Foto’s

Dutch carousels (Or: Plein Open festival)

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Niki

One of the more random things that we did last summer in the Hague was go check out the Plein Open festival. …For about 20 minutes. There was a lot less people there than it seems to show on the website’s banner, but maybe that is because we went there during the day when they were still setting up (if I remember correctly). Or maybe the banner was from a different year. I was surprised to see the website still hasn’t really been updated since the 2011 concert.

It was just a short stopover on our way to Roger’s place!

tents at the Plein Open

The festival was held at het Spui plein, very close to the city hall…and the library!

Plein Open west stage

People starting to mill about, with their little ones in tow. It also amuses me that the word for “west” in Dutch is west, but the word for “east” is oost. I also have a picture of the oost stage, but it wasn’t as interesting for looking at the crowd.

small carousel at the Plein Open... Disney!

Cute little carousel that was sadly not yet in use when I took the picture. I think I would have loved going on that as a kid, but you never know. Apparently I cried when they put me on the the little “dinosaur” train track at the local carnival when I was growing up. And I remember being a bit too scared of the kiddie sized ferris wheel to go on it… and then I didn’t see it the following year! By the time I saw it again, I was too big to go on it. Boo.

But still, it was a fun little experience even if we didn’t stick around too long.

Categories: Culture, The Hague | 2 Comments

Grote Markt (Or: A busy thoroughfare)

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Niki

One of the more busy streets in the Hague is Grote Marktstraat, or Great Market street. This is the street where you will find Media Markt (pronounced May-di-ah Markt). That’s the store where Marco bought his fridge and Roger and Marco go almost daily for DVDs (ducks and runs).

sign for Grote Markt

I love the sign above. It looks sort of…damaged, and off-kilter.

Grote Marktstraat

Media Markt is on the right – you can see the red and white pinwheel. The red path is for bikes. The gray paths on either side are for pedestrians.

Of note within this image is the street signs on the left. The top one means “end of walking zone ONLY”, and the bottom one means “bike area”. Personally I would take the top sign to mean “end of walking zone” so no one should be walking there… but that’s just one of the things I have to get used to!

Categories: The Hague | Leave a comment

Art (Or: Three guys walk into a train station…)

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Niki

Sometimes you come across some very interesting street art within the Netherlands. This one is no exception.

Dutch train station art

Yes, that’s three guys – on each others’ shoulders and standing on a ball. At least the guy on the top looks like he is willing to experiment and spread his wings a bit! Perhaps they didn’t have enough money for the train so the one friend suggested that they should all try climbing onto the ball and riding it to their next destination…

In the background the pyramid shaped building is a train station near where Marco works.

Dutch tram in the tunnel

And here’s a picture of a tram in motion within a tunnel. Not sure if this is the underground tunnel in the Hague or not. You can even see a second tram in the background, heading in the other direction.

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

Stationsweg (Or: Annoying bridge to Schiphol)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Niki

One of the few hills in the Hague! (ducks and runs from Marco)

The road, Stationsweg, simply means Station Road. It leads to the Holland Spoor station.

View from a bridge in the Hague, on Stationsweg

Admittedly this is not one of my favorite places to be. All of my memories of crossing this bridge involve me going back to the train station to go to Schiphol and to the States. Usually it’s a pretty quiet walk, with Marco in the lead being the gentleman and dragging my luggage, but not much is said between us. And since I generally have an early morning flight, there are not usually many people around in general.

But writing this post, I realized I won’t have to deal with that scenario again!

Overlooking a canal in the Hague

And here is a picture of the canal beneath the bridge. The water is pretty still and calm.

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Look out (Or: Attack of the giant birds!)

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Niki

Another picture from Madurodam…

Uh oh... watch out for the large bird!

Quite fitting, since I just saw a trailer for The Raven, an Edgar Allan Poe movie. It comes out later this month (or in the latter part of June if you’re over across the ocean!…). It looks interesting. I actually wrote my undergraduate honors thesis on the humor in his work. Though I am sure some of it focused on the more morbid side of the humor.

Miniature building in Madurodam

And here is another view of the building from the other side, although it is currently bird-less. Madurodam was pretty cool. I might have to go back someday, once I have a sense of where most of these buildings are from so I can appreciate them better. Though Keukenhof is high on my list of destinations next Spring. I can’t wait!

Categories: The Hague | Tags: | Leave a comment

Indecent exposure (Or: Americans are such prudes)

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Niki

(Rejoice! The blog finally switched over to “8 months” from “9 months”. It seems to only update itself on the 1st of each month.)

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that I did not have a picture of the fountain that resides in the Binnenhof. I realized today that that was not technically correct, as I do have a picture of it… from Madurodam (the place where Dutch landmarks are done in miniature).

