Netherlands Archives - Where to Kim?

Museum Beelden aan Zee: sculptures with an ocean view

Kim — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Beelden aan Zee is a museum with modern sculptures right next to the beach of Scheveningen in the Netherlands.

Scheveningen is one of the best-known beaches in the Netherlands. When strolling the promenade you will notice the many sculptures on display. This is a hint of what lies just behind the promenade. At the museum Beelden aan Zee you can see a variety of sculptures with different styles. It is a hidden treasure within the dunes. The natural scenery and the sandy-colored walls of the museum provide the ideal background. Depending on the exhibitions, you might also see other types of art.

Even though I’m describing my experience based on the exhibitions in November 2020, the general take-away can give you an idea of what to expect at Museum Beelden aan Zee.

Coronavirus update All museums in the Netherlands are closed at the moment (20 January 2021 update).

Exhibition: EIGEN+BEELD

The first exhibition you come upon is drawn from the museum’s own collection of modern sculptures.

It is divided into five parts:

places to be (about monuments)
Boundless (about non-western influences on Dutch sculptures)
back to the future (about classicism)
inner construction (about the abstract movement within modern sculpture)
untitled (conceptual art)

Together they link the past, the present, and the future. As the division suggests, the meaning and styles of the sculptures are diverse. The descriptions of the artworks are really interesting to read. I was mostly drawn to the white full-body sculptures whose whole stature expressed emotions: I.S. with Beretta 92 Semi-automatic by Thom Puckey (number 37) and =(passage) by Antoine Berghs (number 79). Can you see the swan in the shadow of the kneeling man in the second picture above? And a special mention for the animal with two heads whose collection-number I don’t know.

This exhibition is either hit or miss. You’ll be intrigued by the art styles or you won’t be. Fortunately, it takes only one sculpture to have a wow-effect on you, for you to appreciate the exhibition as a whole.

You can visit this exhibition from 18 September 2020 until 7 March 2021.

Exhibition: A Mutating Story

Jacob van der Beugel presents human cells as a biological landscape. The four panels in the room show a story of mutation. They are accompanied by four vertical cylindrical forms with reinforcement steel that suggest a DNA spiral.

I found this exhibition quite fascinating. The use of concrete, ceramics, and steel makes you pay attention to the panels and cylindrical forms. After reading the description, you start to look for patterns.

Quote from the website of Beelden aan Zee: “His works are meticulously constructed by hand using ceramic elements, self-healing concrete, recycled concrete and mixed aggregate. Concrete is poured into enormous, structured moulds that are reinforced with steel bars, over strategically placed ceramic ‘cells’ that act as sign-posts to assist the viewer to ‘read’ the panels. Each individual ‘cell’ is carefully constructed with layers of clay, then fired to very high temperatures. This process permanently changes the structure of the ceramic ‘cell’ by fusing the clay particles together. Each panel is then refined, polished and finished with small rectangular ceramic blocks that suggest a point of ‘mutation’.”

You can visit this exhibition from 18 July 2020 until 7 February 2021.

Exhibition: On Sculpture

For the works on display, Carel Blotkamp uses brightly colored sequins. Bling to the max. The small plastic sequins are added as comments to works by artists he admires, including well-known artists like Mondriaan.

You can visit this exhibition from 28 November 2020 until 28 February 2021.

Outdoors

Outside you can see the more permanent collection. A combination of small and abstract sculptures, and full-sized sculptures meaning the world to even the casual visitor. There is one bigger outside area, and you can also visit the smaller courtyards that you can find in between the exhibitions.

Due to the many different art styles, there’s a sculpture for everyone. Personally, I thought the placement of the sculptures had a lot of effect on my appreciation. A placement directly in front of a sandy wall, or with the blue sky or the sea in the background added a contrast to the view that helped the sculpture to ‘shine’ more.

Experience

It might be because of the sculptures currently on display, but Beelden aan Zee didn’t give me a wow-feeling. While I do appreciate the meaning of many sculptures, I don’t find most of them aesthetically pleasing. I also prefer the sculptures outside because of the background provided by the sandy walls of the building, the beach, the blue ocean, and the sky. Most of the works in the exhibitions inside didn’t really appeal to me. Though I do think that if some of them were placed outside or against a different background, I would have liked them better.

Perhaps I didn’t set the right expectations for my visit. I was expecting something like the Seosomun History Museum in Seoul where every area of the building was optimized for the artworks on display. A perfect harmony where the building enhances the meaning of the artworks and the other way around. Instead, the sculptures in the exhibition halls – especially the EIGEN+BEELD exhibition – were simply residing.

