admit I just thought it was a nice sign in the corona times, but Marco explained that it also a pun on the existing phrase ‘Houd je haaks!’ which is said when someone leaves. It means something like ‘Stay safe’, ”Keep well’ or ‘Take care’. The two phrases–Houdjehaaks and HoudjeHaags–sound very similar when spoken aloud, but of course #HoudjeHaags is the phrase Dutchies from The Hague would use.

And if you’re interested, the city of The Hague would like to sell you a t-shirt with that phrase, with a bit more than half of the proceeds going to charity.

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Aperol Spritz (Or: A drink fit for a king)

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Niki

As you all know, Monday was King’s Day here in The Netherlands. A day that is typically celebrated by all things orange. And even though this year was a bit more subdued, we still got into the spirit. Pun intended?

During one of my work team meetings last week it was suggested that we do an Aperol Spritz competition in honor of King’s Day, and that we send in our photos. While I did not lift my drink at 16:00 for the Nationale Toost (National toast) yesterday, Marco and I did make the drinks later in the evening.

Note: the recipe calls for a slice of orange as garnish, but you make do with what you have (you can never have too many limes!). Otherwise it is 3 parts prosecco, 2 parts Aperol and one part soda water. And in our case a special King’s Day cookie which I refer to as a “sugar bomb”.

Aperol Spritz is apparently an Italian drink suitable for days when you can sit on the terrace. We’re heading into a very rainy week, so it will have to be an inside drink for the foreseeable future. But at least King’s Day 2020 was celebrated with a touch of orange!

Categories: Holidays | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Flowers (Or: A bit of color, up close and from afar)

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Niki

Happy King’s Day, everyone! First, a picture of a mural in the city centre:

This mural is found at the entrance of what used to be one of the Amazing Oriental franchises until a few months ago. It’s in the Markthof, a small shopping area, at the entrance across from Momiji sushi. This one shouldn’t be confused with the larger Amazing Oriental franchise that is underground on the Grote Markt street. This store still exists but without the Amazing Oriental branding.

Not the best picture I’ve taken, but I needed to adhere to social distancing rules. This picture shows about 2/3rds of the mural.

Are you interested in seeing a short time lapse of tulip fields blooming, taken from a European Space Agency satellite? Check out the view at www.esa.int.

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A reminder of better days (Or: Football and chips)

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Niki

For those reading the United States – yes, I’ve gotten used to the convention of calling soccer football.

Recently I was in the Albert Heijn and I spotted some Pringles cans in the chips aisle:

The Dutch football season was canceled earlier this week after the Dutch government said that large events would not be allowed before 1 September at the earliest. Even so, the Pringoooals promotion is still going on, at least in some countries (Dutch link).

The Dutch football association was left with a puzzle after deciding to cancel the remainder of the football season. They let the affected clubs vote, but of course not everyone is happy and there is talk of lawsuits. The FA has decided the following (see also DutchNews.nl):

  • officially there is no champion (Ajax and AZ were #1 and #2)
    • Ajax will go straight into the European Champions League‘s group stage, while AZ will need to qualify
    • Feyenoord will go straight into the Europa League (one level below the Champions League), while PSV Eindhoven and Willem II will need to qualify
    • FC Utrecht (which barely missed out) wants to sue
  • Most leagues have relegations and promotions at the end of the season. For Dutch football this means the two worst teams in the Dutch honor league play the two best teams from the Dutch first league. If a team from the lower league wins this knockout game then they are promoted to the honor division and the losing team is relegated to the first division.
    • The FA decided that there would be no promotions or degradations this season
    • At the moment that competition was stopped, The Hague’s ADO Den Haag team was second to last in the honor division… though anything could have changed in the months ahead. But they got lucky, even if the team itself sees financial trouble ahead due to the coronavirus crisis (Dutch article from omroepwest.nl)
    • The two teams from the lower division want to sue

Although various teams are unhappy, the chances of winning in court are quite low (Dutch article from nos.nl).

I’ll admit I am definitely missing sports on TV. I wasn’t always a big football fan, but sometimes it provides the perfect amount of entertainment or background noise. And since Marco and I have Ziggo, we have seen a lot of English Premier League games over the years.

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Spiegel, spiegel aan de wand (Or: Poetry about the coronavirus)

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Niki

Marco spotted this poem on the side of a building in The Hague city centre. It’s across from the MediaMarkt (to the left of the photo is the Rootz restaurant).

In English it reads:

Mirror, mirror on the wall
I want to walk on the beach, hand in hand

I want to greet people on the street
and give a hug to the neighbor
with whom I talk

I want to eat something with others
without having to measure 1.5 meters

I want to look at how the tulips bloom
and stand in line for a party

I want to enjoy the spring sun
and walk with friends around the block

But for now we need to call each other
and be nice, even if it is with a small gesture

And then—before we know it—
we’ll be with each other again…

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Serenity (Or: Between the Binnenhof and the Mauritishuis)

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Niki

Happy Friday, everyone! Here is a photo I took during a walk yesterday:

On the left you have the Binnenhof, on the right you have the Mauritshuis, an art museum. Perhaps you know its most famous painting? The Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeer.

In the background, the water leads to the Hofvijver pond, of which I’ve taken countless photos of over the years.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: | 2 Comments

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