Foto’s

Blue skies (Or: Canal in The Hague)

Posted on October 22, 2023 by Niki

While taking a walk earlier I decided to photograph one of the canals in The Hague’s city centre.

The best part of this photo? The lovely blue skies. But after I took this photo I turned right and all I saw was grey, depressing sky. It looked like it would rain any minute, although it thankfully did not.

Are you also looking forward to Halloween? Check out Festival of frights: 13 ways to celebrate Halloween in NL from dutchnews.nl. Slowly but surely, Halloween is becoming a “thing” here, every year just a bit more. You can also get some Halloween candy at Kelly’s expat store. I bought a few bags of candy corn for Marco and Roger already. It reminds me of the time that Marco and I were visiting my parents in the States and Mom bought a huge tub of candy corn. It disappeared so quickly you would think a ghost ate it all…

The Hague’s official website also publishes a list of events happening in The Hague for Halloween over at their website. You can even attend a Halloween party at the Grote Kerk (“Big Church”) on 28 October.

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

On Doritos and oliebollen (But: Not at the same time)

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Niki

Here are two food related things I noticed in the last few weeks. Check out these bag of Doritos on sale at the local Albert Heijn supermarket:

In the US this flavor is known as “Cool ranch”. Frito-Lay thought that “Cool American” would be a better name for this flavor in Europe because ranch isn’t that well-known in this country. I don’t understand how “American” helps explain the flavor any better, but okay. I did end up buying a bag last week (the first bag in years) just to remember what the flavor was like. It isn’t one of my favorite chips but it was good enough.

And in other news… it is October! Which means the oliebollen stand (Wikipedia) magically appears on 1 October.

Admittedly they weren’t open on that day but they did open shortly thereafter. You know it is that time of the year when this stand appears!

Categories: Everyday purchases, The Hague | Tags: | Leave a comment

Photos of September days (Or: Summer is holding on)

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Niki

I must admit we have had a lot of luck this summer with good weather, especially in the second half. (The first half could be eloquently described as rain, rain, rain.) With that being said, you can tell fall is approaching, with less sunlight and shorter days in general.

Here is a photo I took of Lange Voorhout, with the leaves on the ground:

And here is a photo from the Paleistuin (Palace gardens):

The building pictured is called Koninklijke Verzamelingen (Royal Collections). The website describes it as “the accumulation of objects and sources of information that members of the houses of Nassau and Orange-Nassau, and people around them, have gathered and kept over many centuries.” You get the idea.

One good thing about the approaching colder season? It’s much easier to sleep! Air conditioning in homes isn’t that common here so it can get warm at times. But now you can get onder the covers and make yourself nice and toasty.

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Walking through the dunes (Or: Enjoying the sun in Kijkduin)

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Niki

As mentioned in the last blog post, the weather was great all of last week. On Saturday Marco, Roger and I took advantage of this by visiting Kijkduin, a beach which you can reach with either bus 24 or tram 3. I am not a huge fan of buses so we went with tram 3 even though it was a longer walk.

Our first stop of the day was Wagamama. That is a British restaurant chain which focuses on Japanese-inspired Asian food. I didn’t take any photos of the food this time, but I did snag a photo of the artwork on the wall before we left:

Cute, huh?

After that we took a walk through the dunes. It was about a 45 minute walk. But considering it was a bit later in the day – after 6 – there weren’t too many crowds. Here is a photo I took of the pathway through the dunes, near the beginning of our walk:

I like how the path curved into nothingness. Pretty quickly more and more sand began to appear on the path and the concrete wasn’t always even, but it was a fun walk. We ended up at the tram stop for tram 12 (as was our plan) just in time to snag it before it started its route. The best part was by the time we got off that tram the sun had started to lower a bit and the sky subtly started to change colors as the evening set in.

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Standing watch (Or: Nijntje in De Passage)

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Niki

The newest guest in De Passage shopping area is Nijntje:

Nijntje is short in Dutch for Konijntje or “little rabbit”. Outside of the Netherlands you probably know her better as Miffy (Wikipedia). I took this picture on the first day, but if you walk past now you’ll see a sign that says if you take a photo with her and place it on social media you can win a package of Nijntje gifts worth around 150 euros. See also Instagram.

And, just as randomly, here is a photo of the lovely ramen soup I enjoyed earlier in August at Momiji Ramen:

This ramen featured a lovely spicy broth and minced meat. Delicious.

This should be interesting (although they don’t have any details yet): Disney to collaborate with Rijksmuseum to celebrate its 100th anniversary from nltimes.nl

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

A grey, rainy day (Or: Walking through The Hague)

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Niki

On Sunday I went for a walk in the city centre, heading towards The Hague Centraal train station. Here are some of the photos that I took on that rainy, dreary day:

On Sunday there were flags honoring Ukraine’s Independence Day. You can see what flags were raised (or will be raised) between the years 2019-2023 by visiting denhaag.raadsinformatie.nl — click the second PDF at the bottom of the page.