Free: Fairytale Sculptures by the Sea

In contrast, the sculptures at the Scheveningen promenade (provided by Beelden aan Zee) brought a smile to my face. They were (morbidly) funny and made great use of their surroundings. The meaning was instantly clear. Perhaps that makes them less refined, but they were much better at lifting my mood.

You can find many more sculptures at the Scheveningen promenade as part of the public space exhibition (BLVD) of Beelden aan Zee.

How to get to Museum Beelden aan Zee

From The Hague Central train station, it takes about 15 minutes by car or half an hour by public transport to reach Museum Beelden aan Zee.

And once there, you can enjoy a visit to the beach of Scheveningen.

Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 – 17:00.

Tickets: 16 euro for adults and 8 euro for children.

Location: Harteveltstraat 1, 2586 EL Den Haag, Netherlands

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Farm Boerderij ‘t Geertje: a fun outing with kids near The Hague

Kim — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 15:00:00 +0000

If your kids love animals, what would be better than spending a few hours at the family-run farm Boerderij ‘t Geertje in the Netherlands?

Boerderij ‘t Geertje is a real organic production farm with goats, cows, and pigs. There are many fun activities for kids at this farm. And while young kids will enjoy, seeing, feeding, and petting the animals, adults will appreciate the store selling quality food products, many of them produced using goat milk and cow milk from the farm. Even though it is a small farm, there are many different types of animals present.

Things to do for kids

1) Feeding goats

Here your kids (and you) can feed the goats at the barn. At the restaurant, you can buy a bottle of liquid food for the young goats or bix (biscuits) for the adult goats. Your young ones will love this as they can pat the young goats, while the latter are preoccupied climbing all over you. Adult supervision is necessary. Protect your shoelaces, zippers, shawls, kid’s ears, and everything else that is an easy target.

2) Roasting marshmallows

Roast some marshmallows over a fire pit. Lots of fun in every season.

3) Watch (young) pigs

You can see the pigsty from the fire pit. This is no place to linger at unless you absolutely love pigs.

4) Play in the haystack

Let the kids jump and climb on the hay bales as if it is a regular playground with a slide.

5) Take a pony ride

Next to the hay barn are the ponies. For a fee, your kid can ride on a pony guided by someone from the farm.

6) Visit the cows

Pet the cows and watch them moo.

7) Sit on a tractor

Take a picture of your kid on a tractor while they beam with pride.

8) Wooden shoe adventure path

A small side excursion for the younger kids (fun until the age of six or seven I would say). For a fee of 50 euro cents per adult, you can walk on the wooden shoe (clogs) themed path over wooden bridges and balance beams through a small forest. With very young kids this could very well take you fifteen minutes, especially if they keep going back to walk on the wooden blocks and bridges one more time.

9) Restaurant and shop

At the time of writing this blog post, the restaurant is closed because of the coronavirus measures. When the restrictions are lifted you can once again enjoy a meal (mainly sandwiches and pancakes) at the restaurant. Until then, there is a less extensive menu for takeaway outside.

At the shop, you can buy all kinds of cheese and dairy products (homemade organic products from the very goats and cows you saw earlier), meat, and many other interesting products.

How to get to Boerderij ‘t Geertje

Boerderij ‘t Geertje is a 25 minutes’ drive from The Hague or a 45 minutes’ drive from Amsterdam. You can park your car for free at the farm or one of the other free parking lots nearby. If you don’t have a car, you can take the train to Zoetermeer Station and rent a bike from there (25 minutes’ bike ride).

Location: Geerweg 7, 2381 LT Zoeterwoude, Netherlands

If you’re looking for a fun family outing, then consider visiting Boerderij ‘t Geertje. Unless you live on a farm that is… then this might not be such a fun place to visit as it reminds you too much of home and work.

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Zaanstad (Zaandam) as a day trip from Amsterdam

Kim — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 14:00:21 +0000

Zaanstad is a beautiful city with colorful and monumental buildings, good restaurants, and a relaxing shopping area. The perfect day trip from Amsterdam.

The Netherlands is famous for its canal houses, tulips, and mills. One of the best places to see Dutch windmills is the Zaanse Schans in Zaanstad, a city only a stone’s throw away from Amsterdam.

But don’t miss out on Zaanstad’s city center! You can’t go wrong here! There’s something for everyone.

Must-see sights in Zaanstad

The most iconic hotel ever

The first must-see building in Zaandam is the building that houses Inntel Hotels. It is colorful, playful, and a delight to watch.

Location: Provincialeweg 102, 1506 MD Zaandam, Netherlands

Zaanstad City Hall

Nearby is the City Hall of Zaanstad. The seven windows represent the seven cities (among which Zaandam) that were merged to form Zaanstad.

