Holidays

Yummy (Or: Dark chocolate Christmas goodness at Albert Heijn)

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Niki

Luckily Albert Heijn still sells my favorite Christmas cookies ever. These are dark chocolate butter cookies with red and green sprinkles on top. Plus they are nice and big, as the name suggests (Kerst kransen = Christmas wreaths). This year I think I bought 3 packages. A few years back I think I bought 5 or 6 in the end and was still eating them in May.

And here is a photo of some other Christmas cookies because I thought the idea was pretty smart. It is cookies of all difference sizes which you can stack to make it look like a Christmas tree. And then someone starts eating them 2 minutes later.

Looking at the picture on the right, I am not sure that I believe that the smallest cookie can be placed on its side to form a star. I feel like it would fall over right away. Maybe I should buy the cookies to test that theory… Hmmm.

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More Christmas trees (Or: City hall and Bijenkorf)

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Niki

Here are a few more Christmas trees for you. While at city hall Marco was able to snag this photo for me:

The Hague’s city hall is a really interesting building. It is nicknamed the ice palace because it is all white. Over on the official denhaag.com website there are a few pictures of the atrium if you want to see more.

And here is a photo of this year’s Christmas tree by Bijenkorf. Normally I take the photo from one of the higher levels, but this time I took the photo from the ground floor looking up. Note: the Christmas tree is hanging in the air, starting from the first floor – or the second floor for my American readers – so it is a bit tinier than the photo’s perspective may make you think. But it is fun to have a look each year and see what design they went with.

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Christmas trees (Or: Crowds at the Mall of the Netherlands)

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Niki

I decided to go to the Mall of the Netherlands yesterday (the Saturday right before Christmas), but at least I was smart enough to go right when they opened at 10:00. I also left around 13:00, around the time it was really starting to get busy.

Here are some of the Christmas-y photos I took. First, a photo of the Disney Christmas tree for my parents (although we don’t actually have a Disney store in the Netherlands):

Here was a photo of another Christmas tree, with less theming this time:

And here was a pretty cool decoration of a reindeer hanging in the air:

It was pretty festive all and all. And did I mention it was busy? The photos don’t do it justice, but I took those right after the mall opened. But I consider it a successful trip as I was able to get a few more small gifts.

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Christmas time in Brussels (Or: At least he’s not cold?)

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Niki

The Manneken Pis statue has been all dressed up for the holidays in Brussels. The photo is courtesy of Roger who was in Brussels earlier in December.

The statue’s name is a reference to the fact that he is well, urinating into the fountain. And if you think that is a modern crude joke, I’m hear to tell you that the statue most likely dates from the 15th century and it’s current version was added in either 1618 or 1619 (Wikipedia). It does get stolen a lot though, so the current version on display at the fountain has been a replica since the 1960s. The original is stored in the Brussels city museum.

But at least he won’t catch a cold – he is wearing some clothes for once!

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Christmas trees (Or: Dancing lights in the Zeeheldenkwartier)

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Niki

In the Zeeheldenkwartier (literally “Sea Heroes Quarter”) neighborhood they have set up a really nice looking Christmas tree. The color and pattern of the lights alternates often – some days it is all blue, some days it is blue and white, and some days it is red and white.

The tree stands in the middle of a larger rotunda with trams and cars whizzing past on either side. At least, during busier times of the day then what is captured above…

There are also a few stone sea turtles near the base of the tree which you can just barely make out. Here is a previous post I did about the turtles.

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De Passage (Or: 2023’s Christmas tree)

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Niki

The Christmas tree in De Passage has arrived! As always, its home is at the center of De Passage (the old part of the shopping area, at least) since that part forms a sort of Y. You can thus see the tree from everywhere in De Passage.

And here is a close up of the decorations for this year:

The tree will be lit on Thursday, November 30 at 18:00 (see the official website’s homepage).

Here are some other Christmas trees in De Passage in past years: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

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Pepernoten beer (Or: Something for the adults)

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Niki

I recently spotted some pepernoten beer by the local Hema:

A pepernoot is a cookie-like confectionery (see more at Wikipedia). But the red hat symbol on top of the beer makes it clear that this should be consumed in the days leading up to and during Sinterklaas, a Dutch holiday similar to Christmas on 5 December. (Okay, okay, obviously Sinterklaas came first. See more at Sinterklaas vs. Santa Claus from The Hague International Centre.)

The thought of Dutch parents enjoying a beer or three while children unwrap presents during Sinterklaas reminds me of the scene during A Christmas Story when the parents relax with a glass of wine after the kids have unwrapped their presents on Christmas Day.

Oh, and unrelated: I have decided that I am (still) not a fan of setting the clocks back. I’d rather have a dark morning than a dark evening. You can have your hour back!

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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.

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Fun in the sun (Or: Two weeks in NYC)

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Niki

My apologies for the lack of posting over here. Marco and I just got back from a trip to NYC. We met up with a lot of family members (my parents, brother, sister-in-law and their kids) for some fun in the sun. And a bit of rain…

Without further ado, here are some random pictures we took:

First off, here is the view from our hotel room at night (!!). Best view from a hotel room ever.
The Vessel at Hudson Yards. Lots and lots of stairs in this piece of art/architecture, although it isn’t open to climb at the moment. Read more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vessel_(structure)
Statues by the waterfall at W 48th street, between 6th and 7th avenue. Read more about the hidden waterfalls in New York City here: https://www.businessinsider.com/hidden-waterfalls-parks-in-new-york-city-2016-7
Continue reading →
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Flags at half mast (Or: Remembrance Day and Liberation Day in the Netherlands)

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Niki

A few days ago I found myself near the Peace Palace in The Hague. This was on 4 May, otherwise known as Nationale Dodenherdenking or National Remembrance of the Dead day. You have a few monuments to the war near the Peace Palace. One of them is The Hague Resistance and Liberation Memorial which commemorates those who lost their lives in The Netherlands during WWII. Here is the official website for the Memorial (in Dutch).

And on 5 May the Netherlands celebrates Liberation Day, which in comparison to the more somber Remembrance Day is a day for festivals and celebrating one’s freedom. A lot of cities hold festivals on 5 May.

Pictures from the festival in The Hague (at the Malieveld), in Dutch at indebuurt.nl.

And because I couldn’t not take a photo of it, here is an impressive looking tree which is also near the Peace Palace. It is huge! I would love to sit under its shade and read a book for a while.

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