Thursday - Pimp my Willem

This statue of Willem van Oranje which can be admired outside the Noordeinde palace in Den Haag, has been embellished with some ties lately.

His ruff was so 1565!

http://historie.hdpnet.nl/stb02.htm

Wednesday - Cherish your ugly cucumber

Kromkommer is basically a project to promote pride in growing, eating and buying bizarrely shaped fruit and vegetables that would normally be discarded.

According to recent reports, almost 2 bn tons of food are going to waste every year and in NL alone 2 to 2.4 billion Euro of food end up in the dump.

5 to 10% of veggies are thrown away because of their "looks".

The good people from Kromkommer are working to get more restaurants, supermarket and markets to sell and use not-so-pretty vegetables and avoid useless spillage.

http://kromkommer.wordpress.com

Tuesday - My way or the (bike) highway

I noticed some of these freshly painted signs on the bike paths lately, so I looked it up.

It seems that a system of "highways for bicycles" is being built all over South Holland.

The idea is to encourage even more the use of two wheelers, not just for recreational purposes but especially as a preferred transport mode in every day life, given the progressive clogging up of roads and train connections.

Next step, given the weather, to really make the bike queen of road should be to build a cover on the fietspads or dig them underground maybe...

http://www.zuid-holland.nl/snelfietsroutesdenhaagleiden

Monday - Fifty shades of pink

There may not be a pink Barbie house as they have in Berlin, but at least in the village of Wier in Friesland, there is a pink church!

Apparently a painter chose different shades of pink for the walls and furniture while renovating in the Fifties and the parishioners got to like it so much that they have opposed the change of colour ever since.

http://www.wierfryslan.nl/index%20kerk.htm
(website in Frisian)

Sunday - Kiss and ride

K+R (=Kiss and ride) is not a new shocking game developed by teenagers during a party that went out of hand, but a very short term parking area outside train stations and airport meaning that you can drop your passenger/s, wave them goodbye and walk them to the entrance without risking a fine.

Saturday - Museum Night Leiden

I woke up and not only it's not raining, there are even some sunny spells!

But fear not, my (by now) light-phobic friends, tonight it should rain again.

Which is a pity as tonight there's also the Leiden Museum Night, starting at 20.00 with music, events and activities all around the city: origami and karaoke at the Japanese Museum, climbing of the church tower and laser games in the Pieterskerk, a workshop on amulets in the Etnographic Museum.

http://www.museumnachtleiden.nl/

*Leiden as seen from within the Wereldwinkel*

Friday - Rotterdam's square mile

They are pretty much a fixture on every brochure and guide on Rotterdam, and rightly so, since they are pretty unique when it comes to housing and they are so cool I cannot avoid to mention them.

A resident even transformed his in a museum so visitors can catch a glimpse on how it feels like to live at 45 degrees.

Although be warned, when you first enter you might feel like you have been spending too much time in that coffeeshop on the corner...

http://www.holland.com/uk/tourism/cities-in-holland/visit-rotterdam/architecture-in-rotterdam-1/rotterdam-cube-houses.htm

UPDATE 7/7/14: yesterday we finally visited the Kubus Museum. For just 3 euro you can see first hand how it feels like to live in a very unconventional building. Nook and crannies, strangely shaped seats and a wonderful, pyramidal, under roof attic.

http://www.kubuswoning.nl/introkubus2.html

Thursday - On crimes against pizza

On today's menu, an advice on something you should not in NL as much as you can: eat a pizza.

Yes, I know I am a food nazi in this respect and I also recognise that there are loads of crappy places in Italy and indeed little variety when it comes to foreign cuisines, but I feel like I have to warn all the good people out there. Or maybe I just feel like ranting today...

But back to pizza.

A colleague of my bf warmly recommended a "real Italian place, with proper pizza", quite well known in Den Haag. I have been there before and I can attest and certify that a) they are not Italian and b) they don't make a pizza that's worth eating.

These kind of fake "echte Italiaanse pizzeria" are easy to spot.

They have at least 2 of these tacky "typical Italian" decorations: Chianti bottles used as candle holders, a sepia poster with Venice or Florence, a plastic-marmoreal reproduction of the Tower of Pisa or possibly the Colosseum, bunches of garlic hanging from the ceiling, pictures of famous Italian actors of the past, red and white chequered  table cloths. The worst offenders display all of the above.

On the menu, apart from an array of grammatical and spelling mistake that any Italian will be able to point out to you, appear dishes such as the abominable pizza Hawaii, with pineapples; a pizza called Mafia; a pizza with chicken; a pizza with a misspelled name of a well known Italian city. If you are extremely unlucky, you will find a pizza topped with chips, a pizza with bolognaise* and (true story) a pizza called afghani kebab.

Now, it's a free country and everyone is free to do, go and eat where and what they want of course, but I really felt the need to share this poignant rant/piece of advice with the general public after eating last night what tasted like a piece of cardboard smothered with melted white plastic.

