The Hague

We arrived in The Hague at around 9pm the night before our first day of class. The previous cities had really worn us out so we chilled out during the first few days. We stayed at The Golden Tulip Bel Air Hotel. Compared to the accommodations in later cities, it was a luxury suite.

We managed to catch a couple of the sights during our walking tour. These were sand sculptures in the middle of the city center.

It's pretty crazy that these are made of sand.

The theme of this year was "people", can you tell?

I've honestly seen so many important buildings in such a short period of time that I'm beginning to forget the names and stories behind each of them. So I guess I'll just state the obvious. This is a church. Our guide also mentioned the fountain next to it is well-known.

Sculpture of body parts made by an artist from Mexico...kinda strange.

The narrowest residence in the city (right behind the lamp post).

We passed some peculiar (and giant) sculptures on our tour.

The Royal family's former residence. It is now used as a guest house.

Beezy

I never get tired of these.

This was horrible. 88% is my new limit.

These were awesome. Caramel and syrup waffle cookies!

Our first field trip was to The Peace Palace which houses the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It was only a 5 minute drive from our hotel.

Some of our new friends.

Little did we know that we would basically live in our suits the entire week.

Probably the biggest Fabergé vase in the world...about 1000x bigger than the eggs I saw in Neiman Marcus once...exciting!!

I think they call this color "Dutch blue" or something.

Trying to stay awake ;).

The ceiling was a gift from the US. It was constructed without a single nail.

part of the entrance

Stained glass and bubbles are def recurring themes.



The International Court of Justive (ICJ)

chandelliers and high ceilings

The Honorable Hisashi Owada, President Judge of the International Court of Justice

We also went to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that day, but weren't allowed to bring our cameras inside. While there, we listened to a presentation by The Honorable Adrian Fulford from the UK.

All we wanted to do after the long day was unwind so we decided to take a tram to the nearby beach.

Elizabeth and Alison

You know you're in the Netherlands if...

It was almost 10pm at this point...just in time for the sunset!

and to watch some trampoline jumpers

love this one

We had some trouble deciding where to eat.

We finally found our way into Crazy Pianos. Our other classmates had recommended it and the piano player was pretty entertaining.

I ordered the Thai Chicken Salad. It was random.

There were A LOT more party people there by the end of our meal.

lobby

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). We couldn't bring cameras in again, but we got to sit in on a trial inside. It was pretty cool because the accused sat right on the other side of the glass. I was also impressed with their translation system.

Den Haag was pretty low-key. I don't know if I'd ever plan another vacation there, but I'm glad I got a chance to visit once!

xx