Saturday - The opening of the Japanese Garden

Opening day of the Japanese Garden in the Clingendael park today, for this year's "spring session": it will stay open till the 9 of June with very wide opening times.

The occasion is marked by a Japanese Festival representing Dutch institutions with links to Japan and offering music, food and the arts of beautiful things that are so characteristic of Japan.

http://www.denhaag.nl/en/residents/to/Japanese-festival-in-Japanese-Garden.htm

Friday - Guess who's going to the cinema now

I don't have kiddies myself, so this is a totally unqualified opinion, however it seems (from what I hear from friends) that, especially when the little ones are ...well, little, it's very difficult to do most of the things you used to before.

So I guess it will be welcomed news to know that on Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings, in a couple of cinemas in The Hague, there are special screenings for parents with small children. A similiar arrangement is available in Amsterdam as well.

Lights dimmed and not off, volume down and 2 tickets for the price of 1.

http://www.cinemum.nl/

Thursday - Art 2013 Utrecht

A week of art in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, with lectures about Japanese netsuke and art nouveau, guided tours and several art galleries displaying their best pieces.

Plus, the Exposition "Feest" to celebrate, with contributions from all the exhibitors, this year's coronation but also the 300 years of the Peace of Utrecht.

http://www.art2013.nl/pagina.php

Wednesday - Sounds like art (in Eindhoven)

Sound producing sculptures, harps played by gravity and astonishing syntesisers are part of this exhibition happening at the MU, a space focused mainly on visual arts and based in Eindhoven.

Quoting from their About page: "MU shows what art can be, not what art should be", which sounds like a good deal to me.

Combined with a lunch here, it makes for the perfect day out in Eindhoven.

http://www.mu.nl/uk/exhibitions/now/sounds-like-art/

Tuesday - Border Kitchen and its literary talks

Border Kitchen organises literary events in The Hague in the form of a live interviews of up-and-coming, but also well established international writers. Hilary Mantel, Madeline Albright and Alessandro Baricco were among the past guests.

Tonight's event, with UK born author of Ghanese descent , Taiye Selasi, is already sold out.

It is however worth it adding their website to your favourites or following them on Twitter and keep an eye on future events, since they have many more talks planned for the coming months.

http://www.borderkitchen.nl

Monday - 1 frietje met, graag !

There was some excitement in my household when we discovered that the winner of this year's AD Friettest is our very own local snack bar, Jack Snack.

The bf and his mum being Dutch, we have our own almost weekly ritual involving a portion of frietjes and heated debates about the best pataat parlours.

Yesterday I tried Jacks' ones (with mayo of course) and I am now a converted: they almost taste like home made ones, due to the fact (revolutionary, it seems) that Jack changes the oil in his frying machines every day.

In the top 100 of the Dutch snack bar, there are rare gems such as the Friturologisch Intituut Schipper, in Rotterdam, de Frietboetik in Tilburg and the, not so promising, LifeLine Food&Drinks in Ridderkerk, which gets a meagre 4, surely skinner than its fries...

http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1040/Den-Haag/article/detail/3428431/2013/04/19/Jack-barstte-bij-bakken-lekkerste-friet-in-tranen-uit.dhtml

Sparkle added during post-production, to make them even more appetising...

Sunday - Take a walk on the (Dutch democracy) side

Every Sunday at 14.00 an English spoken tour takes foreign visitors through the places and the rituals of the Dutch constitutional monarchy.

The exploration of the Binnenhof includes the Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal) where the Queen (and now WA) gives the yearly speech on the state of the nation, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Ridderzaal in particular is worth a visit especially for its stained glass windows with the coat of arms of the Dutch cities and little gargoyles representing eavesdroppers scattered trough the beams of the roof (which, by the way, is an upside down ship frame).

Tours depart from the nearby Pro Demos vistors centre, starting with a video packed with background info.

http://english.prodemos.nl/English/Visitors-Centre