Location: Stadhuisplein 100, 1506 MZ Zaandam, Netherlands

Shopping area “Gedempte Gracht”

You can find a modern shopping area around the Gedempte Gracht (meaning “filled-in canal”). Nowadays the canal has made its return and you can go shopping along a real canal with Zaandam’s iconic colorful houses.

Location: Gedempte Gracht, 1506 CM Zaandam, Netherlands

Tsar Peter House (“Czaar Peterhuisje”)

One of the oldest wooden houses in the Netherlands and also one of the oldest museums in the country. This house is world-famous because the Russian Tsar Peter the Great stayed at this house in 1697 when he came to Zaandam to learn about the shipwright’s trade.

Location: Krimp 23, 1506 AA Zaandam, Netherlands

Tsar Peter monument

Take a lunch break or have a drink at one of the cafes surrounding the Tsar Peter Monument.

Location: Dam, 1506 AC Zaandam, Netherlands

Blue House (“Het Blauwe Huis”)

A patrician house built in 1724 that was painted bright blue by impressionist painter Claude Monet in 1871.

Location: Hogendijk 78, 1506 AJ Zaandam, Netherlands

MonetAtelier

In 1871, the French painter Monet stayed in Zaandam for four months because the colorful houses and Zaandam’s surroundings inspired him very much. In the MonetAtelier you can see replicas of the works he painted in Zaandam.

Location: Westzijde 14g, 1506 EE Zaandam, Netherlands

From the bridge on the Gedempte Gracht you can get a good view of the building.

Verrassing aan de Zaan

Enjoy a drink or lunch at the restaurant Verrassing aan de Zaan (“Surprise at the Zaan river”) housed next to the Mennonite House of Worship, a building with a rich history dating back to 1687.

Location: Westzijde 82, 1506 EH Zaandam, Netherlands

Bullekerk

The ‘Bullekerk’ is a cruciform church built between 1638 and 1640.

Location: Westzijde 75, 1506 ED Zaandam, Netherlands

Verkade factories

Visit the old factory of Verkade that now houses a bakery school with a cafe. The new factory is across the street. You can smell their Sultana biscuits (raisin biscuits with sultana grapes) in this area.

Location bakery: Westzijde 174a, 1506 EK Zaandam, Netherlands

How to get to Zaanstad from Amsterdam

Zaanstad lies right next to Amsterdam. By car, you can get there in less than half an hour. But the train can take you there even faster: the train ride from Amsterdam Central Station to Zaandam train station takes only twelve minutes! This makes Zaanstad the perfect day trip from Amsterdam.

If you want to visit the Zaanse Schans on the same day, you can just hop on the same train for two more stops until you reach Zaandijk Zaanse Schans train station.

You can explore all of the sites mentioned in this post on foot. The furthest highlight – the Verkade Factories and bakery shop – is at a sixteen minutes’ walk from Zaandam train station.

Where to stay in Zaanstad/Zaandam?

I recommend staying at one of the most iconic hotels in Zaandam, Intell Hotels or the Zaan Hotel for a unique experience.

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Zaanse Schans as a day trip from Amsterdam

Kim — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 14:00:00 +0000

The Netherlands is famous for its canal houses, tulips, and mills. One of the best places to see Dutch windmills is the Zaanse Schans in Zaanstad, a city only a stone’s throw away from Amsterdam.

Zaanstad itself is a beautiful city with colorful and monumental buildings, good restaurants, and a relaxing shopping area. You can’t go wrong here! There’s something for everyone.

Zaanse Schans

The Zaanse Schans is a windmill heaven. Along the Zaan river, you can see the most intriguing windmills. They are bright, colorful, and picturesque. With green fields on one side and the canal on the other, you can take beautiful pictures no matter the weather.

Must-see sights at Zaanse Schans

Windmills panorama

Take a panorama picture of the mills from the Julianabrug bridge.

Canal facing mills

Take a walk along the canal to see the windmills. Some are still active as a timber mill, spice mill, oil mill, and so on. During opening hours you might be able to see a demonstration.

Meadow walk

Take a walk in the meadow to see beautiful houses and gardens. At the museums, you can learn what life in a small village in the Netherlands was like in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Cooperage ‘Kuiperij’

The first museum you come upon from the west is the cooperage. Here you can see the process of making wooden barrels.

Wooden Shoe Museum

Next up is the Wooden Shoe (‘Clogs’) Museum. Take a very iconic picture inside the huge clogs in front of the building and head inside for a wall full of clogs.

Weaver ‘Wevershuis’

A small museum about weaving, showing how the cloth for the ship’s sails and windmills rotors were made.

Cheese farm

A Netherlands tour would not be complete without cheese. While the museum itself is not very interesting (no interaction whatsoever), you can taste some cheese at the shop.