Binnenhof square at Madurodam

At first I thought this represented Koninginnedag, or Queen’s Day, which will happen later this month – since it is now April after all (!). But it seems this represents a day in September (the 3rd Tuesday of the month) when the Queen gives her annual speech within the Binnenhof. You can see her golden carriage near the church.

Continue reading →

Categories: Culture, The Hague | Tags: | 3 Comments

Cobblestone (Or: Church in the Binnenhof)

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Niki

Another post about the Binnenhof. There’s only a few things that I remember about this place. One of them is the beautiful golden fountain in the middle of the square. Another is the entrances you walk through to get to the square itself. The middle entrance is fairly large, or at least large enough for a car or two. There is also an entrance on either side, small enough for a few pedestrians (or more frequently, a bike).

I remember when I went, there was also a parked cop car and some police milling around, though I got the sense that this area was their regular assignment.

Church in the Binnenhof in the Hague

The other thing that I distinctly remember is the cobblestone that the square and surrounding areas are made of. I have a habit of always looking where I am walking (not that it prevents the occasional trip) so I always note the ground itself. Here the cobblestone is actually fairly wide, with a lot of space between each stone. This is somewhat noticeable, since it can get uncomfortable if your foot hits the stone wrong.

All and all, a beautiful if somewhat sparse square.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: | 2 Comments

Tongue-tied (Or: William the Silent statues)

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Niki

I was digging through my photos from my various trips to the Netherlands and came across more touristy-type photos. I found one that was in reference to William the Silent (just like a previous statue post about him). I have no idea why he was called William the Silent, but internet research (hi Wikipedia!) seems to suggest it was because he never spoke up regarding controversial topics.

statue of William the Silent in the Hague on a horse

I must admit I also like the deep blue window coverings behind the actual statue. Too bad the flowers can’t be that color as well!

Speaking of red flowers…

Continue reading →

Categories: The Hague | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Cold & wind (Or: Where did Spring go?)

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Niki

I knew I was going to be in trouble when I left work this afternoon as my earrings were basically horizontal against the wind gusts. Forget keeping the hair somewhat decent-looking – pieces of it were flying out of my hairband with every hard-fought step.

I think the hardest thing about this brief weather transition is the short taste of Spring we were given. But here I am again, zipping up the liner back into the coat and pulling out my hat and gloves for tomorrow’s use. The wind gusts will continue into tomorrow, albeit abated. After that, the temperatures will rise again, though not to their previous levels.

On the plus side, I did manage to take some pictures of the trees and flowers on campus where I work, for a future blog post. This was partially because I am not sure how many plants will survive tomorrow’s sudden temperature shock. …I am not sure I will!

In the mean time, here is another picture of the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, my favorite painting:

Painting in the Royal Palace of Amsterdam

I love the use of the wall to divide the painting into two from the ceiling on down. The white is a good contrast to the paintings themselves which really makes it stand out against the art.

 

Categories: Amsterdam | Tags: | 1 Comment

Beef briskets (Or: Grocery shopping mania)

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Niki

Today has been a slightly productive, somewhat lazy day, depending on how you look at it. I did manage to take out the trash and the recycling, do the grocery shopping, take a shower, and clean up the place a little bit. (I’m still ignoring a bit of the dust that I see here and there… sue me!)

It seems like the town has gone full-blown Irish overnight. The grocery store was a sea of people wearing green attempting to buy mass quantities of beer and food for parties tonight, all of it shoved into their overflowing carts. One of the workers in the meat department spent most of her time shoveling packages of beef briskets from her work cart into the freezers for folks to snap up by the armful. And then there was the Irish diddy that kept playing on loop over and over again on the store speakers. (Even some of the workers were muttering about it to each other!)

My random purchase of the day was pork loin chops. I have never cooked those before, so it should be interesting, though I might wait and have them for dinner tomorrow.

Thankfully I never get much due to having to carry it all on the walk home, so I could go into the express lanes. The person in front of me was trying to buy a single can of beer, and it was ringing through as if it were from a 6-pack even though the person got it from a cooler. This reminded me of shopping at Albert Heijn in the Hague. You are allowed to pull an item from its pack (say a 6 pack of beer) and pay for it separately without the cashier batting an eyelash. That is a foreign concept over here!

Today’s picture comes from the Oude Kerk in Delft. Another stained glass window. It amuses me how it is called “Old Church” and yet it looks so vibrant and new, especially compared to the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church). Perhaps it is the white walls and the bright, welcoming atmosphere.

Stained glass window, Oude Kerk

Categories: Delft | 1 Comment

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