Merry Christmas!
Pictured above are three ornaments from the early 1980s. On the ornaments are cherubim. Dad bought them for Mom way back when, and I was able to take them with at some point after moving here. So now they go on our tree!
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A pile of wine bottles neatly left behind (Or: No deposit on them I assume)
Captured at Albert Heijn, the local grocery store:
Lots and lots of wine bottles… someone must have had a party! This is by the bottle return area (the bottom part pictured here is for returning a beer crate), so I assume wine bottles don’t have a deposit on them. I am not much of a wine drinker (besides the occasional prosecco) so I’m not sure.
Still, kudos to them for leaving them behind without making a mess. Although it does mean work for Albert Heijn to get rid of them.
Royal Christmas Fair, 2018 (Or: Gifts in The Hague)
The Royal Christmas Fair is running until this Sunday. Here are some photos that I took when I visited with Marco:
This year we bought a bag of lebkuchen – German Christmas cookies. YUM!
Christmas at Bijenkorf (Or: 2018 offerings)
As usual, Bijenkorf (a local upscale department store) has beautiful Christmas displays.
Here is what the Christmas tree looks like this year:
For reference the tree starts around the 2nd floor (1st floor if you’re European) and is about four floors tall.
Lots of teddy bears on sale. His official name is ‘Bobbie’ and he has his own page. You might remember him from a previous blog post I did with the window displays – the group of bears was his family.
Bijenkorf always outdoes themselves with their holiday displays!
Thanksgiving in the States (Or: Photos of cold places)
A few weeks back Marco and I were in the States for Thanksgiving. First we went to Chicago to be tourist-y and then Indianapolis to see my folks again. Actually, Chicago was chosen because there are no direct flights from here to Indy, so we usually tack on an extra city somewhere…
It was a lot of fun, but I had a hard time adjusting to the cold that first day, which was around the freezing point, or just a bit warmer. After doing some tourist-y stuff near our hotel, we went to a Cheesecake Factory to try and keep me awake. This backfired, since the restaurant keeps their lighting so low I can barely see the menu. As a joke (mostly), Marco pulled out his phone to use the flashlight option. A joke, until we realized the couple across the aisle did the same…
Continue readingHomemade slow cooker beef stew (Or: Yummy goodness)
Yesterday Marco and I made a hearty beef stew in the slow cooker. Pure mostalgia. 🙂 With Liefde & passie bread from Albert Heijn (Love and passion). One of their freshly made breads from their bakery.
Categories: Food
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Christmas window displays (Or: Cuteness at Bijenkorf)
Check out this cute window display at Bijenkorf in The Hague:
The cutest part is definitely the teddy bears trying to open the fridge on the right (this part was motorized, so the fridge door did open and close).
A new Christmas decoration (Or: Spotted at Primark)
Last week I bought my first Christmas decoration, this one at Primark. Marco and I usually buy 1-3 small things a year. I couldn’t resist this cute face and bell…
Oliebollenkraam sighting (Or: Temporary move from Spui to Grote Markt)
Public service announcement: please note the very awesome and tasty oliebollenkraam on the Spuiplein (which has its own Facebook page!) looks to have relocated to the Grote Markt this year:
This is because of all the construction at the Spuiplein (article in Dutch, with photo), which seems to take over more and more space every week.
The Facebook page for the oliebollen stand says it should open on November 2nd. This is a very popular place to buy oliebollen. Oliebollen (literally “oil balls”) are sort of like donut balls, without any holes. They are typically served with raisins inside, unless you are a heretic like me that eats them plain. Here’s a look at how long the line gets on New Year’s Eve, back in 2014. This stand is popular! Or check out this 1 minute video.
And for the public transportation aficionados reading this (haha), the bus driving past is the old model – it is bus 61, which is a temporary line to take over tram 1 at least through the end of the year. They are busy doing work on the Scheveningseweg.
Girl with the pearl earring (Or: Keychain at VVV The Hague)
Over at VVV tourist information office, on the ground floor of the Central Library, you can find a rather special looking keychain of ‘Girl with the pearl earring’:
It looks pretty cool, although I can’t help but think she looks a bit annoyed at someone (in my opinion the shape of the dark brown eye piece makes it look like she is frowning).
Here’s a look at the actual painting on Wikipedia to compare.
Life in the Hague 