Dodging the summer storms (Or: A bit of rain would be nice, folks)

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Niki

The highlight of the day was a predicted storm that would dump a lot of rain on the Netherlands. And it did… just not that much in The Hague. Booooo. Although I suppose that is for the best, considering if it rains too fast the ground wouldn’t be able to soak it up anyway. But except for a bit of rain a few nights ago, it’s been at least a month since it has rained in NL. The plants and grass are definitely starting to turn yellow! Or are completely yellow, in some cases.

Urgent Code Orange storm warning issued for floods, hail, wind, & lightning from nltimes.nl

Dozens of flights delayed or cancelled at Schiphol as storm approaches the northeast, also from nltimes.nl (Glad I am not flying today!)

(translated as “I’m in the mood for summer, man”)

In other news… ‘Dutch by default’: Netherlands seeks curbs on English-language university courses from theguardian.com. It is indeed quite easy at the moment to follow an education in this country without knowing any Dutch at all.

And, just for fun, here is a photo of a flower on Vondelstraat, a street on the way to Kelly’s expat store:

They definitely caught my eye as I walked past.

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Basking in the warmth (Or: A walk through Koekamp)

Posted on June 11, 2023 by Niki

As noted, the Netherlands is currently experiencing a bit of a heat wave, with temperatures around 30C or 86F. I decided to take a walk and visit the Koekamp today. It is an area not far from the Central train station, complete with a handful of deer. Of course, they were all hiding in the shade…

I also took a photo of the area from the Koekamp bridge:

The bridge itself is also quite pretty – see a photo at haasnootbruggen.nl. It is for cyclists and pedestrians.

One good initiative that has popped up more and more recently: it is a lot easier to find free sunblock at beaches, festivals and gyms (article in Dutch, from nos.nl).

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Eye catching (Or: BlowUp Art in The Hague)

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Niki

This past May The Hague was host to an art festival called BlowUp Art. The festival was an initiative of Pulchri Studio. I previously wrote a blog post about the sculptures they had placed on the Lange Voorhout.

Here is a look at one of the six creations featured in the BlowUp Art festival:

This piece is called “Crested” and it was created by Steven Messam.

In other news, the Netherlands will get to experience its first mini heat wave this weekend! Temperatures are expected to be around 30C or 85F here in The Hague. Time to find my sunscreen…

Dit weekend zomerse temperaturen: meer openbaar vervoer naar stranden from nos.nl. Translated: This weekend summer tempatures: more public transportation to beaches. For instance, HTM here in The Hague will be running the Strandexpress tram (=beach express), with limited stops between the Holland Spoor train station, Centraal Station, Madurodam and the beach. And of course it won’t be enough as everyone will descend on the beach with their car, bike or feet!

Categories: Culture, The Hague | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Spotted in Rijswijk (Or: A stork sunning themselves)

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Niki

A few weeks ago I was in Rijswijk (a nearby city) and I spotted a stork sunning themselves in a nearby park:

It was in the same area that I spotted a nest a few months ago:

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New competition in The Hague (Or: Dirk supermarket)

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Niki

We now have a Dirk supermarket in The Hague city centre, since this week. It is at the Torenstraat (Tower street). It is in the location where Rock Palace used to be, a store where you could buy all sorts of musical instruments including guitars.

There isn’t much supermarket competition in The Hague city centre. Everywhere is Albert Heijn, with a few Jumbo supermarkets here and there. But now we also have a Dirk (pronounced Dyerk, with a bit of a y sound).

Marco and I decided to visit this weekend. The first thing we saw was this sign:

Translated, it reads “By Dirk you don’t need to horde groceries to get savings”. Although the verb to horde, hamsteren, will always make me think of the corona pandemic, where people were warned not to horde groceries and supplies when the pandemic first hit. Most people didn’t listen.

The store technically should have cheaper prices, although most of the products are the same as other supermarkets. The location is a bit on the small side with narrow rows that quickly cause congestion issues. But the worst part is that they only have one cash register with a worker and four self-service checkout points. Definitely not enough in the weekend or during prime time hours. The space for the self-service area wasn’t designed that wisely (the Jumbo in the city centre has six self-checkout points in half the space, for example). But it might be a good location to visit during the quieter hours, maybe.

