Tuesday - Bean Appreciation Month

So apparently it's the Bean Appreciation Month and a lot of legumes-inspired culinary events are being organised all around the country.

Links to all the initiatives can be found on their FB page and bean lovers can send in their recipes and pretty beans pictures.

https://www.facebook.com/Peulenparade

http://www.urgenda.nl/projecten/duurzaam-voedsel/Peulenparade.php

This bean.

Not this one. Although...

Monday - A'dam Fab! Film Fashion Fabulous

Last year's Hollywood Fashion wonderful V&A's exhibition in London, was exploring the close knitted connection between haute couture and cinema and how this link is then channelled into popular culture and every day life.

The Film Fashion Fabulous film weeks, hosted at the EYE in Amsterdam,  explores these links through a selection of iconic films that are either about fashion, or that inspired fashion trends or are heavily influenced by la mode.

Most of the films are in English with Dutch subtitles.

http://www.eyefilm.nl/en/film-fashion-fabulous

The Infamous Corset, earlier this year at the Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibition in Rotterdam.

Sunday - Haags Uit Festival and Art&Fashion on the Noordeinde

Concluding this eventful weekend in Den Haag, the Haags Uit Festival aims to give a sample of the upcoming new cultural season.

You can visit the info market along Lange Vooruit and Spui and check out the programme of the podium there, but you can also enjoy performances in different areas of the the city.

To store energy for the very busy day, there's even a free breakfast offered at 10.30 on the Spuiplein, followed by a 120-meter long brass band parade and several other acts inside and outside the theatres in the area.

Insider tip: in the Centraal Bibliotheek, there's a sale of books and DVDs that need to be "evicted" from the collection. Very reasonable prices, as far as I can remember.

So after you have checked what's in store for you for the coming cultural months, you can head to the Noordeinde for their Art & Fashion event: catwalks, exhibition openings in the several galleries and gourmet food from the several restaurants and cafes in the area.

Insider tip: at 13.00, tableau vivante offered by the Maison de Bonnetterie

http://www.haagsuitfestival.nl/

http://hetnoordeinde.nl/art_and_fashion_2013

Weather forecast: chances of rain until midday but in the afternoon till late in the evening it should be dry.

Saturday - The day and night of the museums

As mentioned yesterday, this is weekend is dedicated to Den Haag as there is so much to do that it would be impossible not to.

First up, the Museum Night, which features not only the museums special openings untill the small hours, but also loads of  "collateral" events: DJ sets, special performances, pub quizzes, meetings with journalists, group yoga and a Google poetry workshop.

The issue with Den Haag is that the museums are not all at walking distance, however very fancy free purple busses (and even a boat) are driving people around for the whole duration of the event.

The ticket is 15 euro, in case haven't bought it already (otherwise it would have been cheaper) and includes transportation.

If instead you'd rather get out during the day and have a good time for free, on the Lange Voorhout, there is the first Embassy Festival, celebrating all the different cultures living in the city with a varied program of music, dance, debates and theatre performance and many food stalls (yay!).

http://www.museumnachtdenhaag.nl/

http://www.embassyfestival.com

Weather forecast for today: covered, but with little chance of rain until midnight.

Friday - The 48 hours of Den Haag - Episode I - Grachtenpracht

There's so much going on in Den Haag this weekend that it looks like  I will have to write the 3 next posts about it...

It starts tonight with the Grachtenpracht festival, a sort of floating festival, providing the visitors with a very different interaction and outlook on the city.

Boats will take the audience along the canals and the occupants will be able to enjoy glimpses of theatre performances, music, dance and much more, on other boats or on bridges, gardens and wharfs.

http://www.haagsegrachtenpracht.nl

Thursday - Utrecht's books fair

I am quite fond of this event, since it's the first one I ever attended precisely 9 years ago on the day I moved to Holland.

Het boekenfestijn starts today in Utrecht and runs till Sunday, with free entrance and a wide selection of books in Dutch and English, all with hefty discounts on the original price.

Although it's hosted in a warehouse, there's enough space and (oddly enough), quietness, to browse trough thousands of volumes of  fiction, popular science, posh coffee table books and quirky and bizarre titles you would have never thought existed.

The event is itinerant and will travel to Zwolle and Eindhoven in the coming months.

http://www.boekenfestijn.com/

Wide selection of dictionaries available too!

Wednesday - Delfgauw, or (the illusion of) the middle of nowhere

In Delfgauw, a village just outside Delft that has a middle of nowhere feeling even though it's just behind IKEA,  there's a green area called "Balij en Bieslandse Bos" with walking and biking paths, taking you through pretty vistas of farms, polders and orchards.

After having leisurely promenaded, stop at this pretty cafe' for something yummy.

http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/Activiteiten/Balij/Wandelroute%20Bieslandse%20Bos%20en%20de%20Balij.aspx

Tuesday - Gallery Urban Photos

For a photo trip down memory lane, check out the website and studio of the Gallery of Urban Photo.

I walked by the Rotterdam's gallery one evening and was captivated by the atmospheric black and white images of stylish people having cocktail parties in the 60s, newly built winkelcentrums filled with happy buyers and Rotterdam's harbour at the beginning of last century.

http://www.urbanphotos.nl/

Monday - Les vacances de Monseur Tati

Jacques Tati's six films have been digitally restored and are now touring the Dutch cinemas.

From August till December, the works of this great French comical writer, director and actor, will be shown in several cities, on different dates during an itinerant film festival.