Bakery ‘Bakkerijmuseum’

At the bakery, you can buy the most popular Dutch baked goods like ‘stroopwafels’ (caramel waffles). Also on sale are sweets that were popular when my grandparents were young.

Cafe and houses

Near the entrance of the park, you can have a drink at De Hoop op d’Swarte Walvis. In the second picture, you can see a building from across the street. I just couldn’t keep this picture from you.

How to get to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam

By train

Coming from Amsterdam, you can take the train from Amsterdam Centraal to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans train station. From there it is a ten minutes’ walk to the Kalverringdijk, where you can enter Zaanse Schans from the west. The whole journey takes about 35 minutes.

By car

If you travel by car, you can park at the big parking lot near Zaans Museum east of the Zaanse Schans. From Amsterdam, you can get there in twenty to thirty minutes.

By bike

Another popular option is to cycle in one hour from the city center of Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans.

By ferry

A fun alternative (mainly in peak season) would be to take the ferry from Amsterdam or Zaantheater. You can find the ferry schedule on the Zaanferry website.

General location: Kalverringdijk, 1509 BT Zaandam, Netherlands

You can enter the area free of charge, but you have to pay a few euros if you want to access some of the buildings.

Tip: combine the Zaanse Schans with a visit to Zaanstad on the same day!

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Watersnoodmuseum: a museum about men’s struggle against water in the Netherlands

Kim — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 14:00:00 +0000

The Watersnoodmuseum (‘Flood museum’) is all about the extraordinary stories of ordinary people and their experiences with water. Starting with the flooding disaster during a storm in 1953, it moves on to show you the rebuilding period and modern Delta Works.

In Zeeland, a province in the southwestern part of the Netherlands, lies Ouwerkerk. Ouwerkerk is a small village in a quiet area. If you’re coming from a city area like Rotterdam, then you’ll love the road that takes you there. With every kilometer, you see more green, water, and beautiful houses. It feels like you’re on holiday even though Ouwerkerk is less than an hour’s drive from the bustling city of Rotterdam.

The Watersnoodmuseum (‘Flood’ museum) is linked to a disaster in the history of the Netherlands. An event that is uniquely linked to the very existence of the Netherlands, as part of the country lies below sea level. Without the dykes, the people living in the western part of the country (the ‘low lands’) wouldn’t be able to live there. If the seawater level rises and the sea defenses are damaged, many people could die.

This sounds way more dramatic than I experience living here. Such thoughts are not part of my daily life, but that is mostly because I am confident in our civil engineers’ skills.

Watersnoodmuseum

“It is the night of Saturday 31 January and Sunday 1 February 1953. A severe north-westerly storm pushes the waters of the North Sea up high into the English Channel. Even before springtide has reached its highest point, the dikes break in the southwest of The Netherlands.” Source: Watersnoodmuseum website

After entering the museum, you will learn about the Night of the Flood through personal accounts of survivors, rescue workers, and officials. The photos show the damage and the desperate flight of many. What do you do when your rooftop is not high enough to keep you from being swallowed by the sea?

The exhibition rooms are named after the caissons (watertight retaining structures used to form a dam) that keep the water out. Where the first caisson tells you more about the disaster itself, the second focuses on the despair of the people chased by the water. In the blue multimedia room, you can listen to stories of the victims. These are told in Dutch only, but even if you can not understand the spoken text, the blue (‘water’), gravel and concrete make you feel like the water can come at you anytime. Most other things in the museum have English translations.

After the disaster, it is time to repair and rebuild. The Delta Works, one of the most revolutionary hydraulic engineering projects in the world, was implemented to protect the area from further floods. It took until November before the sea was finally contained and people could once again live in the area. You can walk inside the ‘house of Ingrid’ to see how people in the Netherlands lived in the 1950s. It reminded me of the houses of my great grandparents.

As said before, the battle never ends for those living beneath sea level. In the fourth and last caisson, adults and kids can enjoy the (virtual reality) games and try to prevent future disasters. Some of them are a lot of fun (notwithstanding the seriousness of the subject). A movie shows you more about men’s struggle against water in all parts of the world.

Experience

I found the Watersnoodmuseum a very interesting museum to visit. History, present, and future is visualized. There is plenty to see in different formats. After exploring the first caisson, you think you’ve finished the museum, but there is plenty more to see after that. It is worth visiting!

The museum is housed in a former war shelter, right next to the sea. Because the objects are huge and all around you, for example, the blue multimedia room, the house of Ingrid, and full-size excavators, it becomes an interactive experience where you are part of the disaster and rebuilding. Never forget that you are walking below sea level when visiting this part of the Netherlands!

