Transvaal

Not far from the city centre, on the border of the Zuiderpark, the Transvaal neighbourhood is being renovated with the planned building of brand new appartment complexes. In order to prevent an increase in criminality, the city council and the TransArt association have came up with the following idea: that the local kids should paint all the wooden panels that condem all doors and windows in green, yellow and blue, and paint street murals. As a result, there are now entire coloured streets.

For the time being, it remains a bit gloomy to walk around in those streets, though this is huge reservoir for street murals and graffitis!

The Black Petes

The preparations for the celebration of Saint Nicholas' birthday on 5 December are speeding up. Every school, day-care child centre, public library (here on the picture) are inviting the old man and his "Black Petes" to entertain the kids.

Sinterklaas wears a red bishop's dress including a red mitre, rides a white horse over the rooftops and is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colourful Moorish dresses, dating back two centuries. These helpers are called 'Zwarte Pieten' (black Petes). Another story goes that the Petes are black because of the soot they are covered with when they go in the chimneys to bring the gifts in the kids'shoes.

Modern Penelope...

At the end of the Keizerstraat in Scheveningen stands a scultpure of a fisherman's wife looking at the horizon. She is waiting for her husband, away at sea, like Penelope. One says that waiting for a missing person is worse than knowing that this person has passed away.

FLowers were placed on the statue to celebrate its 25 years.

Here they are!!!

The three angels are hooked on the facade of the "Het Van Kinderen Museum" that opened in March 2004 and is located in an old school building on the corner of the Elandstraat and de Waldeck Pyrmontkade. I think the angels stand from the time when pupils were studying there and symbolize art, technics and graduation. The museum itself is very nice as it designed by and for children.


The building itself dates back around 1907, and was also used as a girls school, and later as a squat. It now houses, apart from the museum, the Grote pyr foundation and a restaurant.

Just an angel... (3/3)

Here is the last in the serie. Tomorrow I'll unveil where they sit in The Hague....

Just an angel... (2/3)

Here is the second angel in the serie, tomorrow the last one. I'm not sure I know what he's holding in his hands, could that be a fishing stick?

Just an angel.....(1/3)

I found this angel somewhere on the Waldeck Pyrmontkade, in the so-called Zeeheldenkwartier. It is just beautiful....and one of three actually! I'll post pictures of the other two and will disclose his location later this week.

For old pictures of this district, click here. Most of the buildings were built between 1870 and 1890. Before that there were only farms and gardens.

Electricity fabric

It is always very strange to drive around in the city and suddenly see emerging in front of you a big electricity fabric. This one, built in 1904 stands in De Constant Rebecquestraat, in the Regentessekwartier . The canal was digged in 1889 to allow the waters from the city centre to go all the way to Scheveningen. At the time, it stood in the middle of a big industrial area, but has now become a residential area....with industrial land being changed into a park / sport complex (de Verademing).

Haagsche bluf

This is a new exclusive shopping area in the centre of The Hague, where copies of existing buildings in The Hague and Delft have been rebuilt. The Haagsche Bluf is situated between the Dagelijkse Groenmarkt, Vlamingstraat, Venestraat and Nieuwstraat. It is a very quiet square full of very nice shops. One to notice is Woodleaf and Furn where you can find many English products.

For more information on the different buildings and shops, go directly here (in Dutch). By the way, the name itself relates to a traditional sweet desert that is made with beaten egg whites and red currant juice...

Golf course

Is there anything more peaceful than an empty golf course in the early morning? Here is a picture of the 9-hole Duinzicht Golf, one of the 2 golf courses in The Hague.

Graffiti work (1)

Some time ago, I started to spot out that many electrical "spaces" are covered with some graffiti. I wonder whether there is any kind of authorisation from the Council House to allow graffiti artists to show their works on those special spaces. Here the first photo.

Surf bike rack

Nice to walk in the cold! Have you spotted the handy surf rack for sale for 60 euros? Some of you may be interested!

Finish line

The Red Bull Knock-Out event took place today on the beach....but I arrive too late to catch one of the 500 motorbikes that were racing in the sand....So have a look here if you want to see more pictures!!!! I'll give it another try next year...

Decorated streets

Like in many other cities, shopping streets are being decorated for Christmas...

Nice wall painting

I spotted this painting in the Molenijzerstraat, and found it quite nicely done. Maybe you've guessed already, it is in Scheveningen, and the theme is of course, linked to fishing.....

Sunset on the beach

On my way home tonight.....

Dear William,

This is a nice statue of Willem I, prince of Orange, Count of Nassau, who was also called "William the Silent" (Dillenburg 1533-Delft 1584). He was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. This led to him to be known as the Father of the Dutch nation. This statue was placed here in 1848. On the right leg of the prince, we can see his faithful dog, who saved once his master's life from being killed. If you want to see the Prince's grave in Delft, I refer you to a previous post from Wassenaar Daily Photo here.

The square (Het Plein) used to be a big vegetable garden laying behind the Binnenhof. Now there are many cafes and restaurants.

Easy to clean your car!

I stopped today at the traffic light and noticed for the first time this "blikvanger" or strange bin next to my window; it took me some time to understand it was meant for my car garbage. The light turned green before I was able to throw away my old papers, but promised myself to keep it for the next time I would pass by!!!

Junk on the beach

Walking yesterday on the coast in Kijkduin, I came across this very special museum, the Jutterskeet museum, where the owners gather everything they find on the beach around....Some amazing items as you can imagine!

For more information and pictures of what you can find in the museum (in Dutch only), click here.

High tide and high waves

Probably many people have come home today with a similar picture. The beach in Kijkduin was packed with people equipped with cameras trying to catch the unusual high waves for that Dutch beach.

Encounter with an alligator

Wandering around in the Megastores shopping mall, you may find yourself passing by one of those prehistoric creatures brought there to give you a jungle feeling...Arent'alligators scary?

Storm expected

This is actually only the beginning of the storm that reached the Dutch coastline yesterday. I just wonder what the wind limit is for the kite surfers to stop getting into the water. All dikes were closed overnight, especially the one closing down the access to Rotterdam harbour, as everybody keeps in mind the North sea flood of 1953 that killed 1800 people. One third of the country is below sea level......

International city

Yes, The Hague is a very international city; lots of shops try to get the most of all the foreigners who live here. This is a sign advertising for an "international hairdresser"! Could anyone guess in which language it is translated?

Where is the water?

I still enjoy the canal views full of leaves.... Just another autumn view, probably last of its kind. Nearly all the leaves have fallen now...

The fountain is back!

Oupssss...... Missed you all for a week. I ended up last week in the Northern part of Holland in a hotel resort claiming to have a business centre with no internet connection whatsoever..... Anyway, I have now some catch up to do!!

Since 6 September 2007, people can admire once again in the Binnenhof the beautiful fountain from Pierre J.H. Cuypers (architect of the Rijksmuseum and the Central station in Amsterdam), which has just been renovated. The fountain was placed in 1885 in the Binnenhof as a tribute to the founder of the Binnenhof, Count William II. The fountain was then presented internationally as an example of Dutch wrought iron craftsmanship. Here, one of the gargoyles (I love this word!).