Culture

Dutch tea (Or: A touch of orange)

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Niki

When Marco’s mother was planning to visit my place last summer, I quickly found that I needed to buy a coffee maker. I usually only drink coffee about twice a year (at the biannual work conferences in January and August), so I definitely didn’t have a coffee maker on hand. But apparently she is the type that cannot function without it…

So a coffee maker was soon purchased.

For a while after she left, I never used it. And then we had a freak snowstorm around Halloween last year, in which I lost power and heat for four days. It was surprisingly cold for not-quite-November. Even after the power returned, I was chilled for weeks after. I found that I started drinking coffee after that. When I drink coffee it’s always black. (Koffie after dinner seems to be a Dutch tradition. Marco had the task of preparing coffee for everyone who visited his place for his birthday in 2010. I was quite amused.)

Dutch tea from Pickwick

Eventually in January or so I came down with my annual (or biannual) cold — I don’t get sick much. So I switched from coffee to tea and started digging deeper into the tea collection that a friend had sent me from Stash Tea. I quickly found that my favorite hot tea was orange. And then earlier this month when I visited Chinatown in NYC, we stopped at Ten Ren for Chinese tea. I haven’t tried those flavors yet. I just remember ginger tea and oolong tea.

And finally, for my birthday, Roger and Marco got me the Dutch blend shown above from Pickwick tea. I didn’t realize that way back when, the Dutch were the first to bring tea into Europe through the East India Company. The above tea from Pickwick is what that company considers a “good representation of the country” – the orange is a nod to the house of Orange-Nassau. Apparently it was developed partially with opinions of Hyves users (Hyvers being the Dutch equivalent of Facebook).

I think I will make another cup tonight…

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Dutch carousels (Or: Plein Open festival)

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Niki

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.

Categories: Culture, The Hague | 2 Comments

Indecent exposure (Or: Americans are such prudes)

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Niki

(Rejoice! The blog finally switched over to “8 months” from “9 months”. It seems to only update itself on the 1st of each month.)

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that I did not have a picture of the fountain that resides in the Binnenhof. I realized today that that was not technically correct, as I do have a picture of it… from Madurodam (the place where Dutch landmarks are done in miniature).

Binnenhof square at Madurodam

At first I thought this represented Koninginnedag, or Queen’s Day, which will happen later this month – since it is now April after all (!). But it seems this represents a day in September (the 3rd Tuesday of the month) when the Queen gives her annual speech within the Binnenhof. You can see her golden carriage near the church.

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Categories: Culture, The Hague | Tags: | 3 Comments

Zondagen (Or: Spending the day inside a church)

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Niki

Zondagen… Sundays. An apt day to post about churches.

But first, I spent a remarkably short time at the Palisades mall again today — just long enough to pick up my engagement ring, which was successfully resized. I managed to get the same bus both ways, having arrived at 3:45 and getting back outside in time for the 4:10 route back out.

While I was waiting at the bus stop to go back home, I heard a large rapping on the glass divider separating the different benches of the bus shelter. I looked over and it was a young child. He peered at me briefly, grinned, and then hid his face behind the metal framework in the middle. Ah, so it’s peek-a-boo you want. I quickly peered around the left edge. He grinned. I waited a moment and looked around the right edge. He laughed. We continued for a bit longer. Just a quick harmless game that reminds me of my own childhood, way back when.

Back to churches…

Another Delft site that we visited was Nieuwe Kerk, which began construction in 1396. It’s a Protestant church used as a burial site for many of the royal families. There was even a grave site there for a child who was born in May of 1822 and died in October of the same year.

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Categories: Culture, Delft | Tags: | 4 Comments

Chandeliers (Or: It eclipses even the art)

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Niki

I have a weakness for chandeliers. I love how beautiful they look – and how they come in all shapes and sizes. I had mentioned the chandeliers in a previous post about the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. The ironic thing is that I recall those chandeliers with more fondness than the actual art itself, though that of course was beautiful too.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the chandeliers…

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Night lights (Or: In front of the filmhuis)

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Niki

Take a walk around Den Haag and you will find yourself in front of the filmhuis (film house). They show a lot of foreign movies from around the world in the film’s native language, though I personally have not viewed one there yet. Maybe if the film was Spanish and had subtitles…

Filmhuis in the Hague

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Categories: Culture, The Hague | 3 Comments

Prinsenhof (Or: A beautiful courtyard)

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Niki

Another place that we visited in Delft was Prinsenhof, where William the Silent was assassinated. They turned his place of assassination into a museum, but I’ll leave that post for another day. For now, let’s just look at the beauty that awaits outside.

Statue within the Prinsenhof courtyard

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Oude Kerk (Or: Walking amongst the dead)

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Niki

Before I get into the subject of Oude Kerk in Delft, I would just like to take a moment to say that I hate colds. I am in day 7 of mine. I don’t get sick very often (last memorable time was October 2009), but I knew something was up when a student overheard me talking to someone else; he joined the conversation and was able to describe my symptoms down to a T. Ugh. Lots of hot tea for me. Why did I agree to an 11 hour shift tomorrow again?

As you might have realized from my previous posts about Delft, I like Vermeer. I didn’t really know anything about him until I met Marco of course. When I started to fall in love with the Netherlands, I visited my public library and tried to find all the material I could about the country. Even though this is New York, there is not a lot. There is some material I could get from other libraries in the system, I just prefer to have it right at my fingertips without sending for it and waiting a week.

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Ancient maps (Or: Inside the Royal Palace of Amsterdam)

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Niki

Marco and I visited the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. It is sometimes used by Queen Beatrix during state affairs.

Prior to my visit, they had been renovating the interior of the palace, from 2005 to 2009.  When I visited, they were working on the outside of the palace. They have since finished (last month).

Royal palace of Amsterdam, the facade hidden from view during renovations

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Music (Or: A scene carefully sketched out)

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Niki

Near the train station in Delft, you might find yourself near this mural, on the side of a random building, in a random place.

A musical mural found in Delft

Although most of the mural is done in black and white, accentuated by the shadowy tree limbs, one can also find rare glimpses of yellow. The most predominant encircles the lamp on the left side, but the glow of night can be seen from most of the windows on the left side of the mural. A figure (Charlie Chaplin-esque) hangs from the middle street lamp. Three lions in the lower right – one with a paraplu* (umbrella), one coming from the garbage can, and another on top of the garbage can lid.

Note also the rider on their fiets (bike) talking to someone else.

* = I love the Dutch word paraplu. I have heard about the Paraplu restaurant in the Hague, but have not yet visited it. Soon…

Categories: Culture, Delft | Tags: | 3 Comments

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