*Bolognaise it's not an Italian sauce either.

Wednesday - The Future of Food

One of my favourite subjects, food, is debated this week during the Future of Food Festival in Tilburg.

Food talks, food walks, food bike rides...you name it...all trying to answer to the question "What will we be putting on our tables in 2050?".

Still nothing, or too much, like in some countries today? Or maybe insects and worms? Or bio-engineered space-food?

People in the known (farmers, scientists, chefs, and slow food-ers) will meet in Tilburg and debate this tasty and (at the same time) troubling topic.

http://www.wereldpodium.nu/mei-2013-future-of-food-festival/

Tuesday - A trip to the fietsboer...

Not really something to do today, although once you live in this country you will at one point have to bring your bike to a bicycle repair shop.

Nevertheless I though that this one in Den Haag deserves a mention for the multilingual and multicultural welcome to his customers.

One think puzzles me however...why are bike-mechanics called bike-farmers in NL?

Monday - National Sport Week

The weather is miserable, it's a day off and all I personally feel like doing is staying in bed under my duvet reading a book, while bf next to me plays candy crush saga on the tablet.

However, for those sporty people out there, today it's day 1 of the National Sport Week.

Rowing clubs, gyms, petanque tracks, hockey fields, acrobatic rock and roll arenas... and many more will be opening their door and offer free classes and special events.

Check here what's available close to you:

http://www.nationalesportweek.nl/

Sunday - Game of Thrones Exhibition

This is an event that plenty of people I know, including myself, are really looking forward to.

An exhibition of costumes, props and interactive displays from one of the most popular HBO series of the last years is travelling around and will make a stop in only 5 cities in the whole world: one of these, for an incredible stroke of luck, happens to be Amsterdam.

The exhibition will be in Poosthornkerk on Harleemmeerstraat and will be open to the public on the 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27 May only.

The entrance is free, it's open from 10 till 18 and only 150 can enter a the time, so expect (veeeery) long queues.

https://www.facebook.com/events/247115832099174/

Saturday - Care for a tournament, milady?

Fans of Game of Thrones, this is your weekend!

Today,  tomorrow and Monday, at the castle Hoensbroek in South Limburg, a tournament with horses and pikes, court jesters and renaissance fair with a medieval market.

http://www.kasteelhoensbroek.nl/evenement/riddertoernooi-2013

Friday - Wilhelmina's tree

Another treasure hunt today.

This time we are looking for a linden tree. It seems that on the occasion of Queen Wilhelmina's coronation in 1889, plenty of these trees were planted all around the country.

The pictured one was planted in Muiderberg and it's still going strong!

More Wilhelmina trees can be found in Amerongen, Boxmeer and Leeuwarden.

Thursday - Spot the sculpture in Utrecht

Try and spot this plump market lady bronze along the Oudegracht in Utrecht.

It's from sculptor Theo van de Vathorst, who has pieces scattered all over the town.

Wednesday - Mexico rocks at Melweg

This year's Utrecht Latin American Film Festival may be over, but there are still some follow ups, even in other cities.

On Wednesday and Friday three documentaries about South American music acts will be shown at the Melkweg.

Tonight it's the turn of a documentary about the Mexican rock band Molotov and the political, social and financial factors that affected the band's history and development. Plus a lot of cool music!

http://www.laff.nl/laff-at-melkweg/

Tuesday - "The Image of Beatrix" in Apeldoorn

Some months ago NOS, the public TV broadcaster, launched a national call for portraits of queen (now princess) Beatrix and more than 2000 pieces were received from artistically inclined loyal subjects.

68 of them plus some extra paintings from well known artists are now displayed till the 16th June at the Het Loo Palace (yes, really!) in Apeldoorn.

http://www.paleishetloo.nl/newsitem/225/1/3/Beeld_Van_Beatrix.html

*This picture did not enter the competition*

Monday - Slavery and the Dutch Golden Age

Ongoing in this pretty canal house turned museum, an exhibition on the relevant role of the Netherlands in the slavery trade.

A guided "Black Heritage Amsterdam Tour" is available too, by foot and boat.


http://geelvinck.nl/exposities/swart-op-de-gracht-slavernij-en-de-grachtengordel/

Sunday - Vernissage at the Arab House of Arts

A tip from A. who is a very keen events spotter, always up to date and a supporter of this blog.

On Sunday at 15.00 there's the opening of a painting exhibition showcasing the work of Lebanese painter Helene Khoury.

Born in Beirut but living and working in Holland, she explore in her pieces the themes of female identity and  women's right.

It's an event co-organised by the Arab House of Arts and the American Bookshop.

The artist will be at the opening and there's going to be Middle Eastern drinks and snacks too!

http://www.ahkunsten.nl/

Saturday - National Windmill Day

There isn't a more recognisable Dutch icon than the windmill and today, on "National Windmill Day", it's to celebrate them.

Check on the website for the program of events at the windmill near you.


http://www.nationalemolendag.nl/