May 8, 2009 Den Haag Part 3 of 3: Scheveningen Beach

So our second day we took the tram about 15 minutes to Scheveningen Beach. There is an absolutely grand hotel there called the Steigenberger Kurhaus built 1885. Here is a panorama of it.

Below the hotel is the 'Strand' promenade. Lots of hotdog carts and restaurants, as well as beach huts for rent and beach side bar/cafes. We decided to have our breakfast at the 't Pannenkoekenhuisje.


Saviya really loved her fruit Pannenkoek, lots of fresh fruit and vanilla ice cream!

Down on the beach there was a humongous sand castle

The video does it better justice for size and detail, quite a windy day

Nice lighthouse, now running LEDs for its light, probably by Phillips...


There was a statue park on the Strand, it ranged from whimsical to disturbing. Some of these little statues are drowning or other somber situation, but the tall guy eating fish was pretty cool

This guy had to be 15 feet tall..notice he sat on the guardrail behind him.

A face on the hillside..the entire Scheveningen is protected by a seawall that is about 30 feet high.

We walked all the way down to the port and turned back and took this shot

And a panorama from the pier in the distance to the breakwater we are standing on, about 3km

Finally this video of the port entrance, lots of boats going in and out, most sailboats had great wind that day and had raised up and cut motor, but this guy was putting home. Notice the huge windmill in the distance. It was prob 50 feet tall, bigger? We couldn't figure out why it would be still on such a windy day.

We got on a train home that afternoon to Amsterdam. Its about 1 hour on the train. Den Haag is very cool, we will definitely go back and check more of it out.

May 8, 2009 Den Haag Part 2 of 3

So on our way to Den Haag, Saviya finally saw her first Dutch windmill. We have seen some of the modern windmill, but these older mills still exist and many are still in use.

Here is the view out of our hotel room in Den Haag Centrum

As you see the right side of the city (from this perspective) is very modern, but the left side is quite a piece of history. Parts of the city date back over 700 years, and many royal buildings stand from the late 1500's.

So we got a great hotel, right in the heart of town. Here is the monster mirror that greets you as you get off the elevator.

Nice place...Saviya really liked the fact that each side of the bed had its own blankets so that we cold sleep together but didn't have to share.
So check out the living space...if you notice, that's the shower there in the living room looking out towards the bed/windows...It does have a curtain.. that is operated from the outside

Saviya had to shower with her clothes on, didn't trust me not to take a pic...just kiddin :)

So we headed out after a short afternoon break. Saviya was feelin more on the ball...

Bikes everywhere here i tell ya...this one is pretty sweet, found out later it was 800euro

Pretty square just opening up for the evening after some mad rainfall.

We went past the Queen again at night

Looked very nice at night, and the flag was down...the lady was chillin

Saviya liked this art shop, had these interesting female statues, most with busty but small upper bodies, with round thick butts and legs. Very sexy by an artist named Bos

So we got directions to a steak house from some locals whom themselves doubted our ability to find it. One guys said, go down this way for like 10 minutes than ask someone....Well the other guy gave us more specifics and off we went. After a bit of walkin, we opted for a snackbar, which is like deciding on a Starbucks after walking past 30 of them. So we ordered a few items including a Turkish pizza with chicken. Wow, this snackbar was awesome. Lots of food for cheap prices and nice guys. Really enjoyed it, hope more places have a Turkish pizza like that. Its like thing pizza that they roll up with sauteed chicken breast with cheese and other things...yum..2 blocks of walking and we found the steak house we were looking for..but were happy with our dinner choice at that point.

We walked back to Centrum and passed the Binnenhof again, looked very nice at night all lit up. Here is one I took

This one I 'borrowed' but looks nice!

We walked into the Binnenhof entrance and into the open Square. Here are some vids of the square, including the beautiful Ridderzaal, or Knights Hall which is the one that looks like a church.

May 8, 2009 Den Haag Part 1 of 3

We began the day early with a nice breakfast, than out for the 9:15 am train to Den Haag.

