Posts Tagged With: Christmas

Christmas trees (Or: Crowds at the Mall of the Netherlands)

I decided to go to the Mall of the Netherlands yesterday (the Saturday right before Christmas), but at least I was smart enough to go right when they opened at 10:00. I also left around 13:00, around the time it was really starting to get busy.

Here are some of the Christmas-y photos I took. First, a photo of the Disney Christmas tree for my parents (although we don’t actually have a Disney store in the Netherlands):

Here was a photo of another Christmas tree, with less theming this time:

And here was a pretty cool decoration of a reindeer hanging in the air:

It was pretty festive all and all. And did I mention it was busy? The photos don’t do it justice, but I took those right after the mall opened. But I consider it a successful trip as I was able to get a few more small gifts.

Categories: Holidays, Shopping | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Christmas time in Brussels (Or: At least he’s not cold?)

The Manneken Pis statue has been all dressed up for the holidays in Brussels. The photo is courtesy of Roger who was in Brussels earlier in December.

The statue’s name is a reference to the fact that he is well, urinating into the fountain. And if you think that is a modern crude joke, I’m hear to tell you that the statue most likely dates from the 15th century and it’s current version was added in either 1618 or 1619 (Wikipedia). It does get stolen a lot though, so the current version on display at the fountain has been a replica since the 1960s. The original is stored in the Brussels city museum.

But at least he won’t catch a cold – he is wearing some clothes for once!

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Christmas trees (Or: Dancing lights in the Zeeheldenkwartier)

In the Zeeheldenkwartier (literally “Sea Heroes Quarter”) neighborhood they have set up a really nice looking Christmas tree. The color and pattern of the lights alternates often – some days it is all blue, some days it is blue and white, and some days it is red and white.

The tree stands in the middle of a larger rotunda with trams and cars whizzing past on either side. At least, during busier times of the day then what is captured above…

There are also a few stone sea turtles near the base of the tree which you can just barely make out. Here is a previous post I did about the turtles.

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: | Leave a comment

Time for snow (Or: Time to buy more sweaters?)

Today (December 3) is the Netherlands’ first day of snow. We won’t get a lot – somewhere between a good dusting to about an inch. It’ll probably disappear tomorrow as there is rain predicted tomorrow. Still, it does make for a white world, especially outside of the city. Although the snow didn’t start until after the sun went down so I don’t have any good photos this time around.

Here’s another photo of the Christmas decorations in De Passage lit up:

And here are a few articles I thought were interesting reads in the last week:

‘How do you reduce a national dish to a powder?’: the weird, secretive world of crisp flavours from theguardian.com. I thought it was a great read, although it doesn’t have that much to do with the Netherlands. But there is one reference: “Once the computers have done their job, the data makes its way to Wood. If she’s lucky, she can repurpose an existing flavour. In 2010, Lay’s launched Patatje Joppie in the Netherlands because of the nation’s love of Joppiesaus, a curried mayonnaise. Wood says the same flavour exists as Honey Mustard in other parts of the world. ‘We can play with the naming, because what you call something has a really big bearing on what people think it is.'” Admittedly, I have never tried that particularly flavor. It’s still going strong, though. Oh, and they say Germany loves the paprika (bell pepper) flavor. I am here to tell you that the Netherlands loves it just as much.

Another article I liked was over at Omroep West, although it’s in Dutch so Google Translate is your friend here. It talks about all of the weird, silly things that happened at voting locations in The Hague during the national elections a few weeks ago: Stempas van overleden vrouw en bijdehante fotograaf, gekke dingen tijdens verkiezingen in Den Haag, or, Voting ballot from deceased woman and wisecracking photographer, crazy occurrences during the elections in The Hague.

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De Passage (Or: 2023’s Christmas tree)

The Christmas tree in De Passage has arrived! As always, its home is at the center of De Passage (the old part of the shopping area, at least) since that part forms a sort of Y. You can thus see the tree from everywhere in De Passage.

And here is a close up of the decorations for this year:

The tree will be lit on Thursday, November 30 at 18:00 (see the official website’s homepage).

Here are some other Christmas trees in De Passage in past years: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: , | Leave a comment

10 years in the Netherlands (Or: Can you believe it?)

