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Covid tests at the local supermarket (Or: Quite a supply)

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Niki

Covid quick tests for home use have been available at Dutch supermarkets for the last month or two. Today I noticed a pile of tests by the self-checkout. I am sure they have always been there and that I just hadn’t noticed them.

The government has a page (in Dutch) listing which quick tests are officially recognized in the Netherlands.

In other news: five new islands have been added to the Netherlands in a 78 million euro project. The Dutch are known for reclaiming land from the sea, as you probably know. This dutchnews.nl article says the islands have been reclaimed for use in nature.

Also: Golden Carriage arrives at Amsterdam Museum after restoration from dutchnews.nl. The golden carriage needed to be maneuvered into position with a crane, as the carriage was placed in the (inner) courtyard. The museum used to be an orphanage and orphans had helped design the carriage back in 1898, hence why it is going on display there after a five year renovation.

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Dining in (Or: Corona measure relaxations)

Posted on June 12, 2021 by Niki

Okay, technically this rule was relaxed last Saturday, but we did not take “advantage” of it until now. We are now allowed to dine in at a restaurant with mixed households (still a maximum of 4 not including kids). On today’s list was visiting FOAM with Roger for a late breakfast. Part of me was selfishly glad that the weather wasn’t spectacular, because I went with “inside” when booking the reservation, just to be safe. (Side note: did you know there are a few days of 31C/88F coming next week? The Netherlands is going to bake! ☀️)

Here was Marco’s pancakes. You have to love the color.

And my grilled sandwich (commonly referred to as a “toasty” over here). It is with harissa hummus, grilled bell peppers, eggplant, parsley, dukkah and an Israeli salad on the side.

And my chai latte. What can I say? I had to take a photo – I loved the stencil on top.

Marco and I have a few restaurants we are eyeing for later this month or next month. Back to Himalayan restaurant for Indian/Nepalese food at some point soon, and also SET restaurant (Japanese) for a romantic dinner. SET has been completely closed for half a year, not even doing takeout, so I am looking forward to it.

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Blinded by the light (Or: Shocking orange)

Posted on June 10, 2021 by Niki

As you know, diehard Dutch fans are covered from head to toe in orange during major sporting events. Here is a photo Marco took a few weeks ago of someone walking down the street.

Note: I actually cropped this a bit to hide the dirty street. The photo is a bit blurry because they were actually further away.

Speaking of sporting events, Jumbo (a national grocery store) is under fire for their commercial (YouTube) advertising their European championship gear. The main sponsor is Albert Heijn, another grocery store. However Jumbo uses a song that is widely associated with the 2017 women’s team and the commercial features a parade which is also generally associated with Dutch national football. See also: Jumbo the winner in dispute with KNVB over Euro 2020 advertising from dutchnews.nl.

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Tuesday tidbits (Or: Random news here and there)

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Niki

Around lunchtime today I went to The Guardian’s website to check the news. Instead, I see a white screen with a tiny error message. As I have done countless times over the years, I then went to to Down for Everyone or Just Me. The website reassured me that the error wasn’t just on my side. Around then work got crazy again, so I forgot about it for a while (until work was less crazy and I could actually make some lunch).

It turns out the error hit more than just The Guardian. See also this article: Massive internet outage hits websites including Amazon, gov.uk and Guardian from theguardian.com. The best part of the article? This quote: “The Guardian moved to Twitter to run a dedicated liveblog, while tech news site the Verge published news to a shared Google Doc – until a reporter accidentally shared a link on Twitter that allowed the audience to edit it.” Opps…?

Also, from dutchnews.nl: Zandvoort organisers expect 50,000 F1 fans to cycle to Grand Prix. In other words, park at a nearby parking lot and hop on a bike to get to the race track. This September, the Netherlands will be hosting the first Dutch Grand Prix since 1985 (!). It was supposed to happen last year but it was cancelled due to corona. The organizers rightfully did not want to hold the race without fans. I suspect there would have been huge riots if they had tried. The best part (even though it is not in the article)? There will also be a special bus line with the number #33 – aka, Max Verstappen’s number.

And from nltimes.nl: GGD Utrecht gives away 1,200 Covid-19 vaccines after power failure kills cold storage. The best part here? They had so many people show up they had to turn people away. Of course, the vaccines were first offered to healthcare workers or safety workers in the region and then the offer was opened to the public. It was 1,200 Janssen vaccines (J&J vaccines for any Americans reading this) so one shot was enough. The site brought in extra workers to manage the crowds and stayed open past midnight. Nicely done!

Categories: News, Sports | Tags: , | 2 Comments

A sea of orange (Or: Orange fever creeping up your street)

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Niki

It is almost time for the European football championship 2020 (Wikipedia). No – you are not going back in time; it’s the European football championship that was supposed to be held last year but was delayed by corona.

This of course means the streets are turning orange all over the country. Here is a look at the Marktweg (denhaagfm.nl). Apparently this is a completely crazy street because here is another article about the Marktweg from omroepwest.nl, also in Dutch. Or here is a tweet with a photo of the Markstraat.

Companies are of course also cashing in. Here is an m&m’s display at a local Albert Heijn:

All orange!