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Rrrollend food truck festival (Or: Enjoying the sun)

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Niki

We finally have some good weather here in the Netherlands! Unfortunately “good weather” in this case is about 19-20C, or 64-68F. But we take what we can get.

This past weekend was the Rrrollend food truck festival, this time by the Hofvijver. I am not sure if this is the first time that it was held there; usually it is at the Lange Voorhout or by Maliveld. People were enjoying the weather. Some were even sitting by the water, although maybe that was just to find a good seat — it was pretty crowded there after all. But dangling your legs over the water is a nice way to enjoy the sun.

A few weeks earlier Marco and I were at Anne & Max, a (chain) café found throughout the Netherlands. Check out the cool pattern on the cappuccino:

The cake in the background was a lime cake, but it was a bit drier than expected. It was still a fun time with Marco, though.

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Anyone feeling patriotic? (Or: A box of cupcakes)

Posted on May 13, 2023 by Niki

Check out these red, white and blue cupcakes which I spotted at an expat store in the Mall of The Netherlands (yes, NL jumped on the bandwagon as every time I hear of the name I think of the Mall of America).

Sometimes with overly American branding I have to wonder if it was actually produced in the US or not. Companies make something that sounds American, they put an American flag on it and brand it American. But if you look closely you will see it was made in Europe.

And check out that price. €9,99 or $11.20. For 8 cupcakes!

Another thing that is very expensive here is a box of Cheerios. Those are also about €10 each, unfortunately.

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Tulips at the Spuiplein (Or: A few photos from last month)

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Niki

I forgot to post a few photos that I took last month of the gorgeous tulips by the Spuiplein in The Hague (in the city centre). In the background you can also see the artwork that commemorates M.C. Escher on the wall of the city hall. I posted about that at the end of March.

And here is a close up of the tulips:

You have to love the color!

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Flags at half mast (Or: Remembrance Day and Liberation Day in the Netherlands)

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Niki

A few days ago I found myself near the Peace Palace in The Hague. This was on 4 May, otherwise known as Nationale Dodenherdenking or National Remembrance of the Dead day. You have a few monuments to the war near the Peace Palace. One of them is The Hague Resistance and Liberation Memorial which commemorates those who lost their lives in The Netherlands during WWII. Here is the official website for the Memorial (in Dutch).

And on 5 May the Netherlands celebrates Liberation Day, which in comparison to the more somber Remembrance Day is a day for festivals and celebrating one’s freedom. A lot of cities hold festivals on 5 May.

Pictures from the festival in The Hague (at the Malieveld), in Dutch at indebuurt.nl.

And because I couldn’t not take a photo of it, here is an impressive looking tree which is also near the Peace Palace. It is huge! I would love to sit under its shade and read a book for a while.

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King’s Day in The Hague (Or: Flags everywhere)

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Niki

Today is King’s Day in the Netherlands. At the very least, it is a nice day off! It celebrates the birthday of King Willem-Alexander, although most people use it as an excuse to head into town and enjoy a lot of good music and alcohol. (Seriously, walking into the local supermarket, the first thing on display was six-packs of beer. They know where their money is made!)

Dutch flags on display for the holiday with the Grote Kerk (“Big Church”) in the background.

You can also check out the King’s Day Google doodle. The doodle celebrates tompouces, a pastry which is normally pink. Unless it is King’s Day, and then it is bright orange.

Chilly but sunny start to King’s Day after a busy night of partying from dutchnews.nl. The day before King’s Day is known as King’s Night and most of the major cities have music festivals. For instance last night The Hague had The Life I Live festival in the city centre.

There are two main activities on King’s Day: 1) The king and his family always visits one city each year. This year was Rotterdam. 2) A lot of cities have “free markets” (Vrijmarkten) which is basically a huge garage sale – one day a year everyone in the nation is out selling things. Or buying things. On that day people can clear out all of their junk and old items and sell them in specifically designated spots in each city.

Here is a live blog from NOS (the national news channel). It is in Dutch but at the very least you can check out the pictures to get a sense of how crowded it was/is!

And here is the live blog from the local news service, Omroep West, also in Dutch. But Google Translate is your friend. (And mine too, sometimes.)

Categories: Culture, Holidays, The Hague | Tags: | Leave a comment

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