Recent photos that I took of Hop & Stork in De Passage, a covered shopping area in the heart of The Hague. The creations they can make with chocolate are just insane…
Dressed up and on your way to a fancy Christmas soirée…
Tasty!
The Hague
Chocolate Christmas decorations (Or: Hop & Stork)
Categories: Dordrecht, Food, Holidays, The Hague
Tags: Chocolate, Christmas, De Passage
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Christmas shopping on the Fred (Or: Life-sized Disney decorations)
A few days back I was doing some Christmas shopping at “The Fred” which is short for Frederick Hendriklaan, a street in the Statenkwartier neighborhood. There are a lot of international organizations and businesses in this part of The Hague.
Much to my delight, I saw some cute Christmas decorations:
There was also Pluto:
And Olaf:
I never knew how popular Frozen was until I went to Disneyland Paris last month…
Apparently there was also Minnie Mouse and Goofy, but I missed those (news article in Dutch).
Crunch crunch crunch (Or: Snow!!!)
Snow!
Snow!
Snow!
In the last two days we’ve received more snow than I’ve probably seen in the almost 5 years I’ve been here (and wow, next Monday is officially 5 years!) Yesterday wasn’t too bad – most people did not have to work. Indeed, Marco and I went outside yesterday and took some pictures.
snowfall yesterday. bus 22, with the oliebollen stand behind
But today would prove to be slightly more chaotic. Schiphol is currently trying to decide if they put out bedding for stranded travellers; about one third of the flights are cancelled and buses and trains aren’t running there. No trains to or from Amsterdam or Utrecht (in the heart of the Netherlands) at the moment. For a while the HTM buses here in The Hague stopped riding, but some lines are riding again.
I knew I had to go into work – my work computer was there! – but Marco was kind enough to walk me to my tram stop. It started snowing again in the late morning, so I stuck around until just after 1pm, and then went home to finish off my work there.
Anyone for a creme brûlée latee? (Or: Urban cafe)
is a cafe across from the central library, near the city hall. Marco and I went there a few months back. At that time I snapped this photo:
As usual: I have a black coffee and Marco has a cappuccino
It was quite tasty, with an interesting concept (it is part of a furniture store). There is also upstairs seating.
But what I want to try the next time we go there? That would be the creme brûlée latte. It sounds delicious…
MingleMush (Or: A food hall in The Hague)
MingleMush is an indoor food hall that opened behind The Hague’s Central Station in June of this year. Marco and I have been going for the last few months. It’s a very interesting concept – there are about 15 food stands in this indoor food hall, with centralized seating around them. Ideal when you go with a group of friends — each person can order from a different food stand.
Some of the choices include paninis (my favorite!), Thai, Lebanese, Mexican, Italian (pizza and gelato), burgers&fries and more. They also have a few drink stands for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
MingleMush has a website, but I do not find it that informative. The main thing to know is that you can’t use cash, you can only pin. Which is fine, cash is so last century…
During our visit to MingleMush yesterday, I took a picture of the Christmas tree that was recently added:
Yes, the lights twinkle. And check out the wall in the background.
Two of the food stalls – Don Brûlée and Pierogies.
Awesome cow at the panini stand!
I definitely love this place and hope it succeeds. It’s not perfect but the main complaint is that there are times when half of the stands can be closed. For instance, when Marco and I visited on Saturday around 1pm, half of the stands were closed. That is fine, but why don’t they put up a sign saying they are either closed for the day or the time when they do expect to open? Just give us a bit more information.
Upstairs they have a small arcade (free bathrooms as well)
Also, depending on when you go it can be very crowded and loud, but I think that is just a sign I am getting old!
A view of some of the stands from above. The brightly lit windows on the other side are where the trams 2, 3, 4 and 6 pass by on the way to and from Central Station.
Definitely give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Last days of summer (Or: A walk through the Haagse Bos and Benoordenhout)
A few weeks ago – the last decent warm day, really – Marco and I took a walk from Central Station through the Haagse Bos (The Hague forest) towards Benoordenhout, a district of The Hague.