Visiting the Watersnoodmuseum

How to get there

The Watersnoodmuseum is less than an hour’s drive from Rotterdam. You can park right in front of the museum. If you’re traveling by public transport, you have to take the train to Zierikzee (takes about one hour) and rent a bike for the last part (25 minutes’ bicycle ride).

Location: Weg van de Buitenlandse Pers 5, 4305 RJ Ouwerkerk, Netherlands

Opening hours and tickets

The Watersnoodmuseum is open daily from 10:00 until 17:00.

Tickets are 10.50 EUR for adults or 6.50 EUR for kids between 5 and 12. Kids under 5 are free. Because of the corona measures you have to reserve a time slot in advance.

Nearby: Zierikzee

After visiting the Watersnoodsmuseum, you can explore the historic city center of Zierikzee, the nearest ‘big’ city. It is a great place to have lunch as well.

A photo impression of the beautiful buildings you can see here:

Nearby: Ouwerkerk

This is probably only fun for me and my namesakes, but if your surname happens to be Ouwerkerk, then you have to take a picture with the place-name sign. And if you have a different surname: take a picture anyway and tag me @wheretokim on Instagram!

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A big surprise in Schipluiden: Museum De Beeldenkas

Kim — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 14:00:00 +0000

This greenhouse, filled with mosaic sculptures and paintings, will speak to your imagination. Prepare to wonder, gaze, and admire, I can guarantee you won’t be bored.

You will feel like Alice in Wonderland, surrounded by sculptures bigger than you, colorful paintings wherever you look and explanations that will dazzle your mind.

Museum De Beeldenkas

In Schipluiden, a small city southwest of Delft (which is near The Hague) in the Netherlands, you can visit Museum de Beeldenkas. Now, if that is not an off-beat location, then I don’t know what is.

This sculpture (“The Traveler”) marks the road to take. On your way to the museum, you will walk in between grasslands, no tall buildings in sight, until you get to a farmhouse with a greenhouse attached to it. Upon entering, you will have to pay an entrance fee of 4 EUR in cash. The greenhouse is big enough that you can explore it on your own, keeping enough distance to other visitors (there were only four people inside when I went).

Also read: 3 cafes for the ultimate holiday feeling west of Rotterdam

Reality vs. expectation

If like me, you’re expecting a tiny museum with some works of art, then you’ll be in for a surprise. The whole greenhouse is filled with sculptures and paintings. The colors that greet you when you enter the greenhouse will work like endorphins and give you an instant happy feeling (unless you don’t like colorful things, in which case you will probably feel uneasy).

Each sculpture has a story to tell. This part will be hard for those of you who can’t read Dutch but believe me, they are expressive. Books and papers explain the meaning of each sculpture, with sculptures grouped by theme. There are the seducers (octopussy, thimble), the gods (of the fallen women, empty heads), and the forgotten veterans. You can see girls representing the Dutch culture, someone’s last kiss or last embrace, and the red army.

Many sculptures will make you laugh, either because they’re fun and surprise you, or perhaps because you’re slightly embarrassed by the guys with chastity tubes and women with large breasts or intriguing woman’s crotches. Even though some sculptures and paintings are sexual in nature, you will have to admit all of them are fantastical.

Behind the sculptures are colorful paintings of the Dutch painter Jacob Kanbier. You might want to do a second round (or a third) to only watch the paintings or watch the combination of the two.

About the artists

Willem Berkhout

The sculptures sprung from Willem’s rich fantasy world. You can see some influence from Gaudi’s work. The sculptures consist are made of mesh or steel pipe with concrete on the inside and outside. Because of this, they weigh from 150 to 1000 kilograms.

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

At Museum De Beeldenkas in Schipluiden, the Netherlands. This greenhouse, filled with mosaic sculptures and paintings, will speak to your imagination. #museum #museumdebeeldenkas #debeeldenkas #debeeldenkasschipluiden #art #kunst #tentoonstelling #artexhibition #artwork #sculptures #schipluiden #netherlands #nederland #travel #reizen #beeldendekunst #mozaiek #mosaic #mosaicart #paintings

Een bericht gedeeld door WheretoKim (@wheretokim) op 25 Aug 2020 om 9:19 (PDT)

Jacob Kanbier

The Dutch painter, Jacob Kanbier, takes his inspiration from Willem de Kooning and Jean-Michel Basquiat, which shows in his rough work. It is almost as if he creates an explosion with hands and paintbrush. He is the founder of the Neosymbolism art trend.

His work was featured in many national and international exhibitions and is increasingly popular among art collectors.

How to get to Museum De Beeldenkas

It is easiest to visit the museum by bike or car. If you have to rely on public transport, then you can take bus 33 from either Delft or Maassluis. From the bus stop, it is only a ten minutes’ walk to the museum. Nearby you can have a drink with apple pie at Bij de buurvrouw.

