Tourist Mode

Visitors are always a good excuse to get out and about and see the Netherlands through new eyes.

Yes, it's that time of year again, which means another trip to the Keukenhof Gardens. I like gardening and it's always good to get some ideas, but I couldn't help but feel this year's exhibits in the flower arranging section were just a little lacking!

Nevermind, the sun was shining and although it's very early in the season the gardeners had done their best to ensure colourful displays outside. It was more of a crocus-fest than a traditional tulip party, but definitely, some ideas to take home. It would never occur to me to plant rhubarb in a flower pot, but it's one to try, as is hyacinth wedding cake.

However, the most inspirational idea - the book chair. Perfect.

Making the Most of It

What is it about human nature that makes us wait until time is running out before we start using it effectively?

With the ‘last day in the Netherlands’ now pencilled into my diary, I’m in panic mode. But, I haven’t done this, I haven’t been there, I haven’t got my money’s worth out of my annual museumkaart...

The Museumkaart is a wonderful thing. For less than 60 euros a year it gives you access to nearly every museum in the Netherlands, and as individual entrance fees are between 10-15 euros, it’s a very good deal.  If you use it.

A wet weekend is the ideal incentive to seek out some culture. The Hague is currently celebrating 100 years of Mondrian and the De Stijl movement, so we took a trip to the Gemente Museum to view the more permanent works of art as opposed to the red, blue and yellow seagull floats outside the Binnenhof. Another lure of the Gemente Museum was to catch the last few days of the Hubert De Givenchy exhibition – a collection of the fashion designer’s most iconic costumes, including several worn by Audrey Hepburn, a Dutch national treasure. Quite naturally, the exhibition featured that Little Black Dress, and I too could don the Audrey hat and sunglasses for a dress-up session in the photo booth, or at least I could, if the photo booth had been working.

From the Gemente we went next door to the Foto museum, where Mr T was positively inspired by the idea of transforming mundane subject matter into pictures of interest. On our walk home he insisted on snapping pics of parked cars, the beginnings, apparently, of a possible coffee table book.

The following day we headed down to the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam, where one of the new features is the ‘off-shore experience’. More dressing up was required – hard hat, florescent jacket, and following a safety film about what to do if your helicopter crashes (if I was a child – and it is aimed at children - I’d have been completely terrified at this point) you head up a staircase to a simulated oil-rig in the North Sea – complete with wind effect where you can press lots of buttons and pretend you control pipelines. Home from home for Mr T.   

There are several old vessels to explore outside in the museum harbour, including a traditional Dutch barge which was used to transport coal, sand and peat, back in the day when Dutch people were considerably shorter than they are now  – even I had to bend my head in the living quarters, which incidentally were about the size of an average family bathroom. Even more fascinating was learning that the family who lived on this particular barge had six children - there wasn't room to swing a cat let alone a child. However, the kindly curator showed us a photograph of the children strapped together on the canal bank towing the barge - children being cheaper than the cost of buying and keeping horse. Not now they're not. 

A good weekend's worth of knowledge gained. Now I just have to get my money's worth out of the spa membership. It'll be tough. 

(Not a picture of ex-pat wives on a day out but more outfits from the De Givenchy range)

One Week In...

It’s the end of my first week back in the Hague; and the sun has come out. That’s not the only change since I left in December. Roads that had been closed since we first arrived way back in September are now open; barriers down, traffic cones removed. Whole new areas have opened up. There are new art installations, including several in celebration of the artist Piet Mondrian and the de Stijl art movement.

I’m not quite sure who came up with the idea of the floating blocks in the Hofvijver lake but the seagulls certainly seem to be appreciating them.

It’s almost like starting over somewhere new. I'm seeing the city with fresh eyes. The crocuses are out, creating swathes of purple beside the pavements.  At Scheveningen, quickly becoming my favourite place, the pop-up beach restaurants have already popped-up. On Friday night as we sat on the pier, sipping a pre-dinner beer and a wine, watching the sun set from a cloudless sky into an uncharacteristically calm sea, we could almost imagine ourselves, if we weren’t behind glass and still wearing our coats, back in the Caribbean.

We decided we would make the most of the weekend’s good weather forecast and head out for a hike along the beach. We thought we’d just wander and see how far we got – which wasn’t actually that far. It’s hard-going walking on sand. We did deviate inland onto the manmade paths across the sand-dunes for a change of scenery, but the scenery, if I’m honest, was less than spectacular.