Monument to Emma, Queen consort of the Netherlands
Above is a monument to Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the mother of Queen Wilhema. After the death of her husband, King Willem III, Emma became the Queen Consort of the Netherlands in 1890. This lasted until 1898 when Wilhema came of age.
(Huh. There’s a tram stop/street called Waldeck Pyrmontkade. And now I know why.)
Building for Scouting Stanley 55.
Above is a building for the scouting group Scouting Stanley 55.
Statue of Maria Gravin van Bylandt
It is a bit hard to tell in this photo but the woman is holding a dog in her lap. This is Maria Gravin van Bylandt, whose organization promotes projects which help people as well as animals.
The Gravin van Bylandt Stichting
Albert Heijn of yesteryear
And the last photo is of an Albert Heijn (local supermarket) which still has the older, golden logo. Cool!
Soccer? Football? (Or: My first ADO Den Haag game)
Of course – it is called football (or voetbal) over here. Roger bought some tickets for the ADO Den Haag game a few weeks back, against Sparta Rotterdam. So Marco and I met up with Roger and his mother – although our first stop was the Rrrollend Foodtruck festival. The last one of the year in The Hague! We are already looking forward to the return of the festival in 2018.
Here is the ADO Den Haag stadium – reachable by tram 3 or 4 from the city centre (Forepark station).
Unfortunately it is about a 10 minute walk from the station, but at least you don’t have to take the train.
Before the game – people filing in and the grass being watered. It is hard to tell from this photo, but the seats are elevated, with fans needing to climb a flight of metal stairs to get to this level. The field is separated by a high wall to prevent rioters from reaching the field.
The section on the other side with the team logo is where the fans with season cards sit.
At the beginning of the game they passed out a lot of large flags to our section. If you sit here your flag waving skills better be good!
Above is one very energetic fan. He first passed this flag to another spectator, asking if the man wanted to wave the flag. When this didn’t really happen (the guy just held it in his hands), the guy took it back and began to wave it frantically. And note the back of his shirt – 070 is the area code of The Hague.
We ended up winning the game 1-0. It would have been 2-0 but there was a goal called off for being offside.
The best part: we were sitting right behind the goal so we had a great view.
Here’s a look at the graffiti-filled wall that separates the fans from the field. The stairs to go up to the stands are off to the left.
All in all it was a fun game. Though I have to admit that my favorite moment was when ADO Den Haag had a goal chance that the Sparta goalkeeper blocked – four times! The ball kept being hit back to the ADO Den Haag player, who had little choice but to kick it back in the same direction. it was like a game of pong.
Metallica at Ziggo Dome (Or: A view from any seat)
Earlier in the month, Metallica came to the Netherlands for their Hardwired… to self-destruct European tour. Here’s a nifty photo that Marco took:
And yes, the stage is in the middle for this concert. Interesting setup!
Wednesday evenings (Or: Food and fun by Milu)
Last Wednesday I went out for dinner and cocktails with a friend of mine. We went to Milu, a restaurant in the centre of The Hague near the Grote Kerk (literally “the big church”). It was my second time visiting – the first time was with coworkers. The restaurant’s premise is sharing dishes; we ended up having three “rounds” of food and drink.
Round #1:
Bruschetta bread and beef teriyaki with Chinese pancakes. With a green tea mojito for me.
To Buitenhof and Lange Voorhout (Or: Monopoly – Den Haag edition!)
A few weeks ago Marco and I visited Tabletop Kingdom, a store for board games, card games and similar. I saw a cool display:
That’s right – a special Monopoly edition for The Hague!
At the website for Paagman you can see an overhead view of the board as one of the product images. The railroad cards are replaced by important HTM stops (e.g. halte Spui and Halte Centraal). What I do like is that recent photos are used – for example, “Spui” has a photo of the city hall with the Mondriaan colors added earlier in the year. Or that there is a spot for the Pier at Scheveningen, with the relatively new Ferris wheel.
Categories: The Hague
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Life in the Hague 