Recently I was walking along Prinsestraat in The Hague and I noticed some eye-catching art in the window at the art gallery Chiefs and Spirits:
Pretty cool, huh? I also squeeze my toothpaste tube to get every last bit out, so I enjoy it even more because of that, I think.
The Hague’s official website has a list of art galleries in city. For instance, De Affiche Galerij, or loosely translated, the poster gallery – it’s found in tram tunnel at Grote Marktstraat. Most people walk right on past, myself included usually. I need to stop and check the posters out more often!
Marco and I took a short trip to London last week with the Eurostar train, from Thursday morning through Sunday evening. I’m a big fan of the Eurostar train (formerly Thalys) as it only takes about 3 and a half hours and you arrive in the city centre at the St. Pancras station. Of course, we had to get to Rotterdam first and if you are traveling to London you have to be at the station an hour before your train departs so you can clear security and immigration. So it is more like 4 and a half or 5 hours in total in the end. However, if you’re staying in the EU, like Paris, you only need to arrive about 15-20 minutes before your train leaves.
We lucked out – the weather was definitely on our side. It was about 26C/78F on the day we arrived, with the weather slowly getting colder each day we were there. We only wore a jacket on our last day. The only rain we had was a meager drizzle for two seconds while we exited the hotel and entered the cafe next door for coffee.
One of the days we went to the Design museum to see the Tim Burton exhibition:
The exhibition takes about an hour and is five large rooms. There’s plenty to see in those rooms, though. Note that it is only around until May 26, though it will probably move to a different city later in the year. You can read more about it at the official website.
After the Design museum we took a stroll through Holland Park. Inside the park you have the Dutch gardens:
It was full of absolutely gorgeous flowers. The proof is above!
And also a few statues, strategically placed.
After that we visited the Kyoto garden, also in Holland Park. It was created for the 1992 Japan festival in London.
There was a marble slab of a bridge going across part of the pond which you could walk across, allowing you to get pictures up close.
It was a peaceful place, and gorgeous in the beautiful weather we had.
All in all it was a lovely long weekend, although it is definitely nice to be lazier this weekend!
De Passage (a covered shopping area) has a tree in the center, where the Christmas tree usually stands. A few weeks ago a tree with pink leaves appeared.
It is fake, of course, but still pretty. Since it is in the center, you can see it from far away no matter how you enter De Passage.
In other news… today it was -3C (about 27F). That is actually pretty cold for the Netherlands these days.
We will have another day or two of cold before the weather freakishly jumps up to a high of 15C (60F) on Friday. I am sure all of the terraces will be overflowing with sun-starved Dutchies then.
De Passage (the covered shopping area in The Hague’s city centre) has started getting ready for the coming holiday season. It’s a bit early, but in the Netherlands the first holiday is Sinterklaas. That holiday is on 5 December, a full three weeks before Christmas.
And in other news: Jeers for beers: mechanic chucks out artwork at Lisse museum from dutchnews.nl. The artwork was two handprinted beer cans left on display in an elevator, so the mistake definitely makes sense. The museum has gotten a lot of publicity due to it, so I am sure they are happy. (The not-beer cans were later found in the trash, so there was no harm done.)
Today Marco and I went to the Hofvijver to check out BlowUp Art The Hague. Note: tomorrow is the last day to see it! This time we went on the platform itself, which was an experience to say the least. The walkway area leading to the platform is quite wobbly. The best way to describe it is to say it is like walking on a swing bridge as it sways in all directions, especially if you choose a less than straight path. If you walk straight forward it doesn’t move around as much.
You can get some great pictures here with the Binnenhof in the background. The Binnenhof is the parliamentary building for the Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives). The eggs were pretty cool because they are reflective so you can get some interesting photos, especially if you come as a group. The other thing to notice is the tower at the far left of the Binnenhof building – that is normally the office of the prime minister, when the Binnenhof isn’t in the middle of a 5-year renovation.
I mentioned the tower being the office of the prime minister because this pink tower is actually a homage to it.
There is also one colorful egg which will end up in a lot of people’s photos for sure.
Finally, here’s a look at the platform itself to show that you are actually on top of the water.
I think I’ll miss this art installation. When it first arrived it didn’t look like much, but not all of the blow up art was in place yet. It was also more fun than I expected to walk on the platform, although I was glad to get back on stable ground after!
The 2024 edition of BlowUp art has arrived in The Hague and is available through 2 June. This time the focus is around the Hofvijver area. Here is a look at some of the artwork currently on display:
The yellow pot is from the theme “larger than life”. The pink tower is a play on the Torentje or “little tower” that the Dutch Prime minister would sit at, just out of view behind the tree above. There’s even a Dutch Wikipedia page about it.
Here is a close up:
The floating garden near the pink tower is also part of the temporary art exhibition and was designed by second year students in the “Urban Green Development” program.
During the holiday weekend (a four day weekend!) I decided to take a picture of the equestrian statue of Willem the Silent outside of the Paleis Noordeinde. I was drawn by the color of the statue against the gray-white of the building behind it. Unfortunately the sun decided to mostly disappear at that moment.
Here is a Google Maps link on where to find the statue.
King’s Day in The Hague from denhaag.com in English. This includes the King’s Fair (= carnival) at the Malieveld, opening this Friday and running through Saturday, April 27. There’s even a geranium market on Lange Voorhout on King’s Day!
Route of Tour de France Femmes announced from denhaag.com. The Tour de France femmes will be cycling through The Hague (and Rotterdam) on August 12 this year.
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.
The Hague’s transportation company HTM said they would temporarily scale back the schedule for most buses and trams due to a lack of workers. (article in Dutch at omroepwest.nl). The schedule will be adjusted from next month through at least the fall.
But on the flip side of that you have NS, the largest transportation company in the Netherlands for domestic and international trains. Dutch railway NS promises major improvements in 2025 with 1,600 more trains weekly, also from nltimes.nl. These changes would take effect in the 2025 train schedule which starts this December. Their campaign to hire more workers seems to be going quite well.
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…!
Maybe it is a European thing, and not just a Dutch thing, but I always find it amusing (and cool) that poetry can even be found on the outside of buildings.
If you look to the left you can see it. The writing is on the wall indeed. For a bonus you can also see the bronze artwork “Ode aan de fiets” (Ode to bikes) on the right side. It was made in 1990 and symbolizes, well, all of the daily activities that happen on the bike, come rain or shine. The cutest part is that there is also a kid on the back, with their own mini umbrella.
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!
Life in the Hague 