kate goes to europe: the hague

Our second stop on our recent Europe trip was The Hague (Den Haag), approx an hour south of Amsterdam. Kym and I went there to check out some UN goodness like the Peace Palace and the International Criminal Court but we also did a tour of the national parliament (which works super similar to Australian parliament system).

Meanwhile, I just realised what a nerdy sentence that was.... 

For those who have never considered going to The Hague, know this: it is essentially a Netherlands version of Canberra. It’s insanely green, everyone walks around in suits, there are cyclists and runners all over the place, the food is pretty average and it’s cold. See? Canberra.

We had one major disappointment- we planned to visit the International Criminal Court (ICC) and I checked the website the night before to make sure there was a court hearing for us to go watch. When we arrived, it turned out there was no court hearing and therefore nothing for us to do. We were told to leave and check the website… I was SO bummed and also really annoyed seeing as I had checked it and it clearly needed updating! Kym was also bummed as he had skipped watching the Parliament sit to come to the ICC with me. Did I mention what nerds we are?

Our biggest highlight was visiting the Peace Palace, which gave us a huge insight into the role the Netherlands has played in Diplomacy for centuries. This was followed closely by a stamp exhibition at the Museum Voor Communicatie, which I instigated. I really can't blame Kym for that one. In my defence, I went to check out the design... 

Here are a few things you should check out if you find yourself in The Hague:

• Crunch Cafe for a good brekkie 
• Museum voor Communicatie (we went to a nerdy as stamp exhibition, which we both LOVED)
• Binnenhof (Parliament) tour
• Peace Palace 

If you haven't already seen it, check out my post on our first stop, Amsterdam.