Here’s a look at part of the Valentine’s Day at Xenos (a discount store):
If you need candles or flowers, you’ll definitely in luck…!
I also took a picture of this cute snow globe. Inside you have the iconic Dutch clogs:
Not that we have much snow at the moment. After a week of cold, we have (relatively) warm temperatures, at least through the weekend. And of course, rain…
But we’re past January – it can only get warmer from here! In theory.
Random photo from Saturday, during the Chinese New Year festivities:
Cute!
On Tuesday night Marco, Roger and I went to the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam to see the punk rock band Green Day perform.
The setlist for the night is available at setlist.fm. They played for at least 2 1/2 hours (they were scheduled for 3, but even 2 1/2 seemed like a decent amount).
guitarist Mike Dirnt graces our corner (he came over frequently)
My favorite song that they played was Are We The Waiting (YouTube). From the new album I only wish they had played Say Goodbye (YouTube again), although they don’t seem to play that one on tour. Oh well – can’t have it all!
Instant wall of heat. It felt nice, since it was so brief…
It was a really good show. I definitely woke up sore in the morning, but it was still worth it.
On Thursday evening Marco and I went to Marks & Spencer for a coffee. In November of last year the company had reported that they would be closing the two Dutch stores, along with other international stores, in a cost-cutting measure. But The Hague store is still open… with no additional details about exactly when it would close.
A look at the cafe on the top level
Chocolates on sale for Easter – either the frozen castle or a R2D2. I think I’d go for the R2D2!
So… still open for now. Not that I am complaining! I really like their coffee.
This picture is from last week, from the nearby city of Rijswijk. Unfortunately the Netherlands is currently warming up again, so most of the ice has melted.
Marco reported that there were no… accidents… or falling through the ice while he was watching. Since Friday it has been warmer, so the chance of skating on natural ice is pretty low until it turns colder again.
Tomorrow the city of The Hague and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Netherlands will be hosting the Chinese New Year celebrations. 2017 is the year of the rooster!
Program at City Hall:
Other areas of interest:
One of my photos from the 2013 Chinese New Year celebrations
It must be January again! Every year since I’ve been here, Media Markt has had a sale where they pay the taxes (Dutch: btw, short for belasting toegevoegde waarde) so you don’t have to.
Image from mediamarkt.nl – “weg ermee” means get rid of it. op = op means gone = gone (i.e. no rainchecks)
This year’s BTW vrije dagen (tax free days) start this Thursday at 8am and last through Sunday. Well, the stores are open from 8am. If you really want to avoid the crowd, you can purchase items online from midnight onwards. And there is a crowd! It’s not quite like America’s Black Friday shopping, but it still makes me want to leave almost right away. If you plan right it can be fun, though.
A touch of color enters the world…
Even though it is only January, sometimes it can feel like spring. Especially in Amsterdam! Yesterday was National Tulip Day, the third Saturday in January. It’s the official begin to the tulip selling season, and to celebrate this the tulip growers bring 200,000 tulips in crates to the Dam Square in Amsterdam. Once everything is set up around 1pm, anyone can enter and get pluck a bouquet of tulips for free. Expect to stand in line for a few hours, though! After about 3 to 4 hours, all tulips have been plucked.
First, a link in English, with a stunning time-lapse video from 2015, including the setup. And a link in Dutch, with photos of 2017 Nationale Tulpendag, including photos from above which show the overall design. I find it a nice touch that the design for 2015 is different than 2017.
Speaking of tulips, I took some photos of flowers on sale at an Albert Heijn in The Hague:
Tulips!
A bushel of flowers
I found out tonight that Chuck Deely passed away Monday night. And who is he? A street musician that played outside of Central Station as well as in the Grote Markt (by C&A or sometimes by Bijenkorf). He’s actually an American, born in 1954 in Detroit. The story goes that he moved here for love many years back, but it didn’t work out. He stayed, playing music on the streets to pay the rent.
photo from denhaagfm.nl
I didn’t know him personally, having only donated a few euros to him occasionally. The last time I donated was last month, and I overheard him telling someone else that he was not feeling well. Apparently he was hospitalized shortly after that, and then again in January.
It was always fun to hear the songs he was playing and Marco would sometimes stop to listen to his guitar solos. Music isn’t my strong suit so half the time I would end up asking Marco what Chuck was playing now. My favorite song he’d play was Hotel California by The Eagles.
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year
You can find it here
Flowers outside of the Hema/Albert Heijn, one of the spots he would play at
Newspaper article taped to the wall, above the flowers
There is currently an unofficial Facebook action to build a monument in his honor somewhere in the Grote Markt, but only time will tell if that happens (or what exactly the monument would look like).
It is weird – I’ve only been here four years but I can’t imagine not seeing him or hearing his music anymore. Thanks for the tunes, Chuck!
Edited Sunday 29 January to add pictures of the memorial at Central Station:
These pictures were taken last Sunday, January 22:
And a close-up of the mini guitar (on the right side of the above picture):
Friday Marco and I made fajitas. I just love the colors of the photo!
Cooking fajitas in a wok pan. Everything (red and white onions, peppers, courgette, coriander, tomatoes…) and of course awesomely seasoned chicken!
Saturday, Marco, Roger and I made an Indian dish – chickens with (whole) shallots.
Chicken and whole shallots in the lower left, rice and green beans. In the upper left you have a ‘keep warm’ device generally used for tortilla wraps. In this case, though, it is keeping the naan bread warm.
It was quite tasty – and let me just say, the shallots just fell apart. The receipt came from Indian Food and Cooking by Mridula Baljekar, a Christmas gift from Roger to Marco. (Marco got a lot of cooking items this Christmas!).
Life in the Hague 