Today for instance, apart from the daily Jour de Fete show in the Amsterdam's EYE, there will be a screening of Parade in Maastricht, Mon Oncle in Haarlem and Trafic in Gouda.

http://www.eyefilm.nl/tati-tour

Sunday - Home made market

For people in The Hague and beyond: today in the Zeehelderkartier it's all fun, games, arts and crafts at the Homemade market.

Food, drinks, pretty things, clothes and more, mostly made by local people and craft enthusiasts.

Starts at 10.00 and ends at 17.00.

Pretty flower pot, little maintenance required.

Saturday - Jazz in the Gracht

I realised that I get to talk twice about the canals of The Hague this week but I promise that I do not have any covered interest in their exploitation as a tourist attraction.

I got this tip from a friend of a friend and she was (convincingly) enthusiastic on the event.

On a barge on the Dunne Bierkade (Narrow-Beer-Shore) several bands will alternate all afternoon long up till 23.00 for some jazzy classics and jam sessions.

As a bonus (for some): beer and bitterballen available in the area.

http://www.jazzindegracht.nl/index.html

Friday - New cultural season opens in Amsterdam, with a massive festival

If you want to know what Amsterdam's new cultural season will bring, don't miss this weekend's Uitmarkt: the info market for the culture vultures.

Cinema, theatre, classical music, jazz, pop, library, lectures, classes, workshops, museum...you name it: you can sample a bit of all these around Leidseplein and Museumplein and wet your cultural appetite.

http://www.uitmarkt.nl/english

Thursday - National Restaurant Week

Restaurant week is back. Yay!

Till the 5th September, dozens of restaurants of all sorts, all over the country, will offer a special 3-course lunch (22.50 euro) or dinner (27.50 euro) when you book through the National Restaurant Week website.

Although some of the most prized one are fully booked for dinner, you may still be able to get a table for lunch.

http://www.restaurantweek.nl/lang/en

Wednesday - Boat tour on the Haagse canals

I am always happy to get suggestions from friends and colleagues: today it's Nora's turn to give her tip.

She has her family over and the other day they went for a boat trip along The Hague's canals.

Less famous and celebrated that their Amsterdam and Delft's "cousins", they are nevertheless a fun way to explore the city.

The tour lasts 90 minutes and departs several times a day and if you are really a boat tour fan, the same company also offers boat trips on other canals and rivers of the region.

http://www.rondvaartdenhaag.nl/

Tuesday - Urban Camp Site

Always wanted to sleep in a box hanging from a tree, inside a former polyester silo, in a massive sperm-cell-shaped-pod or in a cupboard?

Well now your dream may come true: the Urban Campsite temporarily hosted at the Vliegenbos in Amsterdam, offers a weird and wonderful selection of bizarre art objects in which you can spend the night.

Prices vary according (presumably) to the comfort level and the site is open till 30 September.

In one of the available art pieces/sleeping devices, the artist will tell you fairy tales so that you sleep better.

http://urbancampsiteamsterdam.com/index_en.html

Good ol' camping days...

Monday - The grapes of Den Hoorn

As amazing as it may seem, it`s actually possible to eat grape locally produced in NL.

In a small, biodynamic greenhouse of Midden-Delfland, a husband and wife team grows several varieties of table grapes.

Although they are behind glasses to protect them from bad weather, the grapes grow according to their natural rhythm, influenced by the weather outside.

I would think that, since this year we are having it so good weather-wise, the harvest will be closer to September then October.

They are open for guided tours for groups from 10 people up, with the chance to savour their juicy products, combined with those of nearby farms.

The shop is open from August till November and there's an open day on the second weekend of September.

http://druivenkwekerij.nl/

Grapes in Samatorca, near Trieste (not NL).

Sunday's Special - Guest post: Apenheul Apeldoorn

Ale writes:

Monkeys, apes, orang-utans, chimps, squirrel monkeys, gorillas...you will find all those and even more in Apenheul, a triking primate park for children and grown-ups. A lot of them are roaming free in the park and some aver very curious and will play with visitors :o)

It's nice to watch their behaviours towards food, their facial expressions, reactions to visitors, the interaction among them and finally to realise how close to them we are:....veeeeery much!

A good idea for a nice day trip!

http://www.apenheul.com/

Saturday - Kitesurf school

I saw this ad of a kite surfing school in Scheveningen and I thought I'd share.

I suppose that with all the wind that there's here in Den Haag, the beach must be a real kite surfers paradise.

Nothing for me, but my boyfriend tried once and had a great time, although he could barely move the following day.

http://kitesurfschoolscheveningen.nl/

Friday - Stedelijk Museum Den Bosch

Apart from being the birth cradle of the bossche bollen, Den Bosch is a nice place to visit also because of its Stedelijk Museum.

Contemporary art from the Netherlands and beyond, with some pieces from one of my latest personal pleasant art discoveries, Karel Appel, and the possibility of voting on line for your favourite item in the collection, it also offers loads of practical art experiences and live performances for the coming months.

http://www.sm-s.nl

Thursday - Hear the Call of the Mall, in Utrecht

After Schiphol airport, the first bit of NL I experienced on my first day in Utrecht when I moved here many years ago, has been the Hoog Catharijne shopping mall.

Far from being horrified by it (after all, I do love shopping and ugly concrete buildings) I have developed an affection for the ugly brutalist monster: let's not forget this is where I saw my first ever snack-bar wall.

"Call of the Mall" is an ongoing exhibition of contemporary art pieces, installations and videos disseminated inside and outside the shopping area, including the car park, exploring the relation between men, the consumerism society and its public spaces.

For free and on till the 22 September.

http://www.callofthemall.nl/en/home/