As usual, Bijenkorf (a local upscale department store) has beautiful Christmas displays.
Here is what the Christmas tree looks like this year:
This year they went with a lot of blue lights, and no ornaments. I like it.
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.
Entrance to the Christmas department (which is what Kerst Afdeling translates to). Christmas tree full of Nijntje ornaments – how cute! In English she goes by Miffy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miffy
Bijenkorf always outdoes themselves with their holiday displays!
Here are some more photos from the Thanksgiving vacation to Chicago and Indy, randomly chosen.
Right next to our hotel was a Gino’s East. Home of Chicago’s famous deep dish pizza. Seriously, it looks more like a pie than a pizza. They also allow (and encourage) writing on any piece of wall you can reach. Chairs too. Basically everything but the tables.
More graffiti
Another place we visited was Andersonville. Being a public transportation nerd, I really wanted to visit Transit Tees, which has both Chicago souvenirs for the L (transit system) as well as general souvenirs for the city and surrounding area. I ended up getting a card game and a puzzle. There was also a comic book store, at the end of an alleyway…
Marco and I wondered why there was no sign that said “Crime Alley”. That’s a Batman joke…
Millenium Park looking rather festive, with a building illuminated in purple behind.
We also visited a store called “It’s Sugar!” at the Navy Pier. Oh. My. God. It lives up its name…
Cereal sized boxes of candy. I especially love Dingle Bearies, which is actually chocolate covered gummy bears.
Closer to the Ferris wheel, you have an indoor rainforest of sorts. Nice and warm in the middle of winter, with lots of fun fountains spouting water every which way (including archways over paths).
Nice and warm, nice and warm….
Heading over to Indianapolis, here is a collection of candy canes. I almost regret not getting the Oreo candy canes…
And finally, a peaceful photo of a doll left on a chair, at my dad’s church (I got the grand tour).
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…
Elmo, the Starbucks mascot at Schiphol airport!Do you see the “miniature” plane on the roof? Cool!
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…
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.
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…
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.
Check out the art featuring bottle caps in front of The Hague’s city hall:
Another photo:
And behind is the construction work for the Spui Forum on Spuiplein (an educational and cultural building — see this Dutch link or English link for more information and photos).
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).
Life in the Hague 