Posts Tagged With: Summer

Colorful graffiti (And: Sizzling temperatures)

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Niki

Last week Marco and I had Friday off so we were exploring Binkhorst, an industrial part of The Hague a bit more to the south of the city centre. I managed to find some graffiti. First, some frogs!

I also found graffiti of a woman’s face. It was quite striking, although my preference goes to the frogs since it was so unexpected.

The woman looks like she could be an evil villain, like Harley Quinn or a younger version of Cruella De Vil.

At some point we had to cross the canal. The best way to do that was over a very steep bridge. Steep because each step was quite narrow, too narrow to fit my (already tiny) feet on without hanging over the edge. Here’s a link to the Google Maps image but you won’t be able to see well how steep each step is. Like most Dutch bridges, it comes with a groove on each side for you to more easily transport your bike across. It did the job, though. We got across. And Marco was a gentleman and went before me to catch me if I fell! (Or at least we would fall together. Haha.)

In other news, the Netherlands sizzled like a pair of eggs in an overcooked frying pan today. The Hague got to around 35C (95F) at the worst point. To be fair, we only had a few days of really high temperatures. Things are already supposed to cool off tomorrow as the wind changes and a storm rolls in. Hopefully with some thunder and lightning…

Here’s an article from regio15.nl in Dutch about how the weather was so hot today, the tram rails started shooting upwards (!). There were also a lot of issues with bridges getting stuck and not opening due to the heat. There’s also a live blog about the weather over at NOS, one of the public broadcasters in the Netherlands.

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What summer needs (Or: An ice cream cone from the Ijskabinet)

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Niki

What do you do on a warm summer evening? You go get ice cream, of course.

The Ijskabinet (literally “ice cabinet”) is an ice cream store in The Hague’s city centre, across the street from the Buitenhof/Hofvijver. They have been there since 2019 but this was our first time.

I knew I wanted a cone, but I quickly opted for a decadent chocolate cone. Then they asked if I wanted sprinkles, and I said yes, thinking they meant the sprinkles would be on top of the ice cream. Nope…

Apparently that meant sprinkles on the cone itself (Lekker! Tasty!).

I got coffee flavored ice cream and Marco got two scoops: yoghurt and lemon meringue pie. Mine was great and hit the spot. Marco liked his as well, although he said the lemon meringue pie flavor could have been stronger.

Ijskabinet does not have a working website, but they do have an Instagram page. I get the impression that the flavors change day by day, so you just need to walk in and see what they have. There is ample seating outside because it is right next to the statue of Johan de Witt which has nice seating opportunities at its base.

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Overlooking the Hofvijver (Or: A relaxing place to be)

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Niki

Here’s a photo I took of the Hofvijver last weekend:

I suspect the area was crowded today. Our summer is apparently two days long: today and tomorrow the temperature is around 28C/82F, before the temperature drops back down to 21C/69F on Sunday.

Did you know there is a live webcam of the beach at Scheveningen available at strandweer.nu? (strandweer = beach weather). Of course the sea itself is still pretty cold, considering the summer hasn’t been overly warm, yet.

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Summer, sun! (Or: Even the deer at Koekamp are feeling lethargic)

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Niki

The Netherlands has finally gotten a mini heat wave – it’s only the second (or maybe third) time that I have gone outside without a jacket on this year. Yesterday and today was even shorts weather! Unfortunately the good times only last through tomorrow, as the weather will turn a bit cooler again from Friday. Just in time for the weekend…

Here’s a look at the Koekamp, not far from The Hague’s central train station:

And here’s a look at the deer on the other side of the fence (they are a bit further down the path on the photo above, but not really visible):

Interesting fact: in July of 2022 there were plans to create a visitors centre in part of the Koekamp, although I’m not sure if those plans are still moving forward or not. Hmmm.

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Photos of September days (Or: Summer is holding on)

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Niki

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.

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Walking through the dunes (Or: Enjoying the sun in Kijkduin)

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Niki

As mentioned in the last blog post, the weather was great all of last week. On Saturday Marco, Roger and I took advantage of this by visiting Kijkduin, a beach which you can reach with either bus 24 or tram 3. I am not a huge fan of buses so we went with tram 3 even though it was a longer walk.

Our first stop of the day was Wagamama. That is a British restaurant chain which focuses on Japanese-inspired Asian food. I didn’t take any photos of the food this time, but I did snag a photo of the artwork on the wall before we left:

Cute, huh?