The Dutch landscape isn’t the only thing that’s a bit subdued We spent Sunday morning watching the NN CPC Loop Den Haag, a massive running event involving 35,000 participants which saw most of the newly opened roads closed off again. Having been a spectator at the London marathon a couple of years ago it was quite noticeable how low-key this event seemed to be in comparison. There were several races on the agenda, including a 5 K, 10K, kids races and a half marathon. We seemed to be the odd ones out as we clapped and cheered as the participants ran, jogged and staggered past. We were at the 1K mark – but the crowds were pretty thin, and surprisingly (for the Dutch) unvocal, which seemed a bit of a shame.

However, with the sun out it was a day for doing stuff – not standing around. The bikes came out of hibernation and we decided to go for a cycle. My gears had seized up and Mr T’s front-brake had stuck, but after quick massage and a splash of oil off we set.

We headed for the Haagse Bos, an area of woodland we hadn’t explored before. The Dutch Royal family have a house in the Bos, and although we found the palace, sadly, there was no sign of Willem and Maxima pottering in the grounds. The house appeared to be undergoing a complete renovation but presumably if the Dutch Royals are anything like the British, they'll have several other residences to decamp to,  or  maybe they were hiding out in a mobile home around the back.

Disappointed, we carried on and came to a large garden centre. Now I love a good garden centre.  On a Sunday in the UK, a garden centre would be heaving with customers.  But this is the Netherlands. The garden centre was closed. My inner American screams why isn't everything open 24/7? While my it's so refreshing the Netherlands is so uncommercial side appreciates why Maxima wasn’t out there with her gardening gloves on. She was probably out on a family cycle ride instead.

Day One

Back in the Netherlands after an extended stay in the UK and my first day has been a day of queuing. This is not a result of food shortages that have mysteriously occurred in my absence,  but simply an issue of staff deployment. Generally I do my best to avoid Albert Heijn supermarkets first thing on a Monday morning. Our nearest shop is very small, and the aisles are full of staff restocking after the weekend.  However, with an afternoon mission already planned I had no choice but tackle the chicanes and other major hazards created by warehouse crates and boxes blocking every aisle.  No queues at the check-out, mainly because there were more staff in the shop than customers.

However, the real fun began in the afternoon,  when I had to return to a second Albert Heijn (I refuse to visit the same one twice in the one day) to pick up the goods I had (a) forgotten in the morning and (b) had not been re-stocked (that’s the trouble with going too early!).  But first, I went to Action. For those of you don’t know Action think Home Bargains. It’s one of those shops that sells everything from toothpaste to bicycle pumps, the sort of place you go into expecting to buy one item, and come up with arms full of stuff. It is also one of those shops that has six check-outs, four of which are for display purposes only. Action is the home of the queue. And typically, after a lengthy wait, just as I finally reached the point where I could load my several-more-than-planned purchases onto the conveyer belt, the inevitable happened, another check-out opened, and of course, those at the back who had waited the least, scrambled to the empty till.

 

Undeterred, I stuck it out. I had invested a great deal of time in my queue, and then, exactly the same thing happened next door in the second Albert Heijn supermarket of the day, where just as I reached that point...the till roll needed to be changed.  Outwardly calm, inwardly seething.

I appreciate that these situations are not unique to the Netherlands. It could happen anywhere. But they say Europeans don't know how to queue. Trust me, they do!

During my two months back in the Uk I had become re-acclimatized with those cheeky check-out conversations with shop assistants, which simply don’t happen here, mainly because ashamedly, I don’t have any Dutch conversational skills apart from a ja, ja, nee  and a dank Ju well in answer to the standard do I have a bonus card, do I want a receipt, am I collecting saving stamps and have a good day (I am completely thrown if I’m asked anything else). Back in the UK recent exchanges with shop assistants have included a lengthy conversation on the merits of bathroom refurbishment (stemming from the admiration of my new bathmat) and another five minute talk on the commercial viability of wine for cats. Anyone who has ever given their cat catnip will know that cats do not need wine.  And dogs don’t need beer either (yes we got onto that too).

Ed looking unimpressed with another spontaneous purchase from Action!