Posts Tagged With: Books

Continuing the theme of construction related blog posts… did you know The Hague’s central library is also undergoing a massive renovation at the moment? You can read more about it over at their official website in Dutch. The fifth floor has already been renovated and features a new café. The main goal of the renovation is to add more areas for people to meet – the trend most libraries are following these days.

At the moment they are working on the ground floor and the first floor (second floor for Americans!). Here is a look at the ground floor:

The information desk used to be on the right side, the café was in the back and the old tourist information point (now gone, having moved to the The Hague’s central train station) was on the lwft side. For now the information desk and area to turn in books is on the second floor.

And here is a look at the first floor, which had places to meet and hold live shows:

I was looking for a specific book. Before I left the house I checked the website, writing down the number and floor where I could find it. It never hurts to be prepared! Of course, when I went to the third floor most of the bookshelves were missing. Hmmm. There was a sign saying the books I was looking for were temporarily moved to the second floor. I go to the second floor and there are even bigger gapping holes and empty space. The section I was looking for was nowhere to be seen.

I didn’t really feel like standing in the ever-growing line for the information desk to ask where I could find the book, so I shrugged and went home. It’s not that big a deal. Hopefully the construction will be over by the end of the summer. I am sure the end result will be worth it!

Mysterious lights above the Netherlands turn out to be satellites from Elon Musk) – nos.nl, article in Dutch. The satellites are part of his Starlink project which aims to put 12,000 satellites into low orbit by 2024 so that everyone in the world can have fast internet. (Nice goal, but wow, space is already really crowded!)

And another space-related article: Chinese rocket’s chaotic fall to Earth highlights problem of space junk from the guardian.com. Experts have no idea where it will land – anywhere in the southern hemisphere is currently a possibility. You can follow its path from orbit.ing-now.com. They predict it will crash in the next 12 hours. Its current speed as it spins around the earth is 26,183km/h (17,518 mph). Yikes! Oh, and did I mention this rocket is about 100 feet tall and weighs 22 tons? Here is hoping it either burns up in the atmosphere or lands in an ocean somewhere.

Today’s dinner menu? Saté with rice and peanut sauce, pickled peppers/onions and kroepoek. Saté is the one meal Marco and I made in America for my family (we stowed away the most important ingredients in our suitcases). Tasty stuff.

I can relate to this:

Hopefully in June I can go to the library and check out (physical) books again!