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Eindhoven restaurant opens for indoor dining despite corona measures

Emily Burger
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Eindhoven restaurant opens for indoor dining despite corona measures

BBQ restaurant De Kiet in Eindhoven was open for business this weekend despite lockdown measures. Customers were invited to sit inside, and a sign outside the door read; “No face mask? No problem. Live a little.”

The restaurant received a final warning from the municipality, reports RTL Nieuws. Should they break corona measures again, the government will close their doors indefinitely.

Left in the cold by The Hague

In a video posted on Facebook, the owners expressed their frustrations with the extended corona measures, stating they have been “left in the cold by The Hague” for months. “F*ck it,” they say, “we are open from now on.”

They go on to highlight the pain that corona measures caused businesses and workers in 2020, how many are going bankrupt and had to fire workers. “We can’t wait a day longer for ‘hopeful’ news from The Hague. We have already seen that they are not going to help us. Are you an entrepreneur and do you feel powerless? Get up and stand up for your staff and your business,” they say.

The video received a lot of positive responses, as people called the owners “brave” and “heroes.”

Government intervention

According to Omroep Brabant, several people were eating inside the restaurant on Sunday night with no masks on. Around 10 PM, shortly after the regional paper published their story on the restaurant, police cars drove past but no action was taken.

The owners then sent customers outside and returned to offering take-away meals only. Later in the evening, the restaurant received a final warning. The mayor of Eindhoven has the power to close any restaurant permanently who are not following corona guidelines. This will be the case for De Kiet if they are found breaking the rules again.

What do you make of this restaurant’s behaviour? Tell us in the comments below.

Feature Image: Sandra Seitamaa/Unsplash

Dutch lockdown extended by three weeks, more support for businesses

Brin Andrews
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Dutch lockdown extended by three weeks, more support for businesses

The lockdown in the Netherlands will be extended by three weeks, sources from The Hague tell the NOS. The current lockdown was previously due to be lifted on January 18 for schools, and January 20 for shops. It will now last at least through February 8 and 10, respectively.

Members of the cabinet met with their advisors on Sunday afternoon to discuss coronavirus measures. Some experts have called for an extension of the lockdown, and that advice appears to have been taken.

It had been leaked earlier in the week that an extension of the current lockdown was likely, so this information does not come as a surprise. The rate of infection in the Netherlands has not shown signs of slowing, and the RIVM said that “convincing effects” of the lockdown had yet to be seen.

Support expanded

An expansion of the support package is also anticipated to assist companies that are impacted by the lockdown. The aid is intended to prevent the collapse of many companies.

In the coming days, the ministers will continue to hold meetings to flush out the details. A decision will be announced at a Tuesday evening press conference.

What do you think of this extension of the lockdown in the Netherlands? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Feature Image: Gustavo Fring/Pexels

Manic for tulips? Man creates arcade game out of Delft tiles

Vlad Moca-Grama
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0
Manic for tulips? Man creates arcade game out of Delft tiles

Many people confess their love for the Netherlands, yet one man took it one step further.

A man recently posted in r/thenetherlands an awesome invention. Despite not knowing any Dutch, that did not stop these people from making a work of art/game using none other than Delft blauw tiles.

What are Delft tiles?

If you’ve been to the Netherlands, you’ve certainly seen Delft tiles, which are part of Delftware, or Delft pottery. Known by their blue and white colouring, Delft pottery is a quintessentially Dutch cultural artefact. It was developed during the Dutch Golden Age, inspired by Chinese porcelain brought to the Netherlands by the VOC (Dutch East India Company) and developed in Delft.

Tulip Mania

I am sorry I do not speak Dutch – but I did make this fully functional arcade game out of custom made Delft tiles. It is called Tulip Mania. I was told to post here! I want to go to the Netherlands very much! from thenetherlands

The fully functional game is called “Tulip Mania”. It is made out of 114 faux Delft tiles, with not one being the same as the other.

How to play

It’s a mechanical arcade game, so yes, it has a little ball that you must successfully throw in a hole in order to increase your score.

The maker of the game has said that it is hard to master game due to the tiles, and players have to be strategic about how they throw the ball, using bounce and spin techniques.

The main character on the tiles is called “Titus the Tulip”, and you follow him along on his Delft adventure. In the true spirit of the Dutch Golden Age, the purpose of the game is to steal the spice trade drive the market price of tulips as high as possible.

This is the third arcade game made by the author, and in his own words, it just may be his favourite. You can find more of his work on his Instagram account.

