Posts Tagged With: Weather

Funny sandwich names (Or: Eggstra cheesy)

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Niki

The weather has definitely turned; the cold fingers of fall has arrived. If you’re lucky you’ll get a moment of sun but otherwise it is just wind and rain. Therefore I haven’t taken many photos for the blog of late. So here is one from a month or two ago which I never got around to posting:

It shows two sandwiches which are on sale at the Pathé movie theatre. The one on the right is named “Eggstra cheesy” which is a horrible pun. Good, but horrible.

The one on the right is Boerengezond. That one is less punny and simply translates to “Farmer’s healthy sandwich”.

In other news:

Saturday first day below 15 degrees since May 17; ends record warm day streak from nltimes.nl. 15C is around 60F. It was a nice record while it lasted.

Van Gogh museum stops Pikachu card promo due to “chaos” from dutchnews.nl. They are cute cards (you should check them out) but really, anyone could have known that these would have been snatched up immediately and re-sold by scalpers.

This Dutch company invented sushi krokets (and we’re not sure how to feel about it) from dutchreview.com. (Krokets are breaded, deep-fried rolls usually filled with a sort of meat paste. See also Wikipedia.) This new product is called “crushi”. I am not sure how I feel about it, but who knows. I’d probably try it once.

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

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.

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

A grey, rainy day (Or: Walking through The Hague)

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Niki

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!

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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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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

A new Dutch reading board (Or: This one is a bit tastier)

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Niki

At some point last month Marco and I were at a store and spotted a different type of reading board. Dutch reading boards have been used for over a century to teach kids how to read. It shows all of the commonly used consonants, vowels and diphthongs in the Dutch language, with words and pictures like aap, noot or mies (ape, nut, word for a woman or kat). See also the photos at this Dutch Wikipedia page. You can also read more about the history of Dutch reading boards (link in English).

Or you can just admire the reading board that Marco and I spotted that is crafted especially for men, apparently:

Leesplank voor kerels = reading board for men.

And here is a random link of the day: in 51 places in The Hague you can take an umbrella / leave an umbrella for free (article in Dutch at denhaag.nl).

Categories: Culture, Everyday purchases, Reading | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Beautiful blue canals (Or: Another view of The Hague)

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Niki

Last week I took a walk to the old Red Cross hospital in Segbroek, a neighborhood in The Hague. It was time to get another corona vaccination. It was a route I hadn’t taken before, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful view of one of the canals:

I love photographing trees dipping into the water. And the blue, slightly cloudy sky was also nice to photograph.

In other news:

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Anyone ready for a heat wave? (Or: Issues with Buienradar)

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Niki

Buienradar.nl is a well-known Dutch website for weather. Buien = showers/rainfall.

A few days ago they had this as a 14 day prediction for The Hague:

In other words, late next week the temperature would go from about 66F to 95F. That sounds nice! But no, it was just an unfortunate bug in the data which has since been fixed. Actually the temperatures will be dropping from 17C to 13C (62F to 55F). It is probably for the best that it isn’t 95F in late October…

See also: Buienradar: in deel Zuid-Holland volgende week 36 graden from omroepwest.nl.

Categories: Daily Dutch living | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Rain, rain, rain! (With: A bit of thunder mixed in for good measure)

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Niki

Except for a brief spell one afternoon, I don’t think it has rained in The Hague for at least a month and a half. Perhaps that figure isn’t 100% correct, but you get the idea. Over the weekend I was running errands and I was disturbed to realize the pavement stones were so sticky in some spots that my shoes were getting sucked in. Ew.

But finally, tonight, the pavement gets a good cleaning:

Bring on the rain! And thunder too. There is never enough thunder and lightning in this country.

This website is buienradar.nl. It isn’t always the most predictable of websites – or perhaps I shouldn’t put some much faith into it – but it is useful enough. More water for the plants and trees!

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Trams in The Hague (Or: Colors and tunnels)

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Niki

Here are two tram-related photos for you. First, a white Avenio tram:

Avenio is the newest type of tram available in The Hague. The big plus for this type of tram is that the there are no stairs to enter it – the door is at the same height as the platform. This is of course useful for people in wheelchairs, people with strollers, etc. Until this year the tram was black and red (see Dutch Wikipedia) but the white/red combination stands out more and is better for traffic safety. Each tram is being repainted as it comes in for a scheduled repair job, so it will take about a year for the black/red tram to disappear from The Hague’s streets.

This is a photo of the entrance to the tram tunnel which services the underground Grote Markt stop and the Spui stop. Trams coming in this direction are headed towards The Hague Central train station and trams going away from this direction are headed above ground, towards the Brouwersgracht stop.

While there isn’t a tram pictured, I thought the plants were nice to photograph. Perhaps I should take another photo in a few weeks to see if the trees still look green. About half of Europe is experiencing drought conditions at the moment. I hate to say it but we could use a bit of rain. Here is a map from the European Drought Observatory.

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

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