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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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Hmmmmm (Or: Snack machine by Amazing Oriental)

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Niki

Something interesting that I spotted in the Amazing Oriental on the Grote Marktstraat – a hot snack machine. The machine is sometimes called an automatiek (English Wikipedia).

For the moment the only option looks to be a bag of 10 mini spring rolls for €1.60. You can either pay with coins – exact change only – or with your debit card. Here’s hoping they start offering a bit more variety!

Categories: Culture, Everyday purchases, Food | Tags: | 3 Comments

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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Time away (Or: A week in London)

Posted on November 21, 2023 by Niki

Marco and I just got back from a trip to London for a week. We had a blast! While I visited London back in 2010, that was only for a day and a half so I didn’t remember much.

Here are some of the photos I took over the last week:

Above: a display at the British Museum. As you can tell, I am a fan of blue things.

Above: Westminster Abbey

Trafalgar square includes an area with four lions. You can read more about the square and lions at visitlondon.com. I took this photo because I was way too amused by the warning in the foreground…

Above: Big Ben. I am charmed by the statue in front.

Above: London Eye ferris wheel, from a distance. Apparently it takes 30 minutes for one full revolution.

All in all, it was a lovely trip. And I didn’t even show any of the awesome food we ate…

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A crossing between a croissant and tompouce (Or: Crompouce)

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Niki

I was by Albert Heijn recently and I spotted a crompouce. What is a crompouce, you ask? It’s a cross between a croissant and a tompouce (Wikipedia). The latter is a Dutch/Belgium treat that is horribly difficult to eat. I subscribe to the method where you eat the cream in the middle with your fork, and when the structural integrity starts failing you start eating the top of it as well.

And now we have crompouces…

It’s basically a croissant with cream in the middle and the tompouce icing on top. I haven’t had one yet. I might need to have my dentist on speed dial if I try it, though.

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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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Funny sandwich names (Or: Eggstra cheesy)

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Niki

The weather has definitely turned; the cold fingers of fall has arrived. If you’re lucky you’ll get a moment of sun but otherwise it is just wind and rain. Therefore I haven’t taken many photos for the blog of late. So here is one from a month or two ago which I never got around to posting:

It shows two sandwiches which are on sale at the Pathé movie theatre. The one on the right is named “Eggstra cheesy” which is a horrible pun. Good, but horrible.

The one on the right is Boerengezond. That one is less punny and simply translates to “Farmer’s healthy sandwich”.

In other news:

Saturday first day below 15 degrees since May 17; ends record warm day streak from nltimes.nl. 15C is around 60F. It was a nice record while it lasted.

Van Gogh museum stops Pikachu card promo due to “chaos” from dutchnews.nl. They are cute cards (you should check them out) but really, anyone could have known that these would have been snatched up immediately and re-sold by scalpers.

This Dutch company invented sushi krokets (and we’re not sure how to feel about it) from dutchreview.com. (Krokets are breaded, deep-fried rolls usually filled with a sort of meat paste. See also Wikipedia.) This new product is called “crushi”. I am not sure how I feel about it, but who knows. I’d probably try it once.

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