Posts Tagged With: Centrum

Looking down (Or: Construction on the tower by the Binnenhof)

Posted on May 28, 2024 by Niki

The Binnenhof in The Hague’s city centre is currently being renovated. For a very long time – the current estimate is that it will be done around the end of 2028. If they are lucky.

One thing the city is working on is a tower (uitkijktoren in Dutch) where visitors can look up and over the Binnenhof walls to see the construction that is currently going on.

Here is a look from a bit further away (and a look at the beautiful sky today):

The tower is about 28 meters tall (92 feet). There is of course no elevator (!) but entry is free. The city is hoping that this will keep tourists interested in the area while the Binnenhof is closed since the Binnenhof is a main draw for tourists. The tower hasn’t opened quite yet, though.

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Interesting design (Or: Horse drawn carriage in The Hague)

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Niki

A few days ago I spotted a horse drawn carriage in The Hague’s city centre. It was near Buitenhof and the H&M store.

It is definitely an interesting choice to have the seats facing inward, since you have to turn around to see anything outside. But maybe conversing with the group at the same time is also important?

Happy Sunday everyone! If you live in the Netherlands, happy day off tomorrow (Monday after Pentecost), unless you work in the horeca. ho = hotel, re = restaurant, ca = café.

Horeca is probably my favorite Dutch abbreviation…

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BlowUp Art The Hague (Or: 2024 edition)

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Niki

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.

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Dutch flags in the sun (Or: At the Hofvijver)

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Niki

This weekend is Remembrance Day (May 4) and Liberation Day (May 5). The first day is a somber event where all war victims with ties to the Netherlands are remembered, and the second day is a celebration of freedom. For instance there is a festival going on at the Malieveld this afternoon and later tonight.

While in the city centre I took a picture of the Dutch flags on display at the Hofvijver:

May has been just as rainy as April, with only a few exceptions. Therefore, any bit of sun deserves a trip outside, even if you still need to wear a jacket.

The Netherlands still has two more holidays to go before we enter June – December drought. This Thursday is Ascension day and Monday, May 20 is Pentecost. After that the next holiday is Christmas… eek! However, we do get more days off than the US does. If you work full-time in the Netherlands you are entitled to 20 days off at a minimum. I get 25 days off, although when I started at this job we only got 20 days. Some lucrative companies even give 40 days off, although that is not the norm.

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Party time (Or: Photos from the Life I Live festival, 2024)

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Niki

First: today is the first jacket-less day of the year! Bring on summer!

Second: we had an awesome thunderstorm in the middle of the night last night. Both Marco and I woke up to the loud crash of nearby thunder and then stayed awake for a while listening to the storm. This is newsworthy because proper thunderstorms are quite rare in this part of Europe.

Back to the blog post: The Hague was host to the Life I Live festival last Friday, held on the night before King’s Day (and back in the day, Queen’s Day) every year. Here are some of the photos Marco graciously took for this blog. He’s tall so he usually can get the camera over everyone’s heads. Thank you Marco!

First up was the Dutch band Droom dit (Dream this). See also Dutch Wikipedia. The podium was at Lange Voorhout.

Here is the band Chibi Ichigo. See also Dutch Wikipedia. This podium was also at Lange Voothout, but at the other end. Kind of a funny moment to take a picture if you ask me.

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Tulips by the Spuiplein (Or: Beauty on a rainy day)

Posted on April 6, 2024 by Niki

Recently Marco took some pictures of the tulips by the Spuiplein. The tulips just appeared one day – before that the area was barren all winter!

It’s an appropriate topic considering we had one day of really, really good weather today. It was about 24C/75F. The winds shifted and came from Africa today. But only for one day.

And a look at the area in general:

Orange, pink and just a bit of yellow!

And a look at the raindrops stuck to the flowers:

In case you are interested, Spuiplein is in the middle of a renovation. The next stage will begin this fall. You can read more about it at projecten.denhaag.nl. The article is in Dutch but there are pictures and a Google translate option available.

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Magnolias (Or: Spring trees in Huijgenspark)

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Niki

As a continuation to my last blog post, here is a look at some magnolias in another park in The Hague, this time Huijgenspark. You can read more about the area (in English) at DenHaag.com.

Here is a beautiful close up:

Gorgeous, right?

The area even has its own Little Free Library.

As you might expect, the bench behind it gets vandalized a lot. See also denhaagfm.nl (article in Dutch).

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Spring flowers (Or: Star magnolias in the Zeeheldenkwartier)

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Niki

The Zeeheldenkwartier is an area near the centre of The Hague, near Kelly’s Expat shopping. See also Google Maps. I recently took some photos of the star magnolia trees in the area:

You have to be quick with these – the trees have already started to lose some of their leaves. Here’s another look, with a monument to a politician, Hendrik Goeman Borgesius (English Wikipedia) in the foreground.

And finally, some very realistic looking graffiti:

See also this blog post about turtles in the same area, but in August.

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Bad news for tourists (Or: Construction by the Hofvijver)

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Niki

Okay, I am exaggerating a bit. But if you were thinking of getting a good picture of the flags at the Hofvijver here in The Hague, thank again. There is currently construction on the tram tracks in front of the area. And that’s ignoring the nearby construction which means the Binnenhof is closed until at least 2028 (dutchnews.nl).

In the meantime visitors can visit the Information centre binnenhof Renovation – see also denhaag.com in English. You can find the information centre at Plaats 22, not far from the Binnenhof (Google Maps).

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Statues and birds (Or: More signs of spring)

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Niki

While walking recently I came across a group of Egyptian geese (admittedly, I had to use Google Images to figure out what type of goose it was). See also Wikipedia in English.

And here are all of the young walking near the water of the Hofvijver:

And as a bonus, here is the Haags Jantje statue in the same area. He is pointing to where his father works, at the parliament (Binnenhof). The boy referenced died in 1299 at age 15. You can read more about him in English at expathollandinfo.nl.

Personally I really like his (temporary) spring outfit. in his left hand he has some of the yellow flowers. In his right hand he has a crocheted bird and he also wears a crown of crocheted birds. Someone definitely went to the trouble to dress him up for spring.

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