The ever colorful gates of the Dutch Ministry of Finance, easy to spot if you visit in the weekend when the building is closed. (And no picture taken in The Netherlands is complete without getting at least one bicycle in the photo.)

And here is a good look at the dark and menacing sky. You can just see the NS logo (and thus The Hague Centraal station) on the left between the two flags.

After checking the weather for tomorrow’s commute, I have decided I will post this and go grab my umbrella so I don’t forget it. Sheesh!

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Cotton candy ice cream burrito (Or: You heard me right)

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Niki

Today was the last day of the Rrrollend food truck festival in The Hague. Marco and I went with his mother. Here is the craziest thing Marco spotted, although we weren’t crazy enough to try it ourselves:

That is a cotton candy and ice cream dessert burrito. My teeth hurt just thinking about it!

Marco’s mom had a meat pie while Marco had a katsu sando. That’s a Japanese sandwich with fried pork cutlets placed between white bread. You can also add lettuce and other condiments. Marco added pineapple reaper, a pretty spicy hot sauce. An earlier post I wrote about a restaurant called Umami has a photo of a katsu sando (see the last image in the post). And at Rrrollend I had a falafel pita. No photo though. It was messy but delicious.

Mom/Dad: We saw a stand selling Philly cheese steaks and we thought of you (I think that is what you guys bought at Smorgasburg).

After Rrrollend we went to the nearby Plein for another drink. I had a frozen cappuccino:

It was really good. Or as I told Marco and his mom: the drink was verdomde lekker! or stupidly tasty. It being served in a pretty glass helps as well of course.

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A moment of quiet (Or: De Passage and its flowers)

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Niki

It’s been a while, so I figured I would share a new photo of De Passage. It is an indoor shopping area in the shape of a triangle which connects parts of The Hague with each other. Hence the name “De Passage”. You can even buy a keychain or miniature momento.

This photo is taken near the end of the De Passage closest to the Gravenstraat, not far from the Grote Kerk.

How are things for Marco and I? We’re enjoying the brief but sunny weather (one day of around 26C/79F, before it drops back down again for a few days). Luckily the rain has let up the last week or so.

In other news:

Dutch and Belgian railways to double daily intercity trains to Brussels by 2025. This step makes sense — the Dutch train provider NS lost their monopoly on all other international routes (except for Brussels) so they want to focus on that route. Both articles are from nltimes.nl.

Automated study buddies: a quick look at Dutch language apps from dutchnews.nl (just for a fun look at how some Dutch words are pronounced).

Seals practise social distancing, aerial survey of North Sea shows from theguardian.com. As you might guess, it is likely to prevent spreading illnesses. Check out this other news article from nhnieuws.nl which shows the difference between the grey seals (who don’t keep as much distance) and the harbor seals who do.

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

The writing’s on the wall (Or: Outside poetry in The Netherlands)

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Niki

Maybe it is a European thing, and not just a Dutch thing, but I always find it amusing (and cool) that poetry can even be found on the outside of buildings.

If you look to the left you can see it. The writing is on the wall indeed. For a bonus you can also see the bronze artwork “Ode aan de fiets” (Ode to bikes) on the right side. It was made in 1990 and symbolizes, well, all of the daily activities that happen on the bike, come rain or shine. The cutest part is that there is also a kid on the back, with their own mini umbrella.

In other news:

Amersfoort’s pissed off polar bear no longer pees at night from dutchnews.nl

‘Lego Grandma’ makes wheelchair ramps out of Legos in Germany from reuters.com (I know — it’s not Dutch and it’s from 2020, but it’s still a fun read)

Thrift store in Dordrecht found a python in its donations from nltimes.nl

Pathe’s second record week in a row thanks to Barbie and Oppenheimer from nltimes.nl. Marco, Roger and I watched Barbie yesterday at Pathé (it was fun!), but I don’t think I will be watching Oppenheimer any time soon. Roger and Marco might go see it, though.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: | Leave a comment

Remnant of the past (Or: Veteran’s Day, 2023)

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Niki

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day in the Netherlands, held every year on the last Saturday in June.

Veterans Day attracts 90,000 visitors in The Hague from nltimes.nl, which has some nice photos of the event.

Here is a picture that I took of a medical vehicle. I wasn’t able to get any good pictures of the parade, unfortunately. I was just passing through and most of the city centre had crowds 10 man deep. But the marching bands I could hear sounded great.

In other Dutch news: ‘It’s every woman, it’s us’: Rotterdam falls for British statue of ordinary black woman from theguardian.com. It is a pretty interesting statue. And I love the backdrop of Rotterdam’s Centraal train station in the photo.

Categories: Culture, The Hague | Tags: , | 2 Comments

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