Den Haag and Amsterdam

Den Haag.

This past weekend I went to visit my friend Ben (whom I met in Bhutan, is from Arizona and now goes to NYU Law school) in The Hague in The Netherlands. Apparently, Holland is the only country in Europe where the seat of government is not in its Capitol, which is of course Amsterdam. It is located in The Hague. This supposedly has something to do with the Napoleonic Wars. According to my wonderful tour guide and wikipedia; after the Wars, Belgium and the Netherlands became a single country, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. This was a protective measure against their powerful neighbour France. However, to be fair the capitol of this new country alternated between Amsterdam and Brussels every year. To avoid mass confusion in the Netherlands however, even though the capitol changed every year, the seat of government remained in The Hague full time. The two countries were separated in 1830, however the capitol continued to be Amsterdam, and the government remained in The Hague.

We had a great time, everyone in the city bikes around, after walking out of the train station on Friday night; I was greeted by a sea of bikes parked (sometimes precariously) in front of the station. Most of the streets have bike lanes, and if they do not, the bikes, cars and scooters weave in and out of each other in what looks like a sometimes nerve racking dance. So Ben and I rented bikes (see pictures) and biked around the city, going to The Mauritshuis museum where I finally got to see Girl With a Pearl Earring; which, ever since I’ve studied Vermeer in High School, has always been my favourite. We then went to the beach at Scheveningen right outside the city, and walked down the boardwalk, ate frits (so good), had a raw herring with onions (not so good),

and of course some delicious fruity beverages at a beachside restaurant and relaxed. I also visited the Peace Palace, the house of the International Court of Justice, which is the UN’s judicial body. Very interesting stuff, the main funding for the Palace’s Library and the Temple came from American Businessman Andrew Carnegie (somewhat reluctantly I think). Anyway, the idea is a good one even if the UN isn’t as authoritative as one would hope.

On Sunday, Ben flew back to NYC, (haha he has to go back to Law School), and so I spent the day wandering around Amsterdam, before I got on the train back to Brussels. Now my main impression of Amsterdam is the one I saw in the movie Eurotrip. I’m not going to even apologize for my inability to separate the real world from a fictional movie. It was a great movie. So my basic impression of Amsterdam was the introduction we saw in the movie, when the main characters check into their hostel and the woman at the desk says, “Hello, and welcome to Amsterdam's finest and most luxurious youth hostel. We feature one medium sized room containing 70 beds which can sleep up to 375 bodies a night. There is no bathroom. Nor is there one nearby. If you do not wish to have your valuables stolen I suggest destroying them or discarding them right now. You can also try hiding your valuables. In your anus. This will deter some but of course not all thieves. Once you are inside, the doors are chained and locked from the outside. They will not be opened again until morning, no matter what. Should a fire occur due to our faulty wiring or, uh, the fireworks factory upstairs you will be incinerated along with the valuables that you have hidden in your anus. Tips are greatly appreciated.”

I however arrived just before six in the morning, and walked through the tiny alleyways before the street cleaning crew arrived. The smell of pot and beer still heavy in the air, and many who had partied a little too hard the night before were still staggering back to their hostel or hotel or were passed out on the street, soon to be woken by the huge street cleaning vehicles that soon swept the streets clean. The city itself is an interesting mix of small narrow alleyways and canals that run south from the Central train station. I am planning on going back to Amsterdam with a friend of mine from work sometime in September, and will try to see the city at night, and hit the nightlife. But it was a great day trip just to get a feel for the city.

Anyway, I’m back at work now (blogging over my lunch break….God I’m cool). I’m meeting up with some friends after work today, which is a good thing as it forces me to leave work before 8 PM, which is when I left yesterday after getting into a fight with the service provider for our newsletter. Good times. And next weekend I’m heading home to Brockenhurst to see my Second Cousin Wiz, her Mom Alex and my Uncle John who are over to visit. So it should be good fun.