Posts Tagged With: Flowers

Flying overhead (Or: A look at The Netherlands during the coronavirus pandemic)

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Niki

Today’s blog post will focus on the use of drones to fly over various parts of The Netherlands during the coronavirus pandemic.

So without further ado, here is a look at how drones have been used to capture the oddness of this situation:

First, a recently posted drone video of the Efteling theme park:

This fantasy theme park was built in the 1950s and can be found in the east part of The Netherlands (Wikipedia).

Here is a look at a video produced by the national news service NPO:

The video above explains how The Netherlands came to a standstill due to the coronavirus and includes some statistics. Spoken Dutch with English subtitles.

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Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Flowers, Tourist attraction | Leave a comment

It’s trying to be summer in Rijswijk (Or: Ever-changing weather)

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Niki

A few weeks back I visited the shopping center In de Bogaard in Rijswijk, a city not far from The Hague. Along the way I took a few photographs of whatever caught my eye. Here are two of my favorites:

Red roses… but can you spot the ladybug on the leaf?

The last few weeks have seen weather change hour by hour. Last Sunday we had temperatures in the high 80s (F). And there have been days where it rained more often than not, with a few hours where the skies just opened up and rain came pouring down. A few days of high winds, where you wonder if it might just be possible that you blow away.

LIMOR social services building in Rijswijk

This building in the image isn’t far from Rijswijk Centraal, the main train station in the city. It’s been underground since 1996.

Fun fact: if you look up the building on Google Maps and then use Street View, some of the images you see are of the completed building whereas some of the images are of the building while it was under construction. Kind of eerie to be able to flip back and forth!

Categories: Rijswijk | Tags: Flowers, Weather | Leave a comment

Flowers in the sun (Or: A spring day)

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Niki

Here are a few more photos from last weekend’s gorgeous sun:

The shape of the purple-pink flowers is especially eye-catching.

These bright red flowers are along the water by the Buitenhof

Flowers in the foreground, monument to Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in the background.

The stone building on the right is the former American embassy of The Hague, which since moved further away from the city centre. The monument in the distance is to Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a Dutch colonel back in the 18th century.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Flowers, Spring, Statues | 2 Comments

SUN! and music (Or: Bevrijdingsfestival in The Hague)

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Niki

The Netherlands is enjoying a rare dose of sun this weekend! And like all good Dutchies, this means going outside to a café or restaurant and baking under the sun for a few hours.

Flowers at the Hof House https://www.hofhouse.nl

This afternoon Marco, Roger and I went to the Bevrijdingsfestival in The Hague. Bevrijdingsdag, or Liberation Day, is celebrated on May 5 each year. The day commemorates the end of Nazi occupation during World War II. The day before, May 4, commemorates the Remembrance of the Dead.

One of the music stages at the festival

Bevrijdingsfestival music in The Hague, 2018

Another music stage, in the background. The woman in yellow is receiving a ‘Dutch kiss’ (the custom where you kiss each other on the cheek three times to say hello or goodbye).

Vrijheid display at the Bevrijdingsfestival in The Hague, 2018

Vrijheid = Freedom

And do you see what the letters are made of, above? Juliper beer crates! (Juliper is one of the sponsors of the event.)

Now if you excuse me, I will go back to basking in the sun…

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: Flowers, Music, Spring | Leave a comment

Flowers at Hobbemaplein (Or: A hint of summer)

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Niki

Hobbemaplein in May – an area of The Hague known for its market (one of the largest open air markets in Europe, so they say!).

Flowers by Hobbemaplein, The Hague

And a close up of the flowers:

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Flowers, Hobbemaplein | Leave a comment

Stirrings of spring (Or: Flowers by the Buitenhof)

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Niki

Spring is probably here already, but some days it feels so cold. At least there are beautiful flowers to enjoy!

Flowers by Buitenhof, The Hague

This is by the Buitenhof in The Hague.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Binnenhof/Buitenhof, Flowers, Spring | Leave a comment

The stirrings of spring (Or: Flowers to photograph)

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Niki

On Thursday evening Marco and I decided to take full advantage of the beautiful weather and walk outside after dinner. One thing that caught my eye was a beautiful bank of flowers that the city had placed around the ‘De Plaats’ plaza:

Flower bank in The Hague at De Plaats

This plaza is well known for the statue of Johan de Witt. He and his brother Cornelis were executed at the plaza in 1672. Wikipedia has a nice photograph of the unveiling of the statue by Queen Wilhelmina in 1918. Almost 100 years ago!

And one more close up:

Curious where De Plaats is in The Hague? It’s across the street from the Hofvijver, in the city center. It is also really close to the Dutch parliament.

De Plaats, The Hague - Spring time flowers

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Flowers, Spring | Leave a comment

Flowers in Albert Heijn (And: Free tulips yesterday in Amsterdam)

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Niki

A touch of color enters the world…

Even though it is only January, sometimes it can feel like spring. Especially in Amsterdam! Yesterday was National Tulip Day, the third Saturday in January. It’s the official begin to the tulip selling season, and to celebrate this the tulip growers bring 200,000 tulips in crates to the Dam Square in Amsterdam. Once everything is set up around 1pm, anyone can enter and get pluck a bouquet of tulips for free. Expect to stand in line for a few hours, though! After about 3 to 4 hours, all tulips have been plucked.

First, a link in English, with a stunning time-lapse video from 2015, including the setup. And a link in Dutch, with photos of 2017 Nationale Tulpendag, including photos from above which show the overall design. I find it a nice touch that the design for 2015 is different than 2017.

Speaking of tulips, I took some photos of flowers on sale at an Albert Heijn in The Hague:

Tulips!

A bushel of flowers

Categories: Amsterdam, Culture, The Hague | Tags: Flowers | Leave a comment

Roses by Athene Palace (Or: View of city hall)

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Niki

Marco and I went out to eat tonight with his father and wife. Tonight’s restaurant was Athene Palace, a Greek restaurant. I had lamb in pepper sauce. Lekker!

Outside provided a lovely view of the city hall and main library in the nighttime…

roses-by-athene-palace-in-the-hague

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Flowers, Restaurants | Leave a comment

Birthday presents (Or: A year wiser?)

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Niki

Last week I celebrated another birthday. Here’s a look at some (but unfortunately not all) of the highlights…

First, a bouquet of paper flowers made by my father-in-law and his wife. Still wrapped:

Unwrapped:

A close up of the butterfly. Do you see what the roses are made of? Wrapped chocolate and the best paper you could make flowers out of — 5 euro notes!

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Categories: Friends&Family | Tags: Birthdays, Flowers, Jigsaw puzzles | 2 Comments