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Nearly No Trains are Running to The Hague this Thursday till Monday

Freya Sawbridge
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Nearly No Trains are Running to The Hague this Thursday till Monday

Are you planning on going against the grain and visiting Scheveningen during the rain this weekend?  Well, you’ll have to put your plans on hold or make alternative arrangements because maintenance is being carried at the railroad tracks around  The Hague and almost no trains are running around there. 

Disruptions near The Hague

From Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 August there will be track maintenance in between The Hague Central Station and The Hague HS which means no trains will be running between those stations.

Basically nothing will run near The Hague HS, so if you’re planning a trip to Amsterdam from Delft or Rotterdam than this will fudge up your situation too.

But fear not, the bus timetable has been adjusted to accommodate travellers.

Google maps pretty much tells you everything these days but you’ll have to travel via Rotterdam or Utrecht if you’re from the south and are heading north. We know it’s hard to figure out, we’re struggling too, even when you can understand Dutch it’s near impossible to say what the fudge is exactly going on.

To travel to the Hague you will need to take the bus to the Hague HS and then catch the bus for the rest of the journey. Weirdly, there are still some trains running to The Hague CS every now and then, a sprinter here and there, at least from Leiden. So it also seems you’re still able to reach Schiphol from The Hague CS by train (but definitely not from HS).

Anyways, take some more time then usual. Changing routes means delays of 15-45 minutes could be added onto your journey but make sure you check the NS site to see all route changes.

If you would like to know more about rail track renovation projects being carried out by ProRail then go to ProRail’s website. 

Happy travelling people!

Amsterdam Mayor Writes Letter Explaining Son’s Arrest and Addresses Accusations of a “Cover-Up”

Freya Sawbridge
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Amsterdam Mayor Writes Letter Explaining Son’s Arrest and Addresses Accusations of a “Cover-Up”

The son of Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema was arrested last month after being caught breaking and entering a houseboat. Halsema has written an open letter to give her side of the story and criticizes the Telegraaf for running a story on the incident that wrongly convicts her underaged son. 

Armed intruder or a silly mistake? What’s going on here in Amsterdam?

The Crime

The Telegraaf wrote that Halsema’s 15-year-son and his friend broke into a houseboat in mid-July during a burglary. They were chased and caught by police and found to be carrying two (fake) knives, an alarm pistol was also found along their escape route. The investigation is still ongoing.

Halsema Defends Son

In a public letter released today, Halsema lambasts The Telegraaf for wrongly accusing her son of a crime he did not commit. She writes in her letter that he was only “messing around with his friends in an abandoned houseboat” and not in fact, attempting a heist. She urges people to see that it was not the pre-meditated and nasty crime the Telegraaf paints it as.

She agrees point blank that he did in fact break the law, by carrying fake weapons, and writes “for that he will have to bear the consequences”.

Source: originally posted to Flickr as Twitter party Femke Halsema

Halsema and her son: a cover up?

Some people fear that the controlled arrest which is causing frustration in the police community coupled with her publishing this letter is a cover up of the real crime. Halsema disagrees and says she only wants him to be treated like any other Amsterdam boy.

Media attention over a crime when it involves someone famous disrupts fair judicial process. Halsema iterates this when she says “In other cases of a fifteen-year-old boy, his information would never have been made public. My son, everyone after today, knows what he did – friends, teachers, and family – before a court judgment was passed”, NL times reports. 

The police gave him name suppression initially but that is the normal route to protect minors. In order to prevent favouritism, the case was transferred to the Public Prosecution Service in Haarlem.

Halsema concludes her letter by reiterating her son is an ordinary Amsterdam kid who must suffer the repercussions of his mistake but certainly does not  “deserve any public punishment just because he’s my son.”

Twitter Reconnects Woman With Man Who Gifted Her a Bike When She Was a Refugee Child

Freya Sawbridge
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Twitter Reconnects Woman With Man Who Gifted Her a Bike When She Was a Refugee Child

Mevan Babbakar, a 29-year-old woman living in London, pleaded with followers on the internet to help her find the man who gifted her a bike when she was a five-year-old refugee. She lived in a refugee camp near Zwolle in the Netherlands for five years during the 1990s. 

