Foto’s

Yet another try for Spuistraat 19-20a (Or: SoLow XXL)

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Niki

Spuistraat 19-20a used to be a bookstore by the name of De Slegte. Many years ago, that is – Marco used to get his used textbooks there. Then a few years ago it was taken over by another bookstore, Selexyz. Then last year or so it became Paagman’s, yet another bookstore. See a pattern yet? Then Paagman’s moved to Lange Poten… So that particular location seemed rather cursed.

In early May a new store moved in – this time a SoLow, a discount store. It’s pretty decent, with a mix of normal discount items and random items that they just happened to get in stock that month.

XXL is definitely the correct term – it’s pretty large inside. I do recommend giving it a look if you live in The Hague. It is also good to check out for Halloween costumes as well closer to October.

Here’s a bonus picture of the neighbor’s cat napping in the garden:

Categories: Shopping, The Hague | Tags: Cats, SoLow | Leave a comment

Utrecht (Or: Our second try)

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Niki

Marco and I went to Utrecht on Saturday. We had previously gone to Utrecht last year but we made the mistake of visiting on a Monday — most shops tend to be closed or have reduced opening hours on Mondays. Plus the weather was bad and their was construction around the Domplein so it was not quite what we hoped.

This time it worked out for the better. Marco and I had train ticket vouchers (dag weekend vrij / one weekend day free pass) that needed to be used this past weekend. We first stopped at the VVV office (a tourism office) to pick up a €5 walking tour booklet.

Here are some of the pictures we took along the way:

World war II statue in the Domplein Utrecht

A statue on the Domplein commemorating WWII. Behind is an image against the side of the wall, but it almost creates the illusion that you are looking inside the church itself.

Actually in the place where the statue currently is you could previously find the nave of the church, but that part of it was destroyed back in the 1600s.

(Above) Also in the Domplein, you have the Pandhof, a garden area dating back to the 14th-15th century (restored in the 18th century).

The Domtoren (towers) – from a bit further away. It rises above the city, and if per chance you are standing in a spot where it can not be seen, more than likely it can be heard. The church bells were all but continuous when we were in the area.

Academicgebouw, Utrecht University

Above you have the main academic building of Utrecht University, built in the late 19th century.

If you didn’t know the Tour de France was starting in Utrecht this year, well, now you do. 🙂 Stage 1 and stage 2 will be held in the city.

And finally, Marco’s favorite joke of the day:

“Every time I hear that dirty word exercise I wash my mouth out with beer.” / “Elke keer dat ik hoor dat vies woord ‘exercise’, was ik mijn mond met bier.”

Categories: Utrecht | Tags: Tour de France, Tourist attraction | 1 Comment

A sea of orange (Or: Politie action around the Binnenhof)

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Niki

This morning I was met with a sea of orange. There were lots of police officers setting up for a protest around the Binnenhof (parliament offices in The Hague). Reports say that at its height there were 1400 police officers on hand. I even received an email from the American consulate — basically they send out emails to interested citizens about any protest that happens in Amsterdam or The Hague. In this case the police were protesting for better pay (a 3.3% increase) and a lowering of the retirement age which currently stands at 67 years.

The beginnings of the sea of orange – there were of course many more police around the corner by the Binnenhof and Buitenhof

The email also clarified who was wearing what – police wearing an orange vest over their uniform were protesters. Police wearing a red vest over their uniform were protest leaders. And finally you also had active, on-duty police officers wearing just their police uniform.

Here is an article in Dutch and an article in English.

Categories: The Hague | Leave a comment

Hemelvaartsdag (Or: Visiting Zoetermeer on a day off)

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Niki

This past Thursday was a national holiday here in the Netherlands – Hemelvaartsdag, or Ascension Day, a Christian holiday. Marco and I decided to take the tram to Zoetermeer and do some shopping. Well, I decided to do some shopping and Marco begrudgingly came along… I kid, I kid.

We visited the Stadshart (City’s heart) to do our shopping. I did manage to find a new pair of pants for work – harder than one might think as the Netherlands seems to discriminate against short folks like me! Here’s a view of the indoor part of the shopping area:

One interesting thing about this area was the lack of proper protection against wind in the beginning. Not long after it opened it became clear that this area was really nothing more than a huge wind tunnel. I found an old article in Dutch about the issue (article) but I mostly know about it from the stories Marco told me.

