There’s just something very ironic about the following photo which Marco gave me a few days ago. It is taken from the inside of a bus, and focuses on an advertisement.
1. “Summer schedule returns next week!”
2. We’re going to promote this with a picture of a smiling happy family at a beach!
3. Don’t look out the bus window, or you might see the dreary rain-filled day which lies in stark contrast to this promise of sorts.
I would take a picture of the flowers outside of my NY apartment, but they have been scorched due to the heat and no longer resemble anything with vibrant color. (However, I feel like doing a cheer… it’s been over a month, but tonight the apartment is finally cooler than 80F/26C.)
So instead, here are some colorful pictures from Madurodam. It’s been a while since I showed any Madurodam photos!
The landscaping of Madurodam is its own reason to visit, in my mind.
Above, a typical kid doing the balance beam routine. It reminds me of the thing children liked to do when I was a kid: don’t step on a sidewalk crack, or you’ll break your grandmother’s back. I like to think I did this perfectly – as no harm ever came to her back.
The title of this blog post is sort of a play on words, since it deals with flooding at the Centraal Station in the Hague, but also some new widget options that WordPress is offering.
First off, Marco sent me a link to a video of the flooding at the Centraal Station. It’s a short 15 second clip. Basically, they have been renovating this station for about two years — it was a mess the last time I was there. They removed the roof this weekend to continue their refurbishing, but forgot that they were in the Netherlands.
There was heavy rain over the weekend. And a building without a roof. Eek. Thankfully it’s mostly concrete floors.
Second, I was pleased to see that WordPress has added some new widgets. Inclding one that I have already implemented called “Blogs I Follow”. You can show a list/grid of images of the most recent blogs you followed.
Things I noticed:
1.) Since it is ordered the most recent blog you followed first, it makes more sense to keep the number low (depending on how many blogs you follow every day and how often old blogs drop off the list). I would much prefer if this was a random list so that refreshing the page would show new blogs. I was really looking forward to going to my favorite blogs and hitting refresh a lot…
2.) It seems to bleed into my Milestone widget (the 5 months countdown). But I will leave it be for now and see if anyone else notices.
3.) It’s prettier than I expected, and the images are slightly larger than I expected as well.
There are more widgets mentioned so go take a peek!
Marco visited the Binnenhof last week to take a picture of the fountain for me (an area I have mentioned a few times).
Binnenhof fountain
As I mentioned in a previous post, Euro 2012, the European soccer championship, is coming. “Hup Holland” is a sports cheer. Marco got me a picture of the festivities:
Decorations for Euro 2012 in the Hague this coming Friday (June 8) The lower banner has been edited slightly to remove the street name (just in case).
Remember when I mentioned that I was sending Marco and Roger a package (t-shirts and food, mainly)? Well, I had no idea that Marco was secretly getting a package together for me at the same time…
I love unexpected packages!
Sometimes a simple picture is best when the day has been long!
City hall (stadhuis) in the Hague
For me, the Hague’s city hall (stadhuis) will always be intrinsically linked the city’s public library, as they are so close to one another. Don’t forget to hug your favorite librarian this week!
Spuiplein fountain in the Hague
This is the fountain where Marco and I tested our luck, near Spuiplein.
During one of the trips, Marco, his mother and I were going somewhere in the Hague (I forget where). Marco and I sort of didn’t realize where we were walking, and soon found ourselves entering this area. His mother was paying more attention and laughed at us as she walked around it.
We had time to turn around – but Marco did not. So I did not. It was a tense 12 or so seconds where I wondered if I was about to get inadvertently soaked. It wasn’t that warm of a day, so this does not sound as fun as it could be. But no – neither of us got soaked and we got through it in one piece.
As we walked out the other side, Marco’s mom was still laughing at us. Pfft!
Obviously I am on the wrong side of the ocean to be showing you pictures of Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day), but Marco took some pictures to show me what it is like. I won’t go into detail, except to say that it is the celebration of Queen Beatrix. And it’s a day where everyone loves to wear orange (well, moreso the tourists). You can read an offiical publication for the Hague’s celebrations at the website, haagsekoninginnedag.nl. When Marco sent me that link, he spent a bit of time muttering about why they were mentioning Chinatown, since it is only a street and a half, of which only half of the shops are actually Chinese!
One of the more interesting things for me is the vrijmarkt, or free market, where anyone can sell their wares. Here are some of the pictures Marco took:
Oranje! Go books! (ik wil het oranje boek)
Marco was also kind enough to give a short description of his thoughts about the holiday:
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.
Life in the Hague 