Mevan and her family fled Iraq during the gulf war and ended up in a refugee camp in the Netherlands before settling in London.

The message spread quickly and had over 3000 retweets within a day. A local newspaper from the Zwolle municipality also picked up the story which helped spread the news

The willingness of strangers to help sure does reinstate hope in humanity.

Mevan told the BBC “There was so much hardship at that point in our lives and this was such a generous act, it taught me kindness can exist everywhere, no matter how terrible it may seem.”

They were reunited!

“This gives me hope”

She will meet him in person later today and in the meantime is still spreading inspiring messages on Twitter.

Featured image source: Skitterphoto on Pixabay

VIDEO INSIDE: Hungarian Police Find Further €300,000 of Drugs in Dutch Athletes Car

Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
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VIDEO INSIDE: Hungarian Police Find Further €300,000 of Drugs in Dutch Athletes Car

An additional 17 kilos of drugs have been found in a Dutch athletes car at the Sziget music festival in Hungary. Last week, police discovered huge amounts of ecstasy and marijuana being sold from a tent site leading to the arrest of two Dutch men.

Hungarian police have now released footage of the mammoth drug bust, said to be the largest in the history of the festival.

Two Dutch males are in jail and have been refused bail after being accused of selling mass quantities of drugs to the festivals 100,000 ticket-holders. Judging by the footage it was going to be one hell of a party.

Who are the alleged dealers?

One of the males is reportedly Dutch rising star sprinter, 21-year-old Roelf B, who represented the Netherlands at the European Championships Under 23 last month.

But, he won’t be able to run away from this mess, as he and his 22-year-old business partner will now be facing the possibility of life in prison if Hungary brings charges of drug-trafficking against the pair. If the charge is downgraded to drug-dealing they’ll be staring down a maximum sentence of 8 years. That’s a loooong festival.

See the accused Dutchies be forced to watch as a Hungarian drug dog searches a van with NL licence plates:

The men allegedly brought 20,000 doses of drugs to the festival, with an estimated worth of around €300,000.

What happens in the video?

A dog searches through a van. Police officers open packages and bags, moving hundreds of pre-rolled joints and tiny zip-lock baggies into evidence containers. A bag with a ‘Team NL’ logo is brimming with pills.

Thousands of price lists are also stacked inside the car, advertising ecstasy pills for €15, a gram of weed for €25, and a pre-rolled joint for €15.

What’s your opinion on taking drugs at festivals? Let us know in the comments below!

Featured Image: Hungarian Police. Screenshot of video. 

Lowlands Festival Set to Become Wetlands Festival

Freya Sawbridge
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Lowlands Festival Set to Become Wetlands Festival

Lowlands is this weekend and has an outstanding line up – Parcels, Jungle, Loyle Carner, Tame Impala and ASAP Rocky (conviction pending) just to name a few. But fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) ticket prices have crashed due do the bad weather forecast. Hundreds of previously eager festival frothers are now flogging their tickets for under half the original value. 

The festival begins this Thursday in Biddinghuizen, a village in the municipality of Dronten. The 60,000 tickets for the festival sold out in March of this year for 210 euros. Now there are over 600 tickets being flogged for as little as 118 euros on re-sale sites such as TicketSwap.

One festival goer, 27-year-old Maud bought two tickets for 275 euros each a few weeks ago. “It was really worth it to me. My joy was enormous when I managed to get tickets after two weeks of searching” she tells RTL.  She is hugely disappointed that the prices for the tickets have now crashed. Well, at least it’s not Fyre Festival, Maud!

Source: Ostrovsky on Pixabay

Other festivals are on this weekend, such as Decibel Outdoor, NOS reports. However with 55,000 admission tickets only 320 are on re-sale for that festival.  Does that speak volumes about the crowd being ‘tougher’ than lowland-goers?