So we had to get on the 915am train to Den Haag, or The Hague as the west calls it. We had to get the notary from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on our marital status documents we had signed the day before by the US Consulate. Its only an hour on the train, and about 10 minute walk to the Ministry from the train station.
Here we are on the NS train

This process was actually fairly painless. It was also much cheaper than the charges at the US Consul. After our documents were available and legalized, we set out for our hotel. We stayed in a very modern nice place in the heart of the Centrum. The square it sat on was very modern compared to our experiences in Amsterdam.
Here is the outside of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Den Haag.

Inside the ministry, looks like a library

So here is Saviya on the ball in the Hague

We checked out the hotel room, than headed out for some lunch. We sorta picked a random place on the map in the Centrum and ended up in the Noordeinde neighborhood. It just so happens that the Queen and the Royal Paleis Noordeinde is in this neighborhood.

Here is a nice panarama with the statue of Wilhelmuis (king a while back) the Palace, and the street heading north.

here is a picture of the Noordeinde Paleis, and if you look on the roof, there is a flagpole with the flag raised. The flag up means Queen Beatrix is in the Palace and 'business is open'.

The other governmental building we walked by several times was the Binnenhof. This is where the Dutch Parliment has met since the late 1400's. Very cool building and adjoining pools.

We marched around the Centrum and shopped for a few hours, and had lunch at an Irish pub.
We came across a cool shop that had just a bunch of odd stuff. The orange and red cupcake shells you see here are intended to be a kids bath or dog bath, or perhaps a planter, pretty cool. I also like the little toadstool table and chairs. Lots of crap inside as well, we woulda spent money there if we were home, but too hard to bring home, and our apartment doesnt need it.

Please, turn out the lights, no clap on/clap off here...

Even the mannaquins of Den Haag are worried about the Swine Flu

Either the flu got this one, or he is still orange from Queen's Day.

May 7, 2009 Back on US Soil!

So today was a pretty mellow day, but we were back on US soil for about an hour. We had to go to the US Consulate. We had to get some documents that needed the Consular embossing on them. These documents were the final step before our Visa meeting at the IND (immigration)next week. Basically we swore that neither of us are married under oath. The reason for this is it indicates that really neither of us are married to other people, and as such Saviya can come to the Netherlands on my Visas as my partner. The Dutch recognize lots of different types of partnerships, and being in a committed relationship comes with the same legal rights as a marriage. Its just a legal hurdle to discourage fruad. Tomorrow we head to the Hague to get the Dutch version of the same notary endorsement. So May 15 I get my work visa, residence visa, and my BSN number which is like a SSN in the US. So for a short while we stood on US property in the middle of Amsterdam in the Museumplein...Travel home to the Netherlands was pretty quick...-Colin

May 6, 2009 Bikes and Dutch Cuisine Diary Entry 2

So two more days of lots of walkin behind us, it was time to get on a bike. Andrea our property owner had a bike left here in Amsterdam that we could use. It was however parked and locked up across town. I headed out for a walk to get some documents printed and to get the bike. It was prob about 1 or 1 1/2 miles, and I took a few routes I havnt done since we moved. The bike was a bit banged up, but a much better way to get around town. Im gonna get its wheel fixed while we look for bikes of our own.Here is a great panarama of the Amstel canal

So there are a few grocery store options for us, but directly across the street is the Albert Heijn. Its one of the more sizeable grocery store options, compared to most neighborhoods which only have small markets like New York bodegas. Well just becuase its big, doesnt mean its always easy to find anything or what you expect. So in the meat department are lots of 'mostly prepared' foods. There are things like salads and soups, mash potatoes, and dinner meals. We tried our first dish, a Pesto chicken breasts with pine nuts..Just pop in the oven and enjoy. I am used to a lot more variety and selection, but these were nice, with some broccoli I made

We have been trying to eat most of our meals at home, only eaten out 3 times in 10 days. We also have been enjoying having our meals at a dining room table, something we didnt have back home.

