Last weekend Marco and I were walking past Berlage Office & Gift which sells – you guessed it – office supplies and gifts. Their window display caught my eye. I just had to stop and take a photo.
It reminds me of my previous blog post where I wrote about a new store I found in The Hague: Meow & Muse.
I walked past a new store in The Hague today. Or at least it was a new store for me. It was at Nieuwstraat 120, walking towards the old city hall at the end of this street.
They have a website here: https://www.lovecatsclub.nl/webinar-registration. I’m not sure why that page of the website points to “webinar registration” nor am I sure why it is spelled “Moew & Muse” on the page heading, but the Shop Online tab definitely has some cute stuff.
Here are the opening hours:
Here is a look at what they were offering in the window. My apologies for cutting off the bottom of the card. It said “overflowing with sexy”. Heh.
And another look:
If you have any friends who love cats, check out this place for some cat themed gifts!
De Passage (a covered shopping area in The Hague’s city centre) has received a new coat of paint. Black paint around the trim to be precise. Every day they paint a bit more, leaving “wet paint” (English) and “nat” (Dutch) signs in their wake. Woe be the person who doesn’t notice…
One place that might have caused some issues was the angel wings photo opportunity area. I found the “nat” sign there amusing for some reason.
Another fun thing in De Passage is the Valentine’s Day promotion. Even though the holiday has already passed, the promotion is still available:
In English: Valentine’s Day in De Passage. Win a romantic one night hotel stay in De Passage or a box of chocolates worth 75 euros. Take a photo, share it on social media and tag @depassagethehague. (Yes, De Passage does have one or two hotel rooms for special occasions.)
Here is a look at where you take the photo, in the centre of De Passage. This is where the Christmas tree is usually at during the holidays.
Like I mentioned, it’s still up and available if you want to try your luck!
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.
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…!
Last weekend Marco and I decided to go for Lebanese at Amier restaurant in The Hague’s city centre, in the same street as the American Book Center. I’ve walked past the restaurant time and time again over the years, but we had never been.
Since it was lunch we decided to share some small plates. Here’s a look at what we had:
We ordered four things:
It also came with a side dish of Lebanese bread. The meal was quite tasty, as expected. A bit more subtle than I was expecting, but definitely in a good way. Lots of lemon, but it was fine! It was also fun to have a lunch date with Marco.
A few weeks ago Marco and I tried Netherlands Bagels for the first time. It’s in the city centre, a few minutes walk from the Grote Kerk. This bagel shop sells New York style bagels (the owner is originally from New York). Read more about the shop’s history.
First, our drinks arrived. Very tasty chai lattes that definitely hit the spot.
I can’t lie – we were amused when the bagels came out. Why, you ask?
I mean, it is in the name: Netherlands Bagels. So the flags make sense. It’s still funny, though.
I had an everything bagel with peanut butter on the side. A bit of a rare combination, I admit, mixing the salty menu with the sweet menu (I had to double check that I could mix it like that). My tongue also thought it was a weird choice, but it worked fairly well. For me. And as always I requested the peanut butter on the side.
Marco had a bodega bagel (eggs, bacon and cheese). It looked so good I even had a bite or three. That says a lot considering I am very much not a fan of eggs (if it looks or tastes like egg, anyway). I mean, I have a tiny bit of scrambled eggs about every 5 years or so. That’s good, but only in limited amounts. But this was nice – the salty bacon paired nicely with the egg and I could see why people liked it. Hence my having three bites! I think Marco got concerned that I might eat all of it, but nope, I gave it back.
These were some tasty bagels; we’ll definitely go back to try some of the other varieties.
I must admit we have had a lot of luck this summer with good weather, especially in the second half. (The first half could be eloquently described as rain, rain, rain.) With that being said, you can tell fall is approaching, with less sunlight and shorter days in general.
Here is a photo I took of Lange Voorhout, with the leaves on the ground:
And here is a photo from the Paleistuin (Palace gardens):
The building pictured is called Koninklijke Verzamelingen (Royal Collections). The website describes it as “the accumulation of objects and sources of information that members of the houses of Nassau and Orange-Nassau, and people around them, have gathered and kept over many centuries.” You get the idea.
One good thing about the approaching colder season? It’s much easier to sleep! Air conditioning in homes isn’t that common here so it can get warm at times. But now you can get onder the covers and make yourself nice and toasty.
A few Fridays back, during that week when the weather was so warm, Marco and I met up in the city centre. We each had an idea about where we could eat that evening to celebrate the end of the work week. Great minds think alike, since we quickly found out we had the same idea: Kompaan Binnenhaven at the Torenstraat in the city centre. They had been open for a while now but we had never gone. With the weather so good it is hard to pass up the opportunity to sit outside in the sun for a while. (Although to be fair the sun was pretty mean, so a bit more shade wouldn’t have been a bad thing.)
Marco chose the pork tacos. Don’t they look awesome?
Whereas I had the Libanese flatbread veggie kebab. This one also had pickled cucumber and red cabbage kimchi which gave it a lovely slight sour note. It combined well with the other components of the dish which had me dancing in my seat a bit. (Marco knows if I really like something I start to do a tiny dance. I was dancing.)
We also shared some salted jalapeño peppers. They were delicious and not actually that spicy considering they weren’t deseeded. The salt was definitely at the forefront with this one (in a good way). Since the jalapeños were grilled there was also a lovely hint of smokiness.
Okay, now I sound like a restaurant connoisseur and I’m not. But it was a great way to end the work week for sure.
The newest guest in De Passage shopping area is Nijntje:
Nijntje is short in Dutch for Konijntje or “little rabbit”. Outside of the Netherlands you probably know her better as Miffy (Wikipedia). I took this picture on the first day, but if you walk past now you’ll see a sign that says if you take a photo with her and place it on social media you can win a package of Nijntje gifts worth around 150 euros. See also Instagram.
And, just as randomly, here is a photo of the lovely ramen soup I enjoyed earlier in August at Momiji Ramen:
This ramen featured a lovely spicy broth and minced meat. Delicious.
This should be interesting (although they don’t have any details yet): Disney to collaborate with Rijksmuseum to celebrate its 100th anniversary from nltimes.nl
On Sunday I went for a walk in the city centre, heading towards The Hague Centraal train station. Here are some of the photos that I took on that rainy, dreary day:
On Sunday there were flags honoring Ukraine’s Independence Day. You can see what flags were raised (or will be raised) between the years 2019-2023 by visiting denhaag.raadsinformatie.nl — click the second PDF at the bottom of the page.
The ever colorful gates of the Dutch Ministry of Finance, easy to spot if you visit in the weekend when the building is closed. (And no picture taken in The Netherlands is complete without getting at least one bicycle in the photo.)
And here is a good look at the dark and menacing sky. You can just see the NS logo (and thus The Hague Centraal station) on the left between the two flags.
After checking the weather for tomorrow’s commute, I have decided I will post this and go grab my umbrella so I don’t forget it. Sheesh!
Life in the Hague 