If you are headed to Lowlands festival, I suggest you get on with it and adopt these practical measures:

Are you going to Lowlands this year? Have you been before? Would the rain put you off? 

Feature Image: Source: Ostrovsky on Pixabay

Sick of NS Delays? A New Train of Thought has Arrived at the Station

Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
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Sick of NS Delays? A New Train of Thought has Arrived at the Station

Sick of being on a train to the nowhere? Hearing a garbled announcement come over the loudspeaker and being expected to wait patiently for god knows how long? Drumming your fingers on the seat next to you praying for the train to slowly creak away? 

NS has been plagued by recent delays in the Randstad and during the spring in Leiden. Now, the passenger organisation Rover is calling for things to change. And boy, we couldn’t be more on board!

Now look, we dutifully accept that train delays are just an unfortunate part of life. However, Rover told De Telegraaf far more can be done with how NS and ProRail handles the issues. According to the organisation, passengers are left ‘miserable’ when delays occur and communication is poor.

A New Train of Thought

Rover has offered advice to NS suggesting that if delays were managed better they wouldn’t be as much of a problem for passengers. When maintenance must be done Rover suggests allowing longer trains to run during work and to reward people if they avoid rush hour (sleep-ins? Yes please!). But more importantly, they say passengers must be kept well-informed of any delays.

Rover Director Freek Bos says NS has a responsibility to update the Journey Planner in advance of the adjusted timetable for the entire duration of the work. “The worst thing is when travellers are surprised by train failures and delays,” he explained. “Carriers must use all means of communication so that everyone can prepare. Customisation is needed for mega jobs.”

Payday for a Train Delay

In cases where travellers are severely disadvantaged, such as with the upcoming works at Leiden, Bos says financial compensation should be given to passengers. NS, surprisingly, agrees:

“We agree with Rover. But if the government and ProRail choose to work more often during the day due to personnel problems and cost savings, then they must also provide financial compensation for travellers, “says a spokesperson.

Bos says the upcoming work at Leiden is a chance to put the plan into action. “From Thursday, work will again be taking place at Leiden. We now want to learn a lesson,” he said.

Have you experienced a long train delay? Been inconvenienced by works on track? Let us know in the comments below!

Feature Image: NS

FREE ‘How To Buy A House’ event happening on September 9 in Amsterdam

Kavana Desai
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FREE ‘How To Buy A House’ event happening on September 9 in Amsterdam

We hear that the housing market in Amsterdam might be cooling down, so it might be a good time to start looking for your next dream home.  And since the ‘How To Buy A House’ people are back with a whole new FREE event this might just be the perfect time to get on with your house-buying-in-Holland plans!

Why go to the ‘How To Buy A House’ event?

If you have decided to buy a house in the Netherlands, congratulations! You’re taking that first step towards building a life here. Whether you’re looking for somewhere your kids can make long-lasting memories in, or if you just want a whole house to yourself, this step is definitely going to change your life. So it would be a great idea for you to consult with some experts, right? And that is exactly what this FREE event is for: it is to bring expats like you in contact with local Dutch experts who know everything there is about buying a house in the Netherlands. It is specifically designed for you, so be rest assured that all the representatives there will not only know English but other languages as well.

You’ve sold me on it! When and where is it happening?

It’s going to be held at Restaurant-Moer in Amsterdam on September 9 from 18:00 to 21:00. It is meant to give you all the information you need about buying a home in Amsterdam so if you’re looking in the area, don’t forget to sign up here.

Here is just some of the stuff you can receive information on:

  • Buying a home in Amsterdam
  • How to get a mortgage
  • Dutch law
  • Notary services
  • Bank products
  • Construction work
  • Tax advice

Great, I need help with all of that. But who will be present there?

