The Hague

Bikes all around (Or: Advertisements for bike parking)

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Niki

The Hague currently has an issue with the amount of bikes it has lying around, especially in the city center. Over the last year or so The Hague has opened a handful of new bike parking areas, including under the public library. Future work will be done at The Hague’s two train stations (Centraal station and Holland Spoor).

One of the more crowded areas in the city center is by Hema, where the amount of bikes has doubled over the last few years. The city has started putting free bicycle covers on every bike in the area for advertisement purposes:

It says “Put your bike in a free, guarded bike park”

Each bike also gets an advertisement on one of their handles, complete with a map of the nearby free, guarded bike areas in the neighborhood.

The trick is that it is free for the first 24 hours – if you do not remove your bike at the end of the day you need to pay to get it back. This in theory prevents the rider from using the area as a free storage area for a few months (only in theory, as some people just never come back for the bike).

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

Dr. Anton Philipszaal (Or: The building is almost gone)

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Niki

As I mentioned earlier in the week, Dr. Anton Philipszaal is almost completely erased. A few days ago they were knocking down the iconic red roof. And now…

It is crazy how fast it goes. Only the black windows on the left side of the building are left.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Centrum | Leave a comment

Three years in the Netherlands! (Or: Christmas photos)

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Niki

I realized this afternoon that it was the 3rd anniversary of my arriving in the Netherlands (18 December).

2012 post || 2013 post || 2014 post (n/a)

Three years already! Time has flown by. And each year seems warmer then the next. Silly global warming…

Here are some random Christmas photos. A stand for oliebollen:

Christmas lights at Bijenkorf, an upper end department store, in The Hague Centrum (see also last year’s post):

Christmas lights at The Hague, Spui (Centrum), by the movie theatre, across from V&D:

Christmas lights at Bijenkorf in Amsterdam:

Happy Friday, all!

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: Bijenkorf, Christmas, Oliebollen | Leave a comment

Dr Anton Philipszaal (Or: Tearing it down)

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Niki

This afternoon I was out and about in the Centrum I noticed that the tearing down of Dr. Anton Philipszaal (a concert hall and theatre) was beginning in earnest. They have begun to tear down the red part of the roof:

The hall was first built in 1987 and is slated to be replaced in 2019 with a new culture center. Until then the theatre has moved to a temporary location on the Scheveningen beach, Zuidstrandtheatre.

And of course you have the tram work in the foreground. That project started in April of last year and will hopefully be done this summer. Once done the newer trams should be able to ride over the rails.

Categories: News, The Hague | Tags: Centrum | Leave a comment

Undelivered letters from the 17th century (Or: Treasure in The Hague)

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Niki

A news story from last week: thousands of unread mail from the 17th century were found recently in The Hague, some letters still unopened and unread. (Dutch news link || English news link). A museum in The Hague has had them since 1926 but they have only recently been studied.

Undelivered letters - Hague museum for Communication

Photograph: Hague Museum for Communication

With letters from aristocrats, spies, merchants and more, the collection is a wonderful look at the Netherlands as it existed back in the 17th century. Most news articles report about a letter which was delivered to a man and returned unopened – likely he suspected that it contained news that he was the father of an unwanted child.

It’ll be interesting to see if and when the letters would be digitized – there are bound to be many interesting reads. Also interesting: the 600 pieces that are still sealed can be read without opening them at all – that’s modern day technology for you!

Categories: Culture, The Hague | Leave a comment

At the water’s edge (Or: Gemeentemuseum in The Hague)

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Niki

Some time ago I was walking past the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. As you might be able to guess from the name, it’s an art museum. I’ve only been inside once so far, to see a Delfts blauw exhibit. That is blue and white pottery made in the Delft area since the 16th century.

Pretty, huh?

The weather is turning colder this week. About 50 degrees Fahrenheit, when it should be closer to 60 for this time of year. It’s hard to believe it will be Christmas in a few months!

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Art, Museum, Tourist attraction | Leave a comment

Bike tricks (Or: Pro Freestyle in The Hague)

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Niki

Last Sunday Marco and I came across the Pro Freestyle event being held at the Spuiplein.

Performing tricks for the crowd

The three day event attracted about 35,000 visitors and featured freestyle BMX, skateboarding and more.

The silhouette of a biker

Once you’re done with your run you have to carry your bike up the stairs and do it all over again. Bonus: the awesome sky.

Categories: Sports, The Hague | Tags: Bikes | Leave a comment

Random photos (Or: Around The Hague and Scheveningen)

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Niki

I decided it might be fun to show off some of my more random photos that didn’t end up getting their own blog post.

Disney Descendants advertisement in The Hague

By the tram stop – an advertisement for Disney’s Descendants

What caught my eye was the use of the shadow on the ground to “extend” the advertisement onto the ground.

Make & Bake cookie jars at Hema

Anyone want to bake some cookies? The jar includes all of the ingredients you need, apparently.

Flowers next to Buitenhof

Of course that photo was from a month or two ago – all it has done in the last few weeks is rain, rain, rain.

Kurhaus (a hotel) in Scheveningen, on the night of the Fireworks Festival

Until next time!

Categories: Scheveningen, The Hague | Tags: Flowers, HEMA, Kurhaus | Leave a comment

Football (Or: Police and ADO Den Haag fans square off this Saturday)

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Niki

Quick. Name one thing you do NOT mess with in the Netherlands.

…if you guessed football you would be correct.

In most if not all European countries, football is the sport. Fans eat, sleep and breathe football. Sometimes viewing multiple games on multiple devices (television, smart phone, tablet…) at the same time. It is a way of life.

Unfortunately you can expect issues if you try to get in the way of that. Even if you’re the police. The police have been striking at various times over the least few months. I wrote about it back in May when 1,500 police officers protested around the Binnenhof. Of course it makes sense – they just want better pay. It’s not that much different from the farmers striking in Belgium and France by driving really slow on highways and obstructing traffic.

But, again… it’s football. You just do not mess with football, people. Someone forgot to tell the police that. Most of the opening games for the Eredivisie are postponed due to police planning to strike during the scheduled game times – police actions which threaten not just ADO Den Haag’s game but also other games across the country this weekend. (Note: Dutch police threatened to strike during the opening days of the Tour de France in Utrecht, but that did not go through.)

Now ADO fans have a plan of their own. ‘Wij geen wedstrijd, hun geen staking‘ which translates to “No game for us? No strike for them.” The plan is to have as many people as possible meet at the Plein in The Hague at the scheduled time of the game. A large group of people would require a similarly large police presence, which means that at least some of the police cannot strike during their planned strike time. It is an interesting tactic if you think about it!

From Volkskrant.nl (linked above, Dutch article)

Categories: Culture, Sports, The Hague | Tags: ADO Den Haag, Football | Leave a comment

Flags at half staff (Or: MH17)

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Niki

Marco and I had a date night tonight – we chose to go see Inside Out at the Pathé movie theater at the Buitenhof. But beforehand I snapped a picture of the flags at half staff at the Buitenhof, commemorating the one year anniversary of the MH17 downing.

Hard to believe it has been a year already.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Binnenhof/Buitenhof | Leave a comment