Today marks 10 years in the Netherlands! Wow. I almost can’t believe it. Although maybe that sounds a bit too negative – I do love living here and don’t miss living in the States.

Here was my post at 5 years. I didn’t bake cookies this time for my coworkers like I did last year (delicious, soft, chewy lemon cookies. Yum.) Maybe next time. A lot of coworkers choose to work remotely and only come in once a week, so it can be hard to know when there are enough coworkers around to share in the sweets.

I have visited the Royal Christmas Fair a few times this year already though (just like 2017). Once with Marco right when it opened and once with coworkers. The fair runs through 22 December this year and sells a mix of crafts (like nativity scenes, candles, ornaments) and food (like sausages, raclette. crepes). Oh and also some very tasty mulled wine. Although we call it by its German name, glühwein.

Above: a look at some of the nativity scenes for sale at one of the stands.

In other news, here is the most random thing that happend today: Marco and I were flipping through the channels this afternoon and we came across an infomercial selling very sharp kitchen knives. Strangely enough the original presenters were speaking English, but it was dubbed in German and for good measure subtitled in Dutch. It was a bit hard to watch. Normally you would just get the original programming, English speech and all, with Dutch subtitles underneath. We don’t dub anything in this country.

Categories: Holidays, Marco&Niki | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Spotted at Bijenkorf (Or: 2022 Christmas tree)

Here is a look at the Christmas tree at Bijenkorf’s department store this year:

And of course, I’m not that big a fan of heights (this Christmas tree is about 3-4 floors high), hence the railing in the middle. That was about the closest that I wanted to get when photographing it.

Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree in 2021 (not that different from this year’s really)

Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree in 2019

Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree in 2018

and back in 2015, with more decorations than it has now. It looks like they have scaled back in recent years.

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It must be after Sinterklaas (Or: Lots and lots of oliebollen mix)

I was recently at Albert Heijn doing some grocery shopping. I swear, you almost don’t need a calendar when you walk in there — you can easily tell it is after 5 December (Sinterklaas) because the first ingredients for making oliebollen (a donut-like treat frequently eaten on New Year’s Eve) have started to appear.

At the top of the display you have powdered sugar in the blue and white cans, oliebollen mix in the middle in the yellow and orange boxes, and whipped cream on the far right. Although they haven’t quite set up the tower of sugary goodness that they had last year. Yet.

I am also happy to report that my favorite Christmas cookies are back at Albert Heijn. I picked up a pack for home and a pack for my coworkers the first day they were stocked. It’s a nice large Christmas cookie (in the shape of a wreath) dipped in dark chocolate and covered in red and green sprinkles.

Categories: Everyday purchases, Food | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Somewhere it must be Christmas (Or: Decorations at TK Maxx)

TK Maxx is a European apparels and home fashion store. And if you are American and wondering if this is the same company as TJ Maxx, why yes, yes it is.

This company thinks it is Christmas already:

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t mind at all. I just find it a bit funny. And by the way, all of the things you see on the racks in the picture above are Christmas soap dispensers. Including the dog with the red sweater on the second highest shelf.

Maybe we skip straight ahead to Christmas in this country because Halloween isn’t that big here and Thanksgiving doesn’t exist. Although the Netherlands does have the Sinterklaas holiday (English Wikipedia) on 5 December, so who knows.

I have to admit these are cute: little wooden sleighs with a few packages and a mini Christmas tree. However, the packages must have been little mini bricks as the decoration was way heavier than I expected when I picked it up.

Anyone else spotting Christmas decorations popping up in stores?

Categories: Holidays, Shopping | Tags: | Leave a comment

New Years Eve guests (Or: Teddy bears)

For New Year’s Eve, Marco and I spent the night at Roger’s as we always like to do. This time we had some guests over at the dinner table:

That’s right – a stuffed teddy bear and reindeer decided to pay us a visit in their Christmas best.

And not to be forgotten, the oliebollen-themed napkins that they were sharing. New Year’s Eve gourmetten (link to iamexpat.nl in English) does get a bit messy at times…

Categories: Holidays | Tags: , | 2 Comments

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