Location
Gaagweg 15, Schipluiden, the Netherlands

Opening hours
Monday – Friday: 08:00 – 18:00
Saturday – Sunday: 10:00 – 17:00

Tickets
4 EUR in cash

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3 cafes for the ultimate holiday feeling west of Rotterdam: outdoors and corona proof

Kim — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Three cafes with an excellent outdoor terrace for the ultimate holiday feeling. These are my 3 favorite (corona proof) spots west of Rotterdam, Netherlands.

They’re great in summer and even more so in a summer with corona. There are many cozy and trendy cafes in Rotterdam, but what you’re looking for right now is a table with lots of personal space. The three cafes and restaurants in this post are somewhat remote, of the beaten path so to say, but that makes them perfect for a situation like this.

1) Bij de buurvrouw @ Maasland

Bij de buurvrouw (“at the neighbor’s”) is the perfect stop for cyclists and hikers. It is located on the road between Maasland and Schipluiden, west of Rotterdam and south of Delft. From the outdoor terrace, you can see many cyclists while you enjoy a drink with a home-made tart or lunch.

For those of you who like tea: they serve all kinds of white, green, black, and herbal tea, both from loose leaves and tea bags. Their home-made tarts are delicious!

This is also a great area for a walk in nature. You don’t have to go far to leave the ‘big road’ behind and find yourself surrounded by farmland, streams, and beautiful houses. Nearby you can visit Museum De Beeldenkas, a greenhouse filled with mosaic sculptures and paintings.

As pictures say more than a thousand words, here are some more pictures.

Opening hours and location

Thursday – Sunday: 10:00 – 17:00 (May – September)
Thursday – Saturday: 10:00 – 17:00 (October – April)

Location: Oostgaag 18a, 3155 CG Maasland, Netherlands

2) Op Hodenpijl @ Schipluiden

An organic restaurant with a small shop selling organic food and drinks. There is a beautiful chapel adjacent to the restaurant where you can often visit exhibitions and music events.

But let’s focus on the outside. At the grass field behind the building, there are many tables with plenty of personal space for everyone. Here they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but you can also have a drink with something sweet or small bites. The tea selection is smaller than Bij de buurvrouw, but instead, you have a bigger selection of food.

When you visit Op Hodenpijl, you can also explore the greenhouses and vegetable gardens at the Buitenplaats on the other side of the road.

Check out my post about a past exhibition for some pictures of the chapel.

Opening hours and location

Tuesday – Sunday 10:00 – 22:00 (Sunday until 17:00)

Location: Rijksstraatweg 20/22, 2636 AX Schipluiden, Netherlands

Also read: Tea drinking culture in the Netherlands

3) Buitenplaats @ Vlaardingen

A pop-up terrace in the orchard of a farmhouse where you can have a drink with Liege waffles with strawberries. The Buitenplaats is ideal for a relaxing morning or afternoon, I mean, just look at the seats! A visit to this cafe feels like you’re camping in nature. During your visit, you can also explore the survival area (for kids or company team-building events) behind the terrace.

Nearby you can take a walk in the forest and around the lake called the ‘Krabbeplas’ in Vlaardingen. Perfect for a stroll before or after your visit to this cafe.

Opening hours and location

10:00 – 17:00 but only when the weather is good

Location: Zuidbuurt 85, 3132 KA Vlaardingen, Netherlands

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Electric cars and artworks at the Boijmans Ahoy drive-thru museum in Rotterdam

Kim — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 14:00:00 +0000

The Boijmans van Beuningen museum drive-thru for electric cars brings out your inner explorer. You can watch art from the safety of your electric car at Ahoy Rotterdam.

A private experience

Nowadays, visiting a museum is becoming a more private experience than ever before. With museums limiting the number of visitors per hour or giving out time-slots to comply with the corona measures, you no longer have to stick your head out to obtain an unobscured view of artworks. The museum drive-thru, a collaboration between Boijmans van Beuningen and Ahoy Rotterdam, takes this to the next level. This temporary exhibition is their answer to the 1.5-meter social-distancing rule in the Netherlands.

Electric car

For three weeks, starting 1 August 2020, you can see a special exhibition consisting of more than fifty artworks from the safety of your own car (very corona proof!). You and your party will experience a semi-private museum tour. Don’t worry if you don’t own an electric or hybrid car or have a driver’s license: you can either borrow an electric car at the location or watch the exhibition from a promenade.

The venue

Hall 1 of the Ahoy Rotterdam has been turned into one big museum. Visitors drive by the artworks on display at a walking pace. Art is all around you, at eye level and also high above. The hall itself is dark, with the headlights of the cars illuminating the area. It feels like you’re exploring unknown territory, with beautiful objects wherever you look. If you want to take a longer look at one of the artworks, you can temporarily park wherever you like.