Of course, you should also know who’s going to be there so that you can prepare to ask your questions in advance. Here’s the list of representatives who will be present to give you all the information you need:

  • Burgemeester Vastgoed (local Amsterdam real estate company) – to discuss in-depth knowledge about the Amsterdam and Utrecht market
  • Expat Mortgages (mortgage advisors) – to discuss your mortgage and finances. We also teamed up with them to bring you this top-notch article on the housing market in the Netherlands in 2019.
  • Kasper Notariaat (solicitors) – discuss the ‘buying a house’ process
  • Slegt Financiele Dienstverlening: insurances and risk management
  • Trustan Bouw (construction management company) – to discuss how you’re going to furnish that new home
  • Advocura (legal counsel) – they’ll tell you everything you need to know about the legal requirements to own a home

Sign up for this free event here!

Will you be going? Let us know in the comments!

Help us Out! How to Stay in Touch With Dutch Review

Veronika Licheva
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Help us Out! How to Stay in Touch With Dutch Review

Welcome! We’ve settled well into our new office at PLNT and now we need your assistance to help us expand our online presence! That means we need your clicks, likes and shares! 

Social media has become a vast wasteland where you see original content for a split second before your feed refreshes and it’s gone for good. Unfortunately, your DutchReview content could get buried under a dozen photos of your friends’ world-record burrito trophy (that you just have to know about). However, if you want to stay informed about the goings-on in the Netherlands there’s a way of staying up to date with DutchReview. Facebook wants you to click “see first” on pages you’ve already liked, otherwise, you may not see 50% of our posts.

But don’t worry! There’s a quick fix so that you can keep getting your fix.

Please help us out there, it’s how we can keep everything fun and free:

Facebook – actually see our stuff

There are two ways to follow DutchReview on Facebook depending on what kind of device you use. If you want to ensure that you see all DutchReview news first from your phone (you really should, otherwise only our mums see this) these are the following steps:

  1. Open the Facebook app from your phone
  2. Go to the DutchReview page
  3. Click on the three dots in the top right corner
  4. Choose “Following” from the menu
  5. Choose the option “See first”

Prefer using Facebook on your computer or laptop instead? Here is the fix:

  1. Go to your Facebook
  2. Go to the DutchReview page
  3. Right under the cover photo, click on “Following”
  4. From the drop menu choose the option “See First”

Yes, a happy doggo meme will be seen then 😉

These changes to your Facebook setting will ensure that DutchReview articles are always a priority on your feed, whenever you’re scrolling through Facebook.

But wait! There’s more! Did you also know we have a Facebook group? At our DutchReview Facebook Group members are able to communicate freely with one another. Often important topics are discussed within the group, you can ask any Dutch related questions if you have any, and if you’re in need of any good suggestions the members of the group are happy to help as well. It’s an international-friendly community created by DutchReview just for you! To find it, simply log into Facebook and search for DutchReview – Group and voilà!

Instagram

If you’re not following us on Instagram already, what the hell are you waiting for? We share some pretty awesome photos from the Netherlands and keep our followers updated some of our awesomest (that’s totally a real word) articles. You just simply have to find our Insta profile @dutchreview and click on the blue “Follow” button.

And if you want to make sure you stay updated, you can also ask Instagram to send you a notification whenever we post a new amazing photo. Simply go to the three dots on the top right of the app, and once the new menu pops out to choose the options “Turn on post notifications” and “Turn on story notifications”.

Twitter

In case you didn’t know, we also have a Twitter. Yes, there you can get updates on the hottest articles of the day! You can find us on Twitter at @dutchreviewing and simply click on “Follow”. Also, just like with Instagram, you can get notifications whenever we tweet. Simply go to the 3 dots icon once again, and click on “Turn on mobile notifications”.

YouTube

Did you know DutchReview also has a YouTube channel? You can find us as DutchReview on YouTube and subscribe to our channel to see all the cool videos we post on there. From social explainers about the Netherlands, to videos on how to learn Dutch. Our YouTube channel is awesome (but yeah, we need some more subs there really). Once you’ve subscribed to us, you can also get notifications whenever we post a new video by simply clicking on the bell icon next to the subscribe button.