What other Dutch-inspired arcade games would you design? Let us know in the comments.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally written in January 2020 and was fully updated in January 2021 for your reading pleasure.
Feature Image: Allison Meier /Flickr

Could this be the end of drug tourism in Amsterdam? Weed sales to foreigners potentially banned

Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
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3
Could this be the end of drug tourism in Amsterdam? Weed sales to foreigners potentially banned

The end of a lads trip to Amsterdam could be nigh: Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema wants to end drug tourism in Amsterdam. 

If her plan is successful, coffeeshops will only be allowed to sell weed, hash, brownies, and other goods to residents of the Netherlands.

“I expect, an important reason for [tourists] to book a budget flight for two days in Amsterdam will disappear,” Halsema told De Volkskrant.

At the same time, she wants to protect coffeeshop owners against organised crime.

Residents only

Halsema has her target set on 166 coffeeshops that attract unwanted visitors to the city centre. By banning sales to foreigners she hopes the number of coffeeshops will drop. This, in turn, will reduce nuisance, and make the soft drug market more transparent and controllable for police.

If tourists are no longer allowed to purchase soft drugs in coffeeshops, Amsterdam will only need approximately 68 coffeeshops. “A huge difference!” says Halsema.

A national law in 2012 made it possible for tourists to be banned from coffeeshops if municipalities chose to enforce it. However, only several municipalities have implemented the rule so far. Amsterdam was not one of them.

What measures is Halsema proposing?

There are three measures in Halsema’s new plan.

  1. The introduction of an “i-criterion” that would restrict coffeeshop sales to residents.
  2. Limit the number of coffeeshops allowed to be part of a chain to prevent major companies from emerging.
  3. Increase the amount of stock a coffeeshop is allowed to have on hand from the current maximum of 500 grams to regulate the back door of coffeeshops.

To enforce the restrictions, authorities will be able to check coffeeshops to ensure they’re only serving residents of the Netherlands. “We assume that a certain type of tourist will no longer choose Amsterdam. Our goal is to shrink the market,” says Halsema.

When will the ban take effect?

There’s no quick fix for the issue — Halsema believes the earliest timeline could be next year. “These are major changes about which there are many opinions in Amsterdam,” says Halsema.

“You must also offer coffeeshop owners a reasonable transition period and we want to introduce another quality mark for entrepreneurs who are acting in good faith. All those things take time.”

What do you think about Amsterdam’s proposed ban to coffeeshop customers? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image: Add Weed/Unpslash

An ecstasy shop in a major Dutch city? This political party wants to roll it out

Emily Burger
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An ecstasy shop in a major Dutch city? This political party wants to roll it out

In case any of you were beginning to wonder how liberal the Netherlands really is, this thrilling story will surely restore your faith. Dutch political party D66 is pushing for an ecstasy store to open in Utrecht and nine other locations for a “better drug approach”.

No, you are not hallucinating and yes, you read that correctly. A store where ecstasy can be sold to the public is one of the party’s ten propositions for improving the control of drugs in the Netherlands, reports DUIC.

D66 councilor, Has Bakker, insists that the current approach to drugs is not working. “There has been a war on drugs for decades, with adverse effects,” he says. “More repression is not going to make the difference. It’s time to do things differently. All the small improvements in drug policy in recent years came from experiments and from pushing the boundaries of the law.”

The ecstasy store and other changes

The store in Utrecht would function as a local experiment, something like a cross between a pharmacy and a liquor store, but for the sale of ecstasy. “Controlled products are sold in limited quantities of use, you get good information and you cannot get in under the age of 18,” Bakker explained.

The party also hope to create facilities where you can test your drugs, including at festivals. They are pushing for the home cultivation of medicinal weed to be legalised, and for drive-through coffeeshops to be opened in the Utrecht area as well.

Reducing crime

The party believe that implementing their proposals would disrupt the drug criminals’ earnings model, and in doing so reduce crime. “Take the wind of the sails of drug criminals and tackle their business model,” says Councilor Maarten Koning. “Start with regulating the least harmful drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy.”

Discussion and awareness

Members of D66 believe drug policy is simply not being discussed enough by the city council. “We want to stimulate the debate with this manifesto,” says Bakker. “The theme is far too important not to discuss. That is why one of our proposals is to set up a citizen forum, where residents, assisted by experts, will work out proposals for improvement.”

They believe that prevention through educating the public with good information is critical. “Sometimes young people come into contact with drugs, but we must not stigmatize and criminalize them,” says Koning. “We must invest in customization, and ensure good and accessible assistance. Really start a conversation with these young people, for example about the use of laughing gas.”

What do you think of D66’s approach to drug policies? Are they high as a kite or onto something? Tell us in the comments below.

Image: rawpixel/Pixabay

Amsterdammers told to “stop separating plastic” by City

Brin Andrews
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Amsterdammers told to “stop separating plastic” by City

The City of Amsterdam is taking a new approach to recycling plastic. Within the year, they will stop all separation by hand, moving to a new system that asks residents to simply toss it in with the rest of their household waste. 

