First, here is a photo of a statue on the side of the building. I know it is somewhere in the city centre, and somewhere in the Chinatown part of the city, but I can’t quite make out the street name on the photo. Nevertheless, it is an interesting piece of art:
And here is a fountain near the main entrance of Vondelpark:
Unfortunately this weekend trip we took already feels like it was a few months ago, even though it was only last month. Oh well – on to the next trip!
I took this photo recently of the building facade by the clothing store Peek & Cloppenburg (official website in Dutch).
This is quite typical of buildings in the Netherlands – and usually the architecture is from long ago, predating the current store at the location by decades. However, in this case the architecture was indeed designed for the Peek & Cloppenburg building (monumentenzorgdenhaag.nl, in Dutch). That article mentions that it was designed to be a counterweight to the architecture of Bijenkorf across the street (denhaag.nl, in English).
Here are some photos from benches by the Peace Palace:
Usually the area in front of the Peace Palace is teeming with tourists, but it has obviously been quiet in the last year.
In other news: Flash floods cause havoc across Europe – in pictures from theguardian.com. Most of the pictures are from Germany, where over 150 have died, although the southeast part of the Netherlands has also had flooded areas and evacuations. Most residents have been allowed to go back home, though.
Cow survives 100 kilometre swim downstream in river flood waters from dutchnews.nl. Thanks to her fame, the owner has promised she won’t be slaughtered (source from nos.nl in Dutch).
The Hague’s central library currently has an exhibition entitled “Tekenen in Vrijheid?!” or “Freedom to draw”, where political cartoons from different parts of the world are on display. The exhibition also celebrates 75 years of freedom (since WWII) and the United Nations’ 75th anniversary (special website at un.org). The exhibition is available through 17 June and can be found on the 2nd floor, near the escalators.
The Turkish president Erdogan as a cat entangled in a ball of woll. See also this article from BBC news.
A general look at the more political cartoons on display. There was a lot to look at – I definitely recommend visiting if you are in the area.
Marco and I checked out the exhibition that it is going on right now over on the Lange Voorhout. The exhibition, from Pulchri Studio (official website in Dutch), will be available through 14 September. Since it is on public ground you can visit it whenever you want, day or night.
This sculpture is near the beginning of the exhibition (depending on where you enter the Lange Voorhout, of course).
This sculpture is topical – it is someone balancing upside down on a coronavirus.
Continue readingHere is another piece of art found on the Achterom street:
I looked up the phrase “She belongs to no one but herself” and found this page for the “She project” at hansmahler.nl in English.
A while ago I posted about a poll that the city held to determine what stones would be used for the Spuiplein and in front of the city hall once the construction of the new cultural complex was complete. At the time I noted that most of the answers were “we don’t care, whatever is least slippery”. It is quite hard to walk there when it rains.
I did of course forget that a lot of skaters love that area because the current stones don’t have any grip. There is also a lot of echo in that area, so they might like the loud sound when their boards slam on the ground over and over again… Anyway, they are not pleased that it seems the city will be going for stones with more grip. Their wheels get stuck in the stone and the board doesn’t react the same way as before. Problem is that it is also an area a lot of people walk through to get from the city centre to the central station and vice versa, so it will be interesting to see what the city does.
The skaters will hold a “Save Spui” demonstration on Saturday, May 29 at 14:00. See also this article at omroepwest.nl in Dutch.
On my way to Kelly’s expat store, I walked through Achterom street and decided to take more photos of the cat graffiti. Consider it a continuation of a previous post earlier this year.
My favorite, a bit of a prism effect:
Especially the eyes.
How frustrating. It’s just like untangling Christmas lights. Sometimes it’s better to just buy a new set.
Is it just me or do those eyes above look human?
And finally, a photo taken to the left of the previous photo.
It’s a great little side street to wander down (it crosses through the Passage shopping area, from denhaag.com in English).
The Thorbecke monument on the Lange Voorhout has recently received a new addition:
Interesting that only one of them is wearing a face mask…
This monument is actually made up of two parts: the modern stainless steel part (pictured above) and a marble part (not pictured) where J.R. Thorbecke, a 19th century Dutch statesman is actually shown. The two parts are supposed to represent the 19th century Thorbecke’s influence on our times. See also this page from angloinfo.com for more information in English.
In other news – what does the main train provider (NS) do when storks (a protected species in the Netherlands) build their nest above the train tracks? Answer: not much once the eggs are laid. Ooievaarsnest op bovenleidingportaal vormt brandgevaar, maar mag niet weggehaald worden from omroepwest.nl in Dutch. The same thing happened in 2020 in a different part of the Netherlands (article from dutchnews.nl in English).
Here is a look at one of the stone decorations in the Binnenhof:
You know the Netherlands has a lot of rain when even the art references it. (I kid, I kid. It doesn’t rain THAT much.)
And a zoomed out photo:
Unfortunately Binnenhof will be undergoing renovations later this year that are projected to last 5 years (article from nu.nl in Dutch). Five years of not being able to walk in this area seems rather long. The other option was to do the construction in stages so that the Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives) wouldn’t have to temporarily move elsewhere. While that option might have been cheaper it would have meant construction would last 12 years…
This morning I took a photo of the line to enter Bijenkorf, a high-end department store. There weren’t too many people in line yet – it was only 11:00 – but there was a large amount of space roped off on the Grote Markt shopping street.
The not-quite-readable sign says “Welcome! Access only allowed with appointment. Scan the QR-code to make an appointment.” (QR codes have definitely become more popular during the corona crisis.) In the Netherlands you need to make an appointment at least 4 hours in advance. Non-essential stores can have 1 person per 25 square meters, with a maximum of 50 shoppers in the store at one time.
The sculpture is called “Veelhoofd” (Many heads) and it was created by Joep van Lieshout. The art in The Hague’s city centre moves around a lot – the sculpture was initially installed on the Spui (stroom.nl, in English) around the corner back in 2010.
Life in the Hague 