So to save money, eat healthier, and generally avoid FEBO and Shoarma/Snackbar/Broodjes options throughout Amsterdam, we will continue to explore the AHeijn or the Dirk markets.
-Colin

May 5, 2009 Liberation Day!

We love our oversize furniture in our apartment....

We started the day by heading out for some Mexican food. I had read about a place called the Taco Shop which was run by Americans and served big burritos like Taco del Mar or some SoCal burrito place. About 1km from our place, we went for a sample, and enjoyed it, though miles from the real Mexican food we craved. On the way back we passed this great sign by a children's play area. It shows that you shouldn't let your dog poop here because of the kids...we need these in the US!

5mei in the Netherlands is Bevrijdingsdag, which is Liberation day. It is the day that the Netherlands was liberated from German occupation at the end of WWII. While Memorial Day is somewhat quiet and proper, bevrijdingsdag is more of a celebration. Its not as crazy as Queen's Day, but it is a party still. There are pockets of activity all over Amsterdam (and the rest of the country).

We chose to walk a few blocks over to the Museumplein which is the large open space in the shadow of the amazing Rijksmuseum. There were multiple stages setup and a carnival atmosphere.
On our walk over, we were standing on Ferdinand Bolstraat, looking at a picture that had been nominated for an award (the diver next to Saviya in the middle-didnt win). All of a sudden a dude on a little vehicle went by, sounding like an organ grinder...i love the look Saviya gives it..

We were sorta late to the festivities, it had thinned out. We did watch one band that was called Boy Named Sue (or Sue's), which of course was a Johnny Cash tribute band. They were actually really good, and prob 500 people gathered at their stage stompin their feet and singin along.

Here is a nice panarama of the Rijksmuseum from the other side, near the canal on Stadhouderskade

Queens Day Posters around the city have Photoshopped other faces in, here is one with Hillary Clinton

-Colin

May 4, 2009 Memorial Day

So 4mei every year is the Dutch Memorial day called Nationale Dodenherdenking. There are small events all around the country, but the biggest event is in Dam Square here in Amsterdam. Queen Beatrix, her son Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima, Amsterdam mayer Job Cohen all attend a large public event near the Monument in Dam Square.
This event takes place around 8pm, so we had the day to relax. We got ready and took of in the afternoon.
Here is Saviya in our living rooom

We walked passed the Heineken Experience which isnt too far from our flat, and across to a small park across the square. There was a smaller memorial service going on. Children were reading short stories or speaches, and something was done with a statue, though im not sure if it was being newly dedicated or if this was a yearly tribute.

We continued up one of the main streets a little over a mile to Dam square. There were maybe 20-30 thousand people gathered in the square. The Royal family, dignitaries, war heroes and others were gathered inside the church that sits in the square for a service. There were several large flat screens in the square to display the events of the night. At the conclusion of the service, a procession of people began to flow out of the church.

Church is the building on the left side of the picture.

Nearly 25 minutes passed while people walked out to the monument. Finally the queen came out with the rest of the family. I caught her on video maybe 30 feet away, shes in the first 1/2 second of the video


Here is a better view of her and her son behind her coming out from the church to the square

At 7:58pm there was 2 minutes of silence across the Netherlands. Next, the Royal family, mayor, selected war heroes, and a group of 64 children placed large wreaths and small flowers around the base of the Dam Square Monument. It, no surpise, is the white phallic item stretching up in the middle of the square.





The entire event was in Dutch, no subtitles....I was able to gather a fair amount, but nonetheless it was interesting and worth attending. By about 8:25pm the entire thing was done (yes these pictures are at night, it doesnt get dark till 10, and in june, there are only 4-5 hours of darkness)


This last picture, you can see on the large tv the video we were watching, in this case the view from the top of one of the building rooftops down on us, you can somewhat see how many of us were gathered there. All in all a nice mellow day, somber and regal, but an interesting experience.


-Colin