For the past several years, Amsterdammers have been separating their plastic waste and disposing of it in a separate bin. But that hasn’t been working out so well.

Oftentimes, waste piles up next to recycling bins, particularly in busier parts of the city.

Residents don’t always do a great job of separating waste properly either, tossing in items such as chip bags, plastic toys, and coffee cups that are not fit for recycling. As a result of this, entire loads containing usable plastic have been rejected.

The municipality states that their own waste separation machine will separate the plastics better than residents do. They’re confident in its ability to remove only the plastics that can be used for new products from the residual waste.

Just a typical Amsterdam pile of plastic recycling overflow. Image: DutchReview/Supplied

What to expect

The city is rolling out the plan neighbourhood by neighbourhood, with some having already kicked off from January 1.

The changes are starting in the city centre and working outward from there. Completion is anticipated by the beginning of 2022.

Letters are being mailed to residents about when changes will take place in their neighbourhood. If you live in Amsterdam and haven’t received this notice yet, you can expect one when it’s your neighbourhood’s turn.

In the meantime, as long as there is an orange container in your area, you can recycle your plastics as usual. Although, the notice does mention, “The plastic that you put in the orange container goes to the separation plant, just like the residual waste.”

No changes to glass, paper, textiles

The municipality emphasises that glass, paper/cardboard, and textiles should still be separated by residents.

New glass jars and bottles, and fresh paper and cardboard can be made from these waste materials. Used clothing and blankets can be donated and used again, or upcycled into new items.

The City plans to add additional containers to help properly dispose of these non-plastic recyclables. The big orange containers on the streets will be disappearing.

Initial reactions

So far, Amsterdam residents have a number of questions a good dose of scepticism regarding the new changes.

One resident asks, “To what extent can you publish a number of videos with which you can/try to convince people like me that the machine works better than the orange containers?”

Other comments include concern over whether waste charges will reflect the increase in residual waste, and why plastics should continue to be separated during the transition period when they will ultimately end up with the residual waste.

What do you think of Amsterdam’s new plan for plastic recycling? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image: Anna Shvets/Pexels

More than one-million coronavirus vaccines will come to the Netherlands later than planned

Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
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0
More than one-million coronavirus vaccines will come to the Netherlands later than planned

Dutch Minister of Health Hugo De Jonge may have been overly optimistic when he announced the Netherlands’ vaccination plan earlier this week. At least one million doses are likely to come later than planned. 

The plan was unveiled on Monday with a goal of getting the Netherlands vaccinated against coronavirus before October 1. However, wrinkles are already appearing in the process.

De Jonge expected 8 million vaccines before the end of March. Now, a NOS investigation has revealed at least 1.1 million doses will come later than the Dutch government thinks.

Two doses of the vaccine are required per person, so the effect will result in 550,000 people vaccinated later than planned.

Of the four vaccines planned to come to the Netherlands, the timelines of three have already been affected.

Some vaccines are not approved yet

De Jonge accounted for 600,000 doses of the German Curevac vaccine in the first quarter.

However, Curevac cannot be approved by the European medicines authority EMA until April. The government knew this before revealing the vaccination plan. If the vaccine is approved in April, it’s still unknown how quickly delivery will begin.

Some deliveries delayed

The Netherlands was also expecting a delivery of 500,000 Pfizer vaccines by March via the European Commission.

But Pfizer contradicts this delivery date. Instead, the company estimates it will be able to deliver by April at the earliest. A European Commission spokesman says it could be as late as July.

READ MORE | Coronavirus update: “convincing effects” of Dutch lockdown yet to be seen, says RIVM

The French vaccine, Sanofi, will also deliver later than De Jonge’s plan. A delivery of 5.85 million doses was expected between July and September — but the company told NOS that these will arrive in October at the earliest.

This is unsurprising — the company producing Sanofi already announced in mid-December that initial results of vaccine testing were poor, causing a delay in development.

What is the vaccination schedule?

You can view a summary of the officially-released Dutch vaccination schedule as it was released Monday, January 4 below.

Who When
Nursing home and disability care staff January 6 — May 1
Nursing home residents and intellectual-disability residents in an institution January 6 — mid-February
ICU, clinic, ambulance, emergency care workers January 6 — mid-February
GGZ long-term institution patients and care workers February/March — June 1
People aged 60–75 Mid-March — October 1
People living at home older than 75 years and non-mobile people living at home aged 60-75 March — October 1
People aged 18-60 with a pre-existing medical condition end of February — October 1
All other healthcare workers April — August 1
People aged 18-60 years April/May — October 1

Are you concerned about the vaccine timeline? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Feature US DoD/Lisa Ferdinando/Flickr/CC2.0

An extra two weeks of lockdown in the Netherlands after January 19 is likely

Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
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2
An extra two weeks of lockdown in the Netherlands after January 19 is likely

We sure hope you’ve been enjoying sitting on the couch in your underwear because the Dutch lockdown isn’t going anywhere. 

