Transportation

Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree (Or: 2025 edition)

Posted on December 14, 2025 by Niki

Here’s a look at Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree for 2025:

The Christmas area on the third floor also had bears which ever so slightly moved.

I do like the use of colored lights this year. A lot of places in the Netherlands only have soft white lights. The gold symbols on the tree are pictures of a teddy bear, Bijenkorf shopping bag, and Christmas present. The longer rectangle one is the symbol for the Bijenkorf in Amsterdam. You can also buy it as a Christmas ornament…

That picture makes it seem like the store was fairly empty, but that was most definitely not the case. It was a bit of a madhouse, but the ornaments are a bit further in. This was near the beginning of the section, by the escalators.

In my last post I mentioned the Christmas tram. Unfortunately, it got into a (minor) accident the next day (omroepwest.nl), although it was back in service quickly. Accidents between trams and cars happens a lot. A bit more unexpected was the accident earlier this week when the switch which allows the tram to change tracks broke and shot through the floor of the tram, slightly injuring one of the passengers. A few pictures into the article you can see the damage to the floor. Crazy stuff.

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Christmas tram in The Hague (With: A Santa hat)

Posted on December 9, 2025 by Niki

I recently saw the Christmas tram riding around in The Hague. It was the second time I have spotted it this year, but this time I was able to stop and take a picture.

Don’t you think the Santa hat on top is cute? Apparently it has 6,300 lights on it and it also plays Christmas music non-stop. Haha. (I wouldn’t mind, though. It isn’t like you are in the tram that long.)

You can check out ovzoeker.nl to see where the tram is riding. The URL looks for HTM tram #3109.

Also, if you are in The Hague, check out the Royal Christmas Fair, which is open on the Lange Voorhout until December 23.

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Behind the scenes look (Or: Documentary about Amsterdam Centraal airing on Disney+ NL)

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Niki

Disney+ has announced that a new documentary will air here in the Netherlands about Amsterdam Centraal, one of the largest train stations in the country. Around 200,000 people travel through the station on a daily basis. The documentary is called Amsterdam Centraal 24/7 and the first of six episodes will air on April 17. Read more at iamexpat.nl.

Photo by Martijn Stoof on Pexels.com

I think my favorite episode will be the one about Zandvoort (the F1 track) and all of the preparations that went into making sure 98% of the spectators arrive by public transportation or biking. Last year I had the web cam on for a while, watching the trains arrive every few minutes.

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Time of day (Or: Sundial by the Kneuterdijk Palace)

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Niki

A few weeks ago I was wandering around in The Hague and I came across a piece of art. A sundial, to be exact. This was behind the Kneuterdijk palace.

Here is a close up:

Kneuterdijk palace was built in 1716. The garden where the artwork can be found is in the back of the palace. The gate was open when I walked past, so I assume it is usually open during the day. You can read more about the palace at denhaag.com (in English).

In public transportation news – random, I know – it has been a busy week in the Netherlands.

Hopefully HTM can bring back their full schedule later this year. But I’m aware of how good I have it, considering trams currently run every 10 minutes. But I remember when it was every 7 minutes…!

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A moment of quiet (Or: De Passage and its flowers)

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Niki

It’s been a while, so I figured I would share a new photo of De Passage. It is an indoor shopping area in the shape of a triangle which connects parts of The Hague with each other. Hence the name “De Passage”. You can even buy a keychain or miniature momento.

This photo is taken near the end of the De Passage closest to the Gravenstraat, not far from the Grote Kerk.

How are things for Marco and I? We’re enjoying the brief but sunny weather (one day of around 26C/79F, before it drops back down again for a few days). Luckily the rain has let up the last week or so.

In other news:

Dutch and Belgian railways to double daily intercity trains to Brussels by 2025. This step makes sense — the Dutch train provider NS lost their monopoly on all other international routes (except for Brussels) so they want to focus on that route. Both articles are from nltimes.nl.

Automated study buddies: a quick look at Dutch language apps from dutchnews.nl (just for a fun look at how some Dutch words are pronounced).

Seals practise social distancing, aerial survey of North Sea shows from theguardian.com. As you might guess, it is likely to prevent spreading illnesses. Check out this other news article from nhnieuws.nl which shows the difference between the grey seals (who don’t keep as much distance) and the harbor seals who do.

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Food truck festivals (And: News from The Netherlands)

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Niki

Good news – the food truck festival Rrrollend is coming back for a special winter edition from March 1 to March 5 at the Lange Voorhout. Official website in Dutch. Indebuurt.nl (also in Dutch, it means “in the neighborhood” reports that the winter edition means they will be selling glühwein (mulled wine) and hot chocolate. Yum. Rrrollend will also be back in The Hague in Mid-May (at the Hofvijver) and in mid-August (at the Lange Voorhout).

Above is the shaved ice cream Marco and I enjoyed back in 2019.

In other news, The Hague’s public transportation company will stop selling HTM bicycles in The Hague on February 1 (official website in English) due to low demand. Most people use the NS train company’s bicycles instead. The bikes will be moved to Zoetermeer, a suburb of The Hague, where the demand for them is higher.

The cool event in Scheveningen is open for one more week (the last day is the 22nd). You can go ice skating or view ice sculptures. Official website in Dutch.

If you want to travel to Utrecht, you can also visit the I Light U light festival going on through January 29. The artwork is all in the neighborhood of the main train station. Official website in English.