As usual we stopped at Bagels & beans for a coffee and an apple crumble. The weather wasn’t as good as it was a few weeks ago in Leiden but it wasn’t too cold. For the Netherlands anyway…

Categories: Everyday purchases, Zoetermeer | Tags: Bagels & Beans | Leave a comment

Exploring Leiden (Or: Windmills and canals)

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Niki

On Saturday Marco and I went to Leiden. It is a university city not far from The Hague (10-15 minutes by train). We first made a stop at the VVV office (tourist office) for a free city guide. Unfortunately it was pretty commercial in nature and it wasn’t quite as informative as the Dordrecht guide was (we paid €5 for that). However the Leiden guide did have three recommended walks in the back so we used that. You just need to keep in mind some of the streets it takes you down are store heavy…

My first picture was easily my favorite:

See more pictures by clicking Read more.
Continue reading →

Categories: Leiden | Tags: Canals | 4 Comments

Irodion, Greek restaurant in The Hague (Or: Desserts and city views)

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Niki

A few weeks ago Marco and I went to a Greek restaurant with my father-in-law and his wife. We went to Irodion, a restaurant which has recently re-opened on the Grote Marktstraat (it used to be at another nearby corner, but construction forced it to move so it was closed for a time). They have a snackbar on the ground floor and a restaurant on the first floor.

The best thing about the restaurant is the view of the Grote Markt plein. (It looked like most of the tables next to the window were four seaters, so keep that in mind.)

And here is a look at the bar:

The food was comparable to the Greek restaurant we usually go to, Athene. In both places you generally have the option of a salad bar to go with your meal, plus the typical Greek choices. If anything this menu was a bit easier to get through, as they had less combinations listed (though the same food on offer). Athene does give you a complementary chilled shot of ouzo, a licorice alcohol served as aperitif.

The desserts were pretty nice. First the dame blanche:

There is so much whipped cream you can’t even see the vanilla ice cream! And of course it comes with a rather generous serving of chocolate sauce to pour on top.

Here is the baklava dessert:

The cool thing about the presentation is the orange slice, although it is hard to tell why from this angle. It is a full orange slice cut in half so that one half is draped on one side and the other on the other side, with the peel connecting the two sides.

Categories: Food, The Hague | Tags: Restaurants | 1 Comment

Springtime flowers in The Hague (Or: Sun!)

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Niki

Lately the temperature has been climbing up – bit by bit, with lapses back into cold rainy days from time to time, but it is definitely springtime. It’s still generally in the high 50s or low 60s, but it is an improvement. Usually!

Along with most of our days off (holidays) falling in April-June, this marks the time when outdoor events begin. For example, yesterday was the Dag van de Haagse Geschiedenis (in Dutch, Day of History of The Hague). Next weekend is the Life I Live festival (Dutch | English). This festival is found throughout the center of The Hague, on nine different stages, from 7pm to 1:30am. It falls on King’s Day eve, the night before the King’s birthday.

How do I feel about spring finally being here? Well, here’s a cappuccino smiley to show you:

Of course the forehead makes it look slightly evil… just don’t feed it after midnight.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Flowers, Spring | 1 Comment

Empty stores (Or: Graffiti on Voorstraat in Dordrecht)

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Niki

As I mentioned in my last blog post, Marco and I went to Dordrecht about a week ago to do a stadswandeling in Dordrecht (that’s a walk around the city). After that was done, we doubled back to visit Voorstraat. People say Voorstraat is the longest shopping street in the Netherlands. Of course, such an achievement does come with a price in today’s economy: there are some empty stores. Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable.

Of course, what makes it even more noticeable is when someone adds graffiti to each of the shop windows to point out that it is empty:

Here’s an idea for this empty store: a popup cafe with free wifi!

Some graffiti points out the fact that the store has been empty for over three years. But the main purpose of it is to point out what the store could be used as (apparently if the city government cared enough to do something about it – I suspect it isn’t as easy as the graffitist hopes, though). But other ideas for popup stores (always illustrated by graffiti) include music stores, bike rental stores, and a biological store.

More information about the graffiti and pictures can be found here (in Dutch).

Something cute hanging out by the door of a non-abandoned (just closed at the time) store:

Categories: Dordrecht | Tags: Dogs, Graffiti | 4 Comments

Dordrecht (Or: A walking tour of the city)

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Niki

Marco and I took the day off on Friday and we decided to visit Dordrecht, a small town outside of Rotterdam (the credit goes to Marco for the idea of what to do).

Dordrecht, just under the red “Zuid Holland”

It is about 35 to 40 minutes by train traveling from The Hague. We did a walking tour of the city (Rondje Dordt – page in Dutch) which was about 3km long and showed the sights of the city.

Here are some of the photographs that we took along the way:

Photograph of Holland Spoor, one of the two train stations in The Hague

Continue reading →

Categories: Dordrecht | Tags: Canals | Leave a comment

New bus/tram stops (Or: Look up)

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Niki

The Hague is slowly but surely getting new bus and tram shelters!

Here is a photo of one of the old tram stops being removed (while buses, trams and traffic in general ride past just a few feet away!). You can see the old stop being moved in the air, including the stone base underneath.

Here is a look at the new design being used (link).

But when you find yourself at one of the new designs, make sure you look up at the roof, as the design is uniquely The Hague:

The symbol of The Hague is the ooievaar (stork). Very pretty!

Categories: The Hague, Transportation | Tags: HTM | Leave a comment