It was still raining when I made this picture this morning on Het Plein; all the cafes on this square are preparing for the soccer match of tonight of Netherlands v France... You can expect crowds tonight, and many more orange flags!!!

Colorful flower pots

You can notice everywhere in the city that Spring is definitely here with (too) colorful flower pots. I have spotted them in different places in the city like above on Het Plein, and the same flower arrangements in front of the Kurhaus below.

"Je Maintiendrai"

The Dutch Royal coat of Arms is made of three parts:

1. "Je Maintiendrai" is the motto, and comes from the House of Chalon
2. The lion comes from the House of Nassau
3. The sword and bundle of arrows in the lion’s paw (enlarge the picture) come from the coat of arms of the States General of the Republic of the United Provinces (17th and 18th centuries). The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces. The arrows also symbolise cooperation: individually they are vulnerable, but together they are strong.

I made this picture on Het Plein next to the Binnenhof, and as you can see, this building is in need of some renovation!

Colombia: March against the FARC

Today was the first massive demonstration against the FARC that took place around the world, and here in The Hague for the Netherlands. FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is a guerrilla Marxist group that has fought the Colombian government for over four decades, the longest insurgency in Latin America. It holds over 750 hostages.

This movement was launched early January by users of Facebook. Dubbed "A Million Voices Against the FARC'' marchers are taking to the streets in 27 cities in Colombia and around 150 worldwide. Having lived in Colombia during my student time, I am of course fully supporting the movement.

Storks are protected birds

I made this picture before Christmas on the Plein, and wondered at the time whether I could post the shot on this blog. Strange encounter in the city centre.... But click on the photo to enlarge it and you will notice that this stork is walking away with ........ his bodyguard (Security personal). Yes, storks are an endangered species!!!

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.

Very cold

Despite today being a beautiful day, it was so cold that nobody enjoyed the terrasses on the "Plein". I do miss here the extra gas heaters that are so commun in other cities.