And finally, we had some pretty strong winds last Thursday. Some planes were asked to use a runway at Schiphol airport that is not normally in use (the Oostbaan, or East runway) but one plane arriving from Detroit still managed to land the plane just short of the runway. Although to be honest I don’t know how much you would feel that as a passenger. See also dutchreview.com in English.

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Transportation (Or: Trains, trams and… shopping carts?)

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Niki

It’s a random news day, I think.

The major train provider (NS) is in the middle of a strike. There are 5 days where workers will strike. Today was day 1, in the north of the country. Friday is this area’s turn (The Hague, Leiden, Rotterdam, etc.). There are three more regions set to strike next week, with national strikes possibly following in September. Hmmm.

Not to be outdone, there was also a news story about Scheveningen getting a new tram depot in a few years. This is needed because the newer Avenio trams (Dutch Wikipedia) are wider and don’t fit in the current depot.

And, as the final form of transportation:

Albert Heijn (a Dutch grocery store chain) has been using a coin deposit system to unlock carts since the mid ’80s. As you might expect, this was to prevent carts from going missing. But this system was suspended in the last few years due to corona and Albert Heijn noticed that even without the system the number of “missing” carts did not go increase. So they decided to scrape it entirely. Personally I am not really affected since I don’t have a car. No car = limited carrying capacity = shopping basket for me.

That was also the rule I lived by in the States, since I didn’t have a car there either. Did you know “never having to learn to drive” was in the “pro” column when we were debating if I move to the Netherlands or if Marco moves to the States, way back when? Yep, I hate driving that much.

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Trams in The Hague (Or: Colors and tunnels)

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Niki

Here are two tram-related photos for you. First, a white Avenio tram:

Avenio is the newest type of tram available in The Hague. The big plus for this type of tram is that the there are no stairs to enter it – the door is at the same height as the platform. This is of course useful for people in wheelchairs, people with strollers, etc. Until this year the tram was black and red (see Dutch Wikipedia) but the white/red combination stands out more and is better for traffic safety. Each tram is being repainted as it comes in for a scheduled repair job, so it will take about a year for the black/red tram to disappear from The Hague’s streets.

This is a photo of the entrance to the tram tunnel which services the underground Grote Markt stop and the Spui stop. Trams coming in this direction are headed towards The Hague Central train station and trams going away from this direction are headed above ground, towards the Brouwersgracht stop.

While there isn’t a tram pictured, I thought the plants were nice to photograph. Perhaps I should take another photo in a few weeks to see if the trees still look green. About half of Europe is experiencing drought conditions at the moment. I hate to say it but we could use a bit of rain. Here is a map from the European Drought Observatory.

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Vroom vroom (Or: Louwman museum in The Hague)

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Niki

Today Marco and I visited the Louwman museum in The Hague. I scheduled this as a surprise for Marco a few weeks back. Consider it a late birthday present. The museum’s collection started in 1934 and the museum has been in its current location since 2010.

On the one hand, it is kind of funny that I wanted to go to a car museum as 1) I don’t have a driver’s license 2) I don’t like riding in cars, even as a passenger 3) if I hear someone got a new car the first (and only) thing I ask is “What color is it?”.

The museum starts with horse drawn carriages and old cars like the one above. Otherwise known as death traps. An honorable mention not pictured in this blog is the Sunbeam-Mabley Motor Sociable. The driver sat in the back (on the right side of the photo) and the passengers sat in front of him (!), but facing sideways. The wheels were also deliberately not aligned, which made skidding less of a risk but falling over more of a risk. Hmmmm.

The car above is the reason why we visited the museum. They have an F1 legends exhibition on the ground floor. On its own I don’t think the exhibition was worth visiting (it features 8 cars on loan) but coupled with a visit to the museum itself it is worth it. The cars on display took part in the Dutch Grand Prix between 1948 and 1970. The exhibit runs through September 4, coincidentally the day of the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort. The car above is Jim Clark’s Lotus 33 which won the Dutch Grand Prix in 1965.

The museum also had a display of car related toys (above). They also have a sizable display of art, including posters, sculptures, cigarette cases, miniatures and other memorabilia.

Here is a lovely blue car with wicker seats, because why not? Read more here. Another wacky example is the swan car and the boat car (not seaworthy, unfortunately).

Above is a 1965 Ferrari owned by the Dutch Prince Bernhard. The prince specifically requested the metallic paint color “Verde Pino”. It is a beautiful color, and apparently the car goes fast too (the name of the car being Superfast Speziale).

You can browse through the rest of the cars by checking out their online car collection.

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No transport for you (Or: Likely strike by HTM on Thursday, June 2)

Posted on May 25, 2022 by Niki

Last week workers by HTM (The Hague’s public transportation company in this area) announced that they would be going on strike on Thursday, June 2. Among other things, drivers are looking for 5% extra pay and a solution for too much work.

Staking bij HTM: binnenkort hele dag geen trams en bussen in Haagse regio at omroepwest.nl in Dutch (Strike at HTM – in the near future no trams or buses in The Hague region)

At first I thought there might be a chance that the the news came out early because they were hoping to bring attention to the situation while negotiations continue, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. On Google I found a page over at cnvvakmensen.nl (a trade union): Oproep tot staking 2 juni HTM. This page explains what HTM workers should do if they are working in the morning, or a later in the day, or a night shift into morning that day, and more. Even what they should do if they want to show solidarity but not strike (take a day off) or what they should do if they don’t want to strike (contact HTM and work their shift in the the garage as HTM has also said no buses or trams will ride if there is a strike).

So at the moment it looks like the strike will happen, although the news hasn’t really been broadcast widely on The Hague’s news sites or on htm.nl – yet.

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