As Museum Boijmans van Beuningen will be closed for many more years because of a major renovation, the museum is showing its collection at other locations in the area. This one is a keeper!

The art

Inside the museum, you can see a mix of paintings, sculptures, videos, and installations. The exhibition contains both world-famous works from the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and installations by contemporary artists. These works highlight the unpredictable and fickle nature of human existence. When inside, you can read more about the artworks by looking at the floorplan online.

Trees are very prominent in many of the works on display. You, the visitor, are part of the exhibition as you drive through the ‘forest’ of art, watching both the artworks and the other visitors that drive around in their own cars. The biggest work of art is perhaps the swarm of electric cars driving around like a crib mobile.

My experience

This is the first time I visited a museum drive-thru and I really liked it. While the pieces on display didn’t interest me overly much – I guess I like different art – I enjoyed exploring the hall. Often I simply parked my car somewhere to watch other people drive around and watch art. It’s fascinating.

When you enter the hall through the dark tunnel with arrows, you get the feeling you’re in an amusement park. For a second I felt disoriented when I suddenly saw a work of art and then the brake lights of the car in front of me, blocking me halfway my turn in the dark. But then you enter the big hallway and take your first look at this whole new world that is yours to explore.

At first, I followed the cars in front of me, driving at a walking pace along the wall on the right. This is like being in a traffic jam: something you need to escape quickly. You can always come back to this spot later. Soon after I took the ‘left lane’ and just drove to the artworks that caught my eye, sometimes parking right in front of an object so I could watch the work of art through my windscreen and at other times favoring the right or left window to optimize the view for either my passenger or myself. This was also when I started watching the videos as if I was at a drive-in cinema.

The fact that you’re able to choose your own path gives such a feeling of freedom. While there are many other cars – not too many, the number of cars is just right – they don’t hinder your experience because there are many nooks inside the venue. Sometimes you have to wait a little bit when another car is blocking your view, but when that car moves you get to experience the artwork in private.

I also like the environmentally-friendly concept of allowing electric cars only (I happen to have one so I brought my own!). With the unease the coronavirus causes in many people, this feels like a very safe way to still go out and watch art. If you’re in the Netherlands, I can recommend a visit!

Practical information

When

1 August 2020 – 23 August 2020

The drive-thru is open daily from 10:00 until 21:00. You can reserve a 30-minute time slot online.

Tickets

You can buy tickets on the website of Boijmans van Beuningen.

For the drive-thru

Adults: 14.50 EUR (with Rotterdampas: 7 EUR)

Children (3-12): 7.25 EUR (with Rotterdampas: 2 EUR)

There are two options for the drive-thru: with your own electric or hybrid car or with a borrowed BMW Mini Cooper.

Promenade

If you only want to watch from the promenade, without driving through the hall, you can buy a promenade ticket for 7.50 EUR. From the promenade, you can watch the cars and artworks from the side. You also have access to the food truck and the test area for electric cars.

I wouldn’t advise watching from the promenade, as the exhibition is all about the drive-thru.

Location

Ahoy Rotterdam: Ahoyweg 10, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

By car

You can park your car for free at P1 at the venue. You can exchange your parking ticket for a pre-paid one at the white tent near the food truck. This is also where you can get your BMW Mini Cooper.

If you want to explore the exhibition with your own car, you also have to go to the white tent to sign a liability waiver. When it is time to enter the exhibition, you pick up your car at the P1 parking lot and drive towards the entrance of the hall.

By public transport

Take subway line D or E from Rotterdam Centraal to the Zuidplein stop. From there, it is a six minutes’ walk to the entrance of the Ahoy Rotterdam.

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Tea drinking culture in the Netherlands

Kim — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Everyone who has ever visited the Netherlands will recognize this sight: people in cafes and restaurants ordering hot water with ‘plants’.

So what do you do when you can’t grow your own tea plant (Camellia sinensis): you create your own type of tea and make sure it becomes popular enough to represent your country.

‘Fresh’ herbal tea

One of the most popular tea drinks in the Netherlands is ‘mint tea’ (munt thee), meaning hot water with fresh leaves from a mint plant (served with honey). Upon receiving your drink you have to wait a few minutes before drinking for the minty taste. Whereas this drink started as a special off-menu order – every cafe and restaurant had it, but it wasn’t on the menu – this tea has now established itself as a regular on the menu.

It doesn’t stop here: ginger tea has joined the mint tea and is slowly establishing itself on the menu as well. The new off-menu order is: Ginger-Mint tea. If the cafe or restaurant has both, they are perfectly willing to combine them for you. Another popular variety: ginger with a slice of orange.