After that we took a walk through the dunes. It was about a 45 minute walk. But considering it was a bit later in the day – after 6 – there weren’t too many crowds. Here is a photo I took of the pathway through the dunes, near the beginning of our walk:

I like how the path curved into nothingness. Pretty quickly more and more sand began to appear on the path and the concrete wasn’t always even, but it was a fun walk. We ended up at the tram stop for tram 12 (as was our plan) just in time to snag it before it started its route. The best part was by the time we got off that tram the sun had started to lower a bit and the sky subtly started to change colors as the evening set in.

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Dodging the summer storms (Or: A bit of rain would be nice, folks)

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Niki

The highlight of the day was a predicted storm that would dump a lot of rain on the Netherlands. And it did… just not that much in The Hague. Booooo. Although I suppose that is for the best, considering if it rains too fast the ground wouldn’t be able to soak it up anyway. But except for a bit of rain a few nights ago, it’s been at least a month since it has rained in NL. The plants and grass are definitely starting to turn yellow! Or are completely yellow, in some cases.

Urgent Code Orange storm warning issued for floods, hail, wind, & lightning from nltimes.nl

Dozens of flights delayed or cancelled at Schiphol as storm approaches the northeast, also from nltimes.nl (Glad I am not flying today!)

(translated as “I’m in the mood for summer, man”)

In other news… ‘Dutch by default’: Netherlands seeks curbs on English-language university courses from theguardian.com. It is indeed quite easy at the moment to follow an education in this country without knowing any Dutch at all.

And, just for fun, here is a photo of a flower on Vondelstraat, a street on the way to Kelly’s expat store:

They definitely caught my eye as I walked past.

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Basking in the warmth (Or: A walk through Koekamp)

Posted on June 11, 2023 by Niki

As noted, the Netherlands is currently experiencing a bit of a heat wave, with temperatures around 30C or 86F. I decided to take a walk and visit the Koekamp today. It is an area not far from the Central train station, complete with a handful of deer. Of course, they were all hiding in the shade…

I also took a photo of the area from the Koekamp bridge:

The bridge itself is also quite pretty – see a photo at haasnootbruggen.nl. It is for cyclists and pedestrians.

One good initiative that has popped up more and more recently: it is a lot easier to find free sunblock at beaches, festivals and gyms (article in Dutch, from nos.nl).

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Eye catching (Or: BlowUp Art in The Hague)

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Niki

This past May The Hague was host to an art festival called BlowUp Art. The festival was an initiative of Pulchri Studio. I previously wrote a blog post about the sculptures they had placed on the Lange Voorhout.

Here is a look at one of the six creations featured in the BlowUp Art festival:

This piece is called “Crested” and it was created by Steven Messam.

In other news, the Netherlands will get to experience its first mini heat wave this weekend! Temperatures are expected to be around 30C or 85F here in The Hague. Time to find my sunscreen…

Dit weekend zomerse temperaturen: meer openbaar vervoer naar stranden from nos.nl. Translated: This weekend summer tempatures: more public transportation to beaches. For instance, HTM here in The Hague will be running the Strandexpress tram (=beach express), with limited stops between the Holland Spoor train station, Centraal Station, Madurodam and the beach. And of course it won’t be enough as everyone will descend on the beach with their car, bike or feet!

Categories: Culture, The Hague | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Summer heat (Or: The Netherlands begins to sizzle)

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Niki

Not wanting to be left out of the heat wave that has been occurring across southern Europe for more than a week, The Netherlands joined the fun yesterday and today, with temperatures here in The Hague around 31C/87F yesterday and temperatures today around 37C/99F. Technically that is nothing compared to what the rest of Europe has been going through, or what other parts of the world have been going through, but still.

I went to work this morning as usual (climate controlled office for the win), and it wasn’t too bad at that point. But on the way back…oh my. I felt like I had been smashed against a wall of heat, as if someone had thrown a heavy blanket around all of my being. Still, as long as you find the shade where you can it works out.

Speaking of finding shade…

As you can see, a lot of people went to the beach in Scheveningen. A smart choice, but if you’re smart you either need to bring an umbrella… or you find a spot directly under the pier for shade. Although then you have to wonder what is the point of going to the beach just to sit under the pier, but to each their own.

Luckily the temperatures will drop again tomorrow, so it really was a mini heat wave. Check out some other photos of Scheveningen over at indebuurt.nl (in Dutch, but scroll down for the photos).

Categories: News, Scheveningen | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

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