Foto’s

Lots of alarms going off (Or: Testing the emergency system)

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Niki

Every first Monday of the month at 12:00, the test system goes off here in The Netherlands. It uses an air raid siren which always reminds me of my childhood. Why, do you ask?

The air raid siren sound that is used is the same sound that was used back in Chicago where I grew up. But there it was the tornado siren, warning of impending doom. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but not by much. You don’t ignore tornado sirens in the midwest of the United States.

But the last decade has brought a new sound into the mix during the first Monday of the month at 12:00 — your phone also bleats out a shrill sound about 4 or 5 times. The warning system is called “NL Alert” (crisis.nl in English). “Luckily” the telephones are only tested twice a year, in June and December. Now imagine my phone making that sound, and Marco’s phone, and Marco’s work phone… All. at. the. same. time. BEEEEEEEEEEP!

Oh, and the air siren was still going on outside.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a very useful system. It was credited for helping save lives during the flooding in July of this year in the southeastern part of The Netherlands. It is also used locally if there is a large fire and nearby residents need to close their windows, etc. It it just so loud at times! And it makes me think there is a tornado coming…

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

Christmas lights at the Bijenkorf (Or: 2021 edition)

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Niki

Here is a look at the outdoor decorations at Bijenkorf here in The Hague (Bijenkorf is a high-end retail store). These lights and decorations go up every year. Actually the lights were already up when Marco and returned from the United States back in late October, although the window displays weren’t ready for a few more weeks.

The lights:

And here is a look at some of the window displays. They change every year and usually draw a crowd (though less of a crowd this year and last year, of course).

It is hard to believe that it is almost December…

In the meantime, the current corona wave is still going strong, with intensive care units filling up. There was another press conference tonight, a week earlier than originally planned. Here is a look at the measures that go into effect Sunday morning, in English at government.nl.

There was another “noise” demonstration near Central Station this evening; the press conference is held in that area so the people outside try to make as much noise as possible to get heard on television. See also some images at regio.15 (text in Dutch). There were some pretty grim demonstrations last week so this time the military was present instead of the police. This demonstration went rather peacefully though, especially in comparison to the riots last week in Rotterdam (theguardian.com).

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Bijenkorf, Christmas | Leave a comment

New mural by the Eat Company (Or: Apparently it wasn’t the end after all)

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Niki

A few months ago I wrote a blog post about the mural by the Eat Company being painted over, after 5 years of sitting stuck in the “fall” theme. At the time it seemed like the end of an era.

A work colleague sent a tip last week that a new mural had unexpectedly appeared recently:

Although I do need to take a closer look during the day – it looks more like a giant (weatherproof) sticker than a painted mural. The texture is really nice, though.

(The stork shows up in a lot of imagery around The Hague; it is part of the official coat of arms – see also English Wikipedia.)

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Eat company, Graffiti | 2 Comments

Big chocolatey sprinkles (Or: MEGA kruidnoten!)

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Niki

Unfortunately these beauties weren’t available when Marco and I traveled to America a few weeks ago:

It is a new offering from the Dutch grocery store Albert Heijn: a large kruidnoten (English Wikipedia) covered in lots of chocolate and sprinkles. They are quite delicious, but also quite hard. I fear a bit for my teeth. Considering Marco and I brought about six random flavors of kruidnoten to America, I think my parents and brother would have also appreciated trying this version. If only it had appeared last month…

In other news: corona cases have been rising since about 3-4 weeks ago. The rise started the week before our trip, so it was weird to see the numbers double in the single week we were gone. The Dutch cabinet held a press conference this evening to announce additional measures, a bit of a turnaround from their last package where they got rid of almost everything including social distancing. Highlights are:

the Dutch access pass (aka the CoronaCheck app) needs to be shown at more locations. You can receive an entry QR code if you are vaccinated, you tested negative for the virus in the last 24 hours or you have recently had corona. A valid QR code is now required for a café’s outside terrace (it was previously only required for dining inside). It is also required for events where seating is assigned and at gyms, museums, conferences, etc.
face masks are now required indoors for public locations which do not yet require the Dutch access pass (like supermarkets, libraries, amusement parks and retail stores).
booster shots will be given for people aged 80+ from December and for people aged 60+ from January 2022.
the advice is to work from home half of the time. For about a month the advice to work from home was completely removed, but as you can see that didn’t last long…

Categories: The Hague | Leave a comment

A few more photos of Amsterdam (Or: Fountains and statues)

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Niki

First, here is a photo of a statue on the side of the building. I know it is somewhere in the city centre, and somewhere in the Chinatown part of the city, but I can’t quite make out the street name on the photo. Nevertheless, it is an interesting piece of art:

And here is a fountain near the main entrance of Vondelpark:

Unfortunately this weekend trip we took already feels like it was a few months ago, even though it was only last month. Oh well – on to the next trip!

