De passage (lit: the passage. Sounds like French; pa-sage, two short a’s) is one of my favorite places to visit in the Hague. It’s a small shopping area famed for its covered shopping streets and glass ceiling. Although the architecture is befitting of its 1882/1928 dates, the stores inside are definitely modern.
Foto’s
Governmental history (Or: You’re sitting on it)
Near the area which houses Buitenhof and Binnenhof is the Grondwetbank (lit: Constitution bench). Upon it is inscribed the first article of the Dutch constitution:
Allen die zich in Nederland bevinden, worden in gelijke gevallen gelijk behandeld.
Discriminatie wegens godsdienst, levensovertuiging, politieke gezindheid, ras, geslacht of op welke grond dan ook, is niet toegestaan.
Raamstraat (Or: A more urban type of art)
Het is vrijdag! (It’s Friday!)
Go on, click the link. You know you want to.
Possible weekend Dutch plans:
1) dutchgrammar.com -> Prefixes and suffixes
2) Rosetta Stone. That thing is so finicky with pronunciation I had to set it to the easiest level and tell it I was male! Of course, my pronunciation needs work, too.
3) Watch some more Dip en Dap videos from Uitzending Gemist (lit: missed broadcasts, I think), a television programming website. This children’s show would be a lot less annoying to watch if they wouldn’t laugh/snicker so much.
Non-Dutch weekend plans:
Prepare chili in a slow cooker – about 10 hours, hopefully – for Sunday’s dinner, and enjoy it in front of the Superbowl. The start time seems later and later each year. 6:29PM EST.
For fun, let’s take a look at Raamstraat (lit: window street) in the Hague. It’ll be a graffiti post similar to this one.
Dissection (Or: Breaking apart Dutch words)
Still doing the “back to the basics” route for learning Dutch. At least it is a lot more fun than learning cursive back in elementary school! Yes, I will write within the lines, stop badgering me . . .
Albert Heijn (Or: Glad I don’t need to ship yellow mustard in)
The grocery store of choice near where I will be living is Albert Heijn. Although it’s nowhere near the typical size of an American grocery store (maybe 12 or so aisles) it works for most things. The store itself is on the lower level, with escalators allowing access from street level. When the escalators are functioning of course; one time they were broken for about 5 weeks straight. I considered taking a picture of the negative comments a customer left on the official “We’re sorry” note but didn’t…
Entrance to Albert Heijn via escalators
Streets (Or: The hustle and bustle of a foreign world)
My short time in Amsterdam was accentuated by the sheer amount of tourists that clustered in the streets. Of course, being a tourist myself, this meant that my friends and I were mostly doing touristy things as well, from taking a canal boat ride to visiting the Rijksmuseum.
The comparison (in my mind) between Amsterdam and the Hague is striking. By my third trip to the Netherlands, I began to feel more at home in the Hague for many reasons, not the least of which because I found myself with some time alone during the day when my fiancé had to work the first week. Thankfully I was able to maneuver around without too much trouble thanks to a phone with Google Maps, though I did find myself glancing at the screen a lot – Must not get lost, must not get lost . . .
Near the Restaurant de Roode Leeuw (Restaurant of the Red Lion), Amsterdam street
Watching (Or: A man and his dog guard Delft)
The last remaining gate of Delft, Oostpoort (Eastern Gate) was built in the 1400s. The other seven gates have long since disappeared. The official Delft website has a nice drawing of what the city looked like when it was surrounded by walls.
The view from entering the city through the eastern gate
Note especially the dog at the feet of the watchman. This is what you would see if you entered Delft from this city gate — two very imposing figures watching your every move, judging you.
View of the Eastern gate from the inside
Here is the gate from the inside looking out. This shot is actually close to the lake where I took the picture of the ducks. Interestingly, the structure also seems to partly be a private residence — and there is also an art gallery inside. The two shots don’t do justice to how big it is – more like a castle.
Stepping back (Or: Images from the Hague)
Grote Kerk, Den Haag
A random picture of the plaza surrounding the Grote Kerk (lit: big church). Note the cobblestone paths and the barely visible tram rails behind the gentleman. I’ve been told that tram rails tend to be just the right width to get your bike wheels caught in…
Hooligans (Or: Voetbal or soccer, it’s all serious in the Netherlands)
Imagine the scene: dining out in Amsterdam, when all the sudden a bunch of tourists run in from outside, scrambling to the back to get away from something unknown. And all the sudden, shouting can be heard outside . . .
Eek! It’s voetbal fans from another country! July 28, 2010
Turns out Ajax was hosting a team from Greece – PAOK Salonika.
Canals (Or: Just how many bikes fall in, anyway?)
A journey to the canals of Delft begins here.
Houses along a Delft canal... too close for comfort!
Look at how close the houses are to the edge of the canal. It’s amazing to realize that some (unpictured) houses have doors which face out into the canal. Open up and jump in!
And it makes me cringe a bit. In my hometown, Hurricane Irene decimated a local bar/eatery when it came through in August. The barely four foot wide stream overflowed 7 foot high retention walls, leaving the surrounding area under a foot of water, and their basement completely flooded. It took until Christmas for restaurant to reopen.
Delft canal, with obligatory bikes
I was also amused to see that there really are not any guard rails to prevent the cars from driving in, either. And I found this blog post about bikes being thrown in to be an interesting read, with cool pictures of “bike rescues”.
Father and his sons, feet dangling into the canal
Ignoring the port-o-potty behind them, I focused this picture on the family, curious to see if the father’s feet would ever touch the water — they did not. Just a simple moment, captured forever.