The current lockdown began on December 14 and is set in stone until January 19. However, sources in the Hague have told the NOS that an extension on the current period is very likely.

The cabinet believes that the number of infections remains too high and relaxing the current restrictions would send the wrong message.

Lockdown extension may be necessary

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said yesterday that he is not “very hopeful” about reopening businesses and schools after January 19.

He called the reopening of schools a “priority” but couldn’t promise that it would happen soon.

The RIVM has also agreed, saying that “the convincing effects of the lockdown” have not been seen yet.

However, an official extension hasn’t been announced yet. The Dutch cabinet is awaiting advice from the Outbreak Management Team before coming to a decision.

Numbers refuse to drop significantly

In Tuesday’s weekly figures, over 56,000 people tested positive for the virus. The Dutch cabinet is reportedly struggling with how to approach the huge number of infections in the Netherlands. Ministers are concerned that far too few people are working from home.

Nevertheless, sources in the Hague told the NOS that the introduction of a curfew is not likely at this stage.

Sit tight, stay inside, and tell Netflix “I’m still watching” — it’s going to be a long ride.

Do you think an extension of the Dutch lockdown is necessary? What other measures do you think should be taken? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image: Anna Shvets/Pexels

Trip down memory lane: The Hague in 1937 (video inside!)

Vlad Moca-Grama
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0
Trip down memory lane: The Hague in 1937 (video inside!)

We’ve recently come across a video that we think you’d really enjoy, for all of you history geeks out there.

It’s video footage of The Hague in 1937, a whole lifetime and world ago.

What’s interesting about the video is the path the car drives through. It starts going towards Noordeinde, passing where Panorama Mesdag is nowadays. It continues down on Noordeinde, passing the Royal Palace and reaching all the way to the other end of the street, where nowadays The Sting shopping centre is.

What’s even more interesting is the footage from the middle to the end of the video. It contains footage of areas of The Hague that now look radically different. It passes by a canal that nowadays is where Zwarteweg and Uilebomen intersect. The next area that looks radically different is the last long stretch in the video, which starts from around Schilderswijk and goes towards HS train station on Hoekade. Most of the district was demolished in the 70s in a (bad) attempt at modernizing the area.

Another fun detail in the video is that the driver almost runs over pedestrians or almost crashes into another car once or twice per minute or so. It seems that Dutchies back then didn’t care to look twice when crossing the street (which makes sense, given the low traffic).

What other details did you enjoy from the video? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Feature Image: janwillemsen/Flickr/CC2.0
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in August 2020, and was fully updated in January 2021 for your reading pleasure.

Rutte calls on Trump to concede to Biden after violence in Washington

Emily Burger
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0
Rutte calls on Trump to concede to Biden after violence in Washington

After a demonstration by Trump supporters in Washington DC turned into a violent storming of the Capitol yesterday, Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte is calling on US president, Donald Trump to concede to President Elect, Joe Biden.

Rutte has previously refrained from commenting on Trump’s refusal to recognize Biden as the next president, calling it an internal US affair. However, after images of armed Trump supporters breaking into the corridors of the US Congress broke out, Rutte could not hide his disgust, reports NOS.

In a tweet written in English, Rutte addresses Trump directly:

The storming of the Capitol

This is the first time the Capitol has been attacked since the War of 1812, when the British destroyed the building. Yesterday’s images of protestors smashing windows and storming into offices shocked people around the world. In total, four people were killed and 52 people were arrested, reports RTL Nieuws.

The protestors had been called to demonstrate by President Trump himself as Congress was meeting to determine the results of the presidential election. “We’re going to walk to the Capitol,” said Trump. “We cannot take back our country with weakness.”

Global shock

Rutte is not the only politician who expressed concerns over yesterday’s scenes. British prime minister, Boris Johnson commented, “The United States represents democracy around the world. It is now crucial that there is a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”

A Russian UN diplomat compared the violence to the protest that ended the pro-Russian government in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg is also asking the president to concede and respect the democratic election results. Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau says, “we are of course concerned and are monitoring the situation minute by minute.”

Trump to blame

US politicians, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, are blaming Trump for the uprising, who has been calling the election fraudulent for months. “This assault at the Capitol, sparked by a sitting president who continues to lie about the results of a legitimate election, will rightly be remembered as a moment of shame for our country,” President Obama wrote in a statement.

What are your thoughts on these unprecedented events? Tell us in the comments below.

Feature Image: DutchReview/Supplied

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