The DutchReview Newsletter

Last but not least; the newsletter! Every Thursday a custom-written newsletter summarising our week and our best articles is sent out. Follow this link to sign-up for the DutchReview Newsletter!

So there you have it! All the ways in which you can follow DutchReview on social media! Share this one wide and far and follow us on as many platforms as you can, we really need your support and Donald Trump will shoot one puppy less every time we get a new follower!

Don’t forget to comment too here or on Facebook, because we love a good conversation on any topic!

Tornado, Stadium Collapse, and a New Code Yellow: It’s Getting Wet and Wild in NL

Freya Sawbridge
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Tornado, Stadium Collapse, and a New Code Yellow: It’s Getting Wet and Wild in NL

A weather report.. yet again! Although perhaps slightly more interesting this time.

The stormy weather over the weekend alleviated any guilt I usually feel from staying indoors gauging on FEBO and watching YouTube. However, some Dutchies had a much more eventful weekend when a rare tornado whipped through Amsterdam, the AFAS stadium roof collapsed and a code yellow warning was issued by KNMI.

The Tornado

Tornados are rare in the Netherlands, which is why residents of Amsterdam were shocked when a whirlwind appeared on Friday evening around 9.15pm. Thankfully, the tornado didn’t cause any injuries.

The AFAS Stadium Roof Collapse

A section of the AFAS stadium roof, situated in Alkmaar, collapsed on Saturday (presumably caused by strong winds). 

An investigation into the collapse was launched by the Dutch Safety Board shortly after.  The Football team AZ have begun their own independent investigation as well.

Many people are concerned about the accident as it could have killed hundreds of people if it occurred during a football match. Thankfully however, no one was present during the collapse.

VVD parliamentarian Daniel Koerhuis said to NH Nieuws “I am very shocked. It is a relatively new stadium.” The stadium was only built and opened in 2006.

KNMI issues a Code Yellow warning for the upcoming week

KNMI has issued a code yellow warning for the Netherlands this week excluding the provinces of Noord-Holland, Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe and the Wadden islands. Thunderstorms are predicted to arrive this afternoon and the code yellow warning is in place from 14.00. Stay safe people!

Source: pixel2013 on Pixabay

Two Dutch Men Facing Possible Life in Prison After Selling Drugs at Hungarian Music Festival

Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
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3
Two Dutch Men Facing Possible Life in Prison After Selling Drugs at Hungarian Music Festival

Two Dutch men are facing the possibility of life in a Hungarian prison after being caught selling huge quantities of drugs at the Budapest music festival Sziget. 

UPDATE 11:52am: Multiple sources are now reporting that one of the men involved is well-known Dutch sprinter Roelf B, who represented the Netherlands in the European Championships Under 23’s last month.

EARLIER: The Dutch are often praised for their innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, but this is maybe taking it too far. The two ‘businessmen,’ aged 21 and 22, hauled in at least a kilo of ecstasy pills, 451 pre-run joints, and 128 grams of marijuana, reports RTL Nieuws. Quite the party, indeed – and one they were willing to share judging by the price lists also found.

A box with seized pre-turned joints
Enough weed for one Dutchie for one day? © Hungarian Police

Guards reportedly clued in to the illicit business when they noticed a steady stream of customers heading in and out of the tent. It was like magic: in goes the money, outcome the small packages. Didn’t take Einstein to figure that one out.

It appears the men did their market research, heading to the incredibly popular music festival alongside half-a-million potential customers from 100 countries.

But now they face the possibility of life in prison, according to Hungarian law. Their Dutch lawyers attempted to have their clients released on bail, but due to the quantity of the drugs, it was denied.

The police confiscated weed and xtc pills.
Not just for personal use. © Hungarian Police

The Netherlands may be liberal, and the Schengen area may be borderless, but we think these guys’ risk aversion strategy could use a little refining. Regardless, life in prison is maybe a little harsh so we’re hoping these young-guns learn their lesson in a much shorter way.

Clever business model or an incredibly stupid idea? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Feature Image: Sziget Music Festival from opethpainter on Flickr. CC 2.0.

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