If you find yourself in a cafe more specialized in tea, they will have created their own varieties, like a cardamom, orange, turmeric and cinnamon infusion. In Rotterdam, you can try The Tea Lab!

Dried herbs, flowers and spices

Also popular among a niche part of the population (not for sale in cafes and restaurants) is tea of dried herbs, flowers, or spices. Bring out your inner witch (just joking) or herbalist and mix the herbs to optimally suit your mood or health. For example, I drink fennel or ginger tea when my stomach is upset, chamomile to feel at peace or a mix of horehound, marshmallow, thyme, and some other herbs when I feel a cold coming up. Who knows, one day I might follow an official course and become a real herbalist (instead of a semi-knowledgeable hobbyist).

Regular tea

As the Netherlands is a country that doesn’t grow the ‘real’ tea plants, there is nothing like ‘Tea from Holland’. So all green tea, black tea, and white tea is imported. That doesn’t mean these types of tea aren’t popular – on the contrary – but rather that you can’t visit the tea plantation and enjoy the taste of tea grown on Dutch soil.

Update: This has recently changed. I read in a newspaper article that someone has started growing Dutch tea (the real thing) in greenhouses. Check out localtea.com (Dutch version only) for more information on this Dutch tea.

Buying tea in the Netherlands

Teabags are sold in many varieties, from many different brands, for example, Pickwick, Lipton, and Clipper. Many of those are available in other countries as well. There are mixes of dried flowers (like chamomile) or spices (like fennel) without any tea leaves. You can also buy loose tea leaves from stores like Simon Lévelt and some supermarkets. You’ll find them in most big cities. If you are looking for more variety (say Oolong and Pu Erh) then you have to shop online.

Dutch tea

So what’s typical Dutch tea? The answer to that question would be ‘Mint tea’. You can easily create your own wherever you are. Just buy the herbs (or grow your own plant) and add some hot water. You can add honey for a sweeter taste.

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Colorful art and stained glass windows: our feelings captured in the paintings of Daphne van der Meij

Kim — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Colorful art, stained glass windows, and the splendor of a chapel: the paintings of Dutch artist Daphne van der Meij capture our feelings.

Exhibition Daphne van der Meij

At the chapel of Op Hodenpijl in Schipluiden, the Netherlands, you can visit the exhibition of Daphne van der Meij in June 2020. The exhibition consists of many colorful paintings that each bring out a different feeling. In the paintings, you can see faces and human bodies, some more abstract than others. Stills of kissing people, a naked woman, surprised or flustered people. What I see might be very different from what you see.

The brick background helps bring out the colors of the paintings even more. Just like the feelings are captured in the paintings, the paintings are trapped in the alcoves of the chapel. If you take a step back to look at the paintings from a distance, you can also take in the stained glass windows above the paintings. In a way the colors of the stained glass neutralize the colors of the paintings, making them less bright/loud and helping the paintings to blend in. The people in the paintings become visitors of the church, each with their own feelings and characters. It isn’t hard to imagine a gathering where some visitors feel like the people in the paintings.

If you go up the stairs to the tower you can find two other paintings, this time against a white background. The black outline of one of them sets the painting apart from the chapel, making the expression even stronger because of the color contrast. The location of this one was very well chosen; the expression wouldn’t have been as strong in front of a brick wall.

Experience

I liked this exhibition very much because of the contrast that was created, sometimes setting the painting apart from its surroundings and at other times helping it to blend in. The paintings are very human, despite the fact that the colors can be perceived as loud (as feelings often are). They’re us, at different times of our lives.

Visit the exhibition

The exhibition is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 until 20.30 in June 2020. You can only enter the church via the main entrance (the restaurant entrance is closed).

Location: Rijksstraatweg 20/22, 2636 AX Schipluiden, Netherlands

If you can’t visit the exhibition in person, you can watch a 360 degrees impression on Google Maps.

About the artist

Daphne van der Meij is an autonomous artist and feels at home in the world of expression. As a child, she was always busy making things. If not elaborate sand castles on the beach, then drawings, clay figures, or paintings.

The paintings she creates are a translation of her intuition, feeling, memory, or story. In her creative career, she has created many things. From stage design to visual education, but also interior styling. When she gets the image, she makes it… she works intuitively. Some paintings could bring you in touch with a deeper feeling within yourself so that a process can be started. The look and feel of her paintings vary greatly. One looks very cheerful, the other very beautiful and deep and yet another feels loud. In her paintings, Daphne uses many colors. She often puts these on with the painting knife, which gives the canvas a lot of structure. The dark outline of the abstracted figure is a characteristic of her. Her style can also be described as abstracted figurative art.

(source artist bio: website Op Hodenpijl)

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