Read more about Oranjegekte (Orange fever) over at English Wikipedia. Or see this commercial for a “cheer cape” from another Dutch grocery store over at YouTube.

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Who needs a jacket anyway? (Or: Destination summer)

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Niki

It finally happened! This is the first time this year I was outside without a jacket on. Temperatures are around 27C (mid to high 70s) with 100% sun. It is positively lovely to feel the sun on your skin. Unfortunately I was not able to take any photos for the blog as I was on a quick trip to the grocery store between meetings. You will have to trust me that it was sunny with blue skies all around.

Speaking of the weather, here is a care package I received from my work last week or the week before, with lots of sugary goodness:

You can tell the note is old because it reads “Spring has been a bit shy this year and not quite as warm as could be expected. We are also aware that it is a busy time for most of us. This is why we decided to invite you to take a well deserved warm break. We hope you’ll enjoy this little treat.”

There’s two pieces of chocolate from Tony’s chocolonely (milk and dark), a packet of instant coffee, a packet of hot chocolate, two tiny stroopwafels, a piece of fudge and a bit of nougat.

Tasty! Oddly enough most of it still remains uneaten. Although we did use the hot chocolate mix to make chocolate waffels on Sunday (yum yum).

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Sculptures on the Lange Voorhout (Or: 2021 exhibition from Pulchri Studio)

Posted on May 31, 2021 by Niki

Marco and I checked out the exhibition that it is going on right now over on the Lange Voorhout. The exhibition, from Pulchri Studio (official website in Dutch), will be available through 14 September. Since it is on public ground you can visit it whenever you want, day or night.

This sculpture is near the beginning of the exhibition (depending on where you enter the Lange Voorhout, of course).

This sculpture is topical – it is someone balancing upside down on a coronavirus.

Continue reading →
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A hidden piece of nature (Or: FOAM back terrace)

Posted on May 30, 2021 by Niki

Recently I took a few photos of the back terrace of the FOAM restaurant in The Hague. It’s a tiny splash of nature, only 5 tables or so. On the other side of the foliage is a playground, so you constantly hear the murmur of kids playing.

And a look at the upper level (on the other side is the playground):

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the flowers, either. These were s a vibrant shade of purple.

For this visit Marco and I just had a hot drink (cappuccino for me, matcha latte for Marco) before we took home our “Foam@home” meal. This time it was a very delicious Sri Lankan coconut curry.

And if you have stuck around this long, I will treat you to a photo of a very, very plump (and slow) pigeon that was waddling around in the garden.

It is perhaps a bit hard to tell how plump it was, but it was probably about 50% larger than it needed to be. In the photo its chest extends just past the chair leg. I was surprised it was able to fly away in the end… but it did.

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Chai latte (Or: With an extra espresso please)

Posted on May 27, 2021 by Niki

Last weekend Marco and I stopped by FOAM restaurant here in The Hague to have a coffee. I would say we were also trying to grab a few moments of sunshine, but to be honest it was pretty cloudy and quite windy the whole time we were there. Hopefully next time will be better?

I ordered a chai latte (plus extra espresso!) and Marco ordered a matcha latte. I really liked my chai latte – it was sweet but still had a nice kick of coffee behind it.

Tomorrow Marco and I both have the day off. I have an appointment at the hair dresser for a touch up. Someone please remind me why I scheduled it so early? There is no opportunity to sleep in at all. But that also means I have more of the day to enjoy after my hair is done… so that is good, right?

I am looking forward to the change in weather, as it should start warming up a bit tomorrow. Perhaps it won’t be full sunshine yet, but at least it won’t be cold like it was this morning. How could it almost be June but still be so windy and cold?

In other (slightly crazy news): the police in Zwolle arrested a driver who was in possession of 550kg (1,200 pounds) of laughing gas (!). The article is from nos.nl in Dutch. If you want to transport more than 2 kilos of laughing gas you need to have a special permit. It is considered a party drug in the Netherlands; every few weeks there is a car crash reported in the news where the driver had laughing gas in the car.

Usually it is not 550kg of laughing gas, though…

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The promise of thunderstorms (Or: A low rumbling)

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Niki

As I write this, thunder rumbles in the distance. I miss a good thunderstorm; they aren’t as prevalent here in the Netherlands. Or when you do have them they are not loud enough. I did find a website which shows lightning strikes in realtime (from blitzortung.org). It is just a bit hypnotizing to watch.

Did you ever expect to see popcorn in the breakfast aisle? I did not, but here is a photo from a local grocery store:

That is a granola based cereal with oat, corn flakes and crisps. And popcorn…

I already knew things were going downhill 20 years ago when I saw Reese’s Puffs for the first time, which according to Wikipedia was first launched in 1994. My, how time flies. That cereal is flavored with chocolate and peanut butter, which seemed excessive to me.

I can’t complain, though. One of my best “cereal” memories was of a paper slide built into the back of a Cocos Puffs cereal box. You could roll pieces of cereal down the chute and then eat them. Or there is the memory of me as a young adult eating (dry) cheerios with a diet Dr Pepper on the side for lunch. I loved it.

I guess we are all weird in our own way.

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