Categories: Amsterdam | Tags: Art, Statues | 2 Comments

Oliebollen (Or: It must be October)

Posted on October 2, 2021 by Niki

Last year it was a huge decision to let the oliebollen stands open a month earlier, on 1 October, due to missed income (no festivals were being held, etc.). This year they also opened a month earlier, from yesterday. But this was more of a surprise as it wasn’t splashed everywhere on the news. The stands are usually allowed to be open between 1 November and mid-to-late January as oliebollen is a treat for Christmas and New Years.

But it is good news to see that the stand is back in the city centre, at the end of the Grote Markt shopping street (across from the public library). And perhaps they will be allowed to stay here; they moved to this spot some years back due to the construction around the Amare building. But construction of the Amare building is complete (previous blog post) so that is a good sign for the oliebollen stand.

In case you have no clue what oliebollen are, here is the page on English Wikipedia. Just try and read that without drooling.

Categories: Culture, Food, Holidays, The Hague | Tags: Oliebollen | Leave a comment

Chess tournaments (Or: Spotted at Rabbijn Maarsenplein)

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Niki

Last weekend I spotted a chess tournament in full swing at Rabbijn Maarsenplein. How pre-corona!

I didn’t have time to stick around, unfortunately. But it had definitely drawn a big crowd (especially on the other side of the tables).

And in other news:

Dutch scientists may have solved mystery of why some twins are identical from theguardian.com

Campaigners head to court to have cats kept indoors from dutchnews.nl (due to how many protected bird species and other small creatures are killed each year).

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Centrum | Leave a comment

Vondelpark in Amsterdam (And: Coffee by the river IJ)

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Niki

When Marco and I arrived this weekend in Amsterdam, we decided to have coffee and lunch at a Bagels & Beans not far from the hotel. The location was on the river IJ, which meant beautiful views.

The empty seat in the photo would soon be filled by a father and his young daughter, though they hadn’t arrived yet. She was super cute (although at the age where she knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to say it). One of things she wanted to do was blow bubbles in her juice, no matter what her father said. Unfortunately that fun stopped when she accidentally knocked the glass on the ground, shattering it. She was fine, not even crying, but she definitely quieted down after that.

On the way to Bagels & Beans we saw a plane flying past in the distance. Imagine my surprise when I saw the message:

“Stop the Corona hoax!”. Crazy. I suspect this is quite normal for Amsterdam, though. Maybe The Hague would have the same, but planes don’t fly over due to the government buildings.

On Saturday we visited Vondelpark (English Wikipedia). I had never been there, knowing it only as the park that was frequently closed during the corona crisis due to it being way too busy. It was definitely busy on the day we went, although there was enough room for everyone.

(Of course I found the greenest, most landscape-y part of the park to take a photo.)

Categories: Amsterdam | Tags: Bagels & Beans, Coronavirus, COVID-19 | Leave a comment

Hotel Jakarta (Or: Celebrating our wedding anniversary in Amsterdam)

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Niki

Marco and I celebrated our wedding anniversary over the weekend. We booked two nights at the hotel Jakarta in Amsterdam:

It is a lovely 4 star hotel a few kilometers from Central Station. It is walkable, although after the initial walk we decided to take tram 26 back and forth (2 stops). As you can tell, most rooms had a balcony, which was definitely one of the highlights for me. I sunned outside for almost an hour the first day. Even the floor was nice and warm. It turned out to be a good choice, since there was definitely less sun on the second day.

In the distance you can see the Jan Schaeferbrug (bridge). It has quite an interesting design. You can read about it over on Wikipedia in Dutch (link). It has stairs on either side of the bridge and either side of the river, and a sloped ramp for pedestrians and cyclists on 3 out of the 4 sides. The 4th side doesn’t have a ramp, only stairs, since the construction literally goes through an old monument building, the Pakhuis de Zwijger (Dutch Wikipedia). You can also see more photos at bruggenvanamsterdam.nl (Bridges of Amsterdam).

Here is the bridge at night. The photo credit goes to Marco. His night photos are always better than mine! Although the photo makes the lighting look even more gorgeous than it was in real life.

Continue reading →

Categories: Amsterdam, Marco&Niki | Tags: Anniversaries | 2 Comments

Open house by Amare (Or: Also, new greenery)

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Niki

This weekend was an open house at The Hague’s newest building, the Amare cultural complex (Amare.nl, in English). It was part of the UIT Festival (uitfestivaldenhaag.nl, in English), a festival which kicks off the 2021-22 cultural season in The Hague. Some of the events are in person, some of the events are virtual. The first events at Amare are planned for later this month, including events by Nederland dans theater’s “Skin of the mind” (ndt.nl, in English).

They have planted new (temporary) plants in front of the complex, opening up the space a bit for the opening day and removed part of the gates. It is so nice to have more space in this area again! The construction zone was taking up a lot of it (and still is, on the left side of the building).

Last week Marco took a few photos of the plants being added:

And an hour later it already looked like this:

Quick work! And even a radio for some tunes.

Categories: Culture, The Hague | Tags: Centrum | Leave a comment