The home of Vermeer

Just to clarify, Darick and I are already home! I didn't have access to the internet for about two weeks, so I'm catching up now. There isn't any missing time in what you read...just a delay in putting it up.

So today I'll catch you up on our two days in the Hague, Netherlands.

On Sunday night, we traveled to the Hague with the group, and checked into our hotel, a Mercure. Given that these are very nice hotels, and it was raining. We stayed in and did nothing but watch TV for the evening. It was awesome.

On Monday morning, the group had a visit to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. We had a briefing on the Court and its workings and cases, and we were able to observe a witness examination for one of the ongoing cases. It's really fantastic for the students to study things like this and then to be a part of it, and observe how it functions. It's a verification process, of sorts, and I think it inspires some of them interested in choosing their career paths in human rights. I love this job. (While at this meeting, Darick went to the Het Mauritshuis to see the Girl with the Pearl Earring. He was more impressed with the Vermeer landscape, and I can't say I blame him.)

For lunch, we had a lecture, and we met our guest at an Indonesian restaurant called Garoede. The Dutch aren't known for their own food, but instead for the food of their colonial reign—Indonesian food. We had rijsttafel, which is rice with a wide assortment of types of “mix-ins.” I really like Indonesian food, and I made Darick attend the lecture to try the food—he enjoyed both.

After the long and late lunch, Darick and I broke off and rode the tram to Delft, the nearby town where Vermeer lived and painted. It was actually a horrible, dreary, wet day to be walking around, so Delft didn't end up being that attractive, but we did purchase some of the blue and white porcelain (Delftware) that Delft is known for, and we stopped for a beer in a Bierhuis near the tram stop. It was a very dark bar with only older, local patrons, with few beers available. No food, except peanuts on the table, and the patrons left their shells on the floor. It's been operating since 1651 or something ridiculous like that, and we loved it.

That night it rained like hell. Sucked. But we had to go out for food, so we found a pizzeria in the center of town called La Lanterna. It was pretty good, all told, though not phenomenal. But Darick had his first proper Italian pizza, and I was able to practice a bit of my restaurant Italian. A pleasant experience. We were soaked when we arrived home. Stupid rain.

The next morning, I wanted Darick to accompany us to the site visit to the International Criminal Court. We were allowed to observe the trial of Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia. He's been tried in the ICC facilities by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes and crimes against humanity. We were there for the questioning of a protected witness, one fairly high in Taylor's army, attesting to the chain of command for war crimes. The witness was blocked form our view, the video was pixelated, and the person's voice was electronically distorted, so no one could identify him. It was fascinating.

Darick was then into the political visits, so he came with us to a briefing by a Dutch parliamentarian on immigration. After this, we went to the Escher museum. Escher specialized in optical illusions, and quite a bit of his work is in this museum. Darick loved it. There's also a floor of physical illusions, but that doesn't compare to how great the work is. Here's a link to some here.

To kill a little remaining time, we stopped for a beer (a Leffe dark beer, which Darick loved) and some bitter ballen—my favorite bar food, and now Darick's too.

Then off to Belgium!

Vermeer and Van Gogh

I'd never been to Amsterdam before, and we were excited to experience it. After checking into the hotel, we had the evening in front of us. My first sight of Amsterdam was the Red Light District. It's a cultural experience, but I think I would have preferred to see the pretty parts first, so I was a bit wary. The nightlife is great fun, though, and we found a nice bar and a delicious restaurant (Harlem) where they served vegetables!

The next day was museum day for us. We started at the Van Gogh museum, which leads you chronologically through his life and work , which is a fascinating way to see it. My favorite was the Potato Eaters, and I really liked his early work, of which I hadn't seen much before. On our way to the Rijksmuseum we had a burger at a stand between the museums, and it definitely hit the spot and didn't break our bank.

The Rijksmuseum was wonderful. I don't care much for older art, but I am a big fan of 17^th century Dutch art. It was cool to see the Delftware, the old remnants of Dutch colonialism, and of course the art. It has a very impressive collection of Rembrandts, and especially Vermeers. I have a personal life goal to see all of his paintings (there are about 35 in existence) before I die, and I was able to check off four more from the list.

We then went to the Modern Art Musuem, or the Stedelijk Museum. Right now only a tiny piece of their collection is on display in a temporary location, until next year when they open a new facility in the Museumplein by the Rijks and the Van Gogh. Right now it's not worth visiting, but the permanent collection will be fantastic.

After buying Darick some much needed and nice-fitting slacks, we met up with the group for dinner at the Brasserie die Poorte. This restaurant was wonderful! We had a fixed menu of tomato and goat cheese soup, tilapia, and pear ice cream on a waffle, and every part was wonderfully delicious. And vegetables! It was marvelous, and at a nice price. I hope we return next year. They're known for Dutch food, so try it out. And the bar next door has beautiful Delft tile and looks like a great place to have a drink.

Den Haag

On July 2nd we left Paris for two weeks on the road to visit the European institutions we had studied during coursework. Our first stop: the Hague in the Netherlands.

I was shocked by how much I really liked the Hague. Beautiful Dutch architecture, tons of English from the Dutch, and great site visits. When we arrived, we checked into a very nice Ibis hotel and walked around the downtown area. There was tons of shopping, cool bars, and laid back people. While in Paris, you're bombarded with wanna-be supermodels--Parisians always dress nicely, and you never see tennis shoes. In the Hague, people wear jeans, T-shirts, shorts...normal people clothes. It was pretty refreshing. We also stopped at a bar located in the back of a church to eat the local bar specialty: bitter balls. They're meat, potatoes, and gravy--deep-fried. Awesome.

After dinner in the hotel, we went out as a group to a bar nearby. Alcohol is a million times cheaper in the Netherlands. It was a nice night out.

The next day was our first site visit. We were at the International Criminal Court while they heard postponement arguments from former dictator Charles Taylor. We had a briefing from people in the pre-trial and judicial assessment divisions. I found it fantastic, particularly since the briefing supported some of the research I've been doing lately. After lunch on the bus, we went to a briefing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. It was extremely informative, and we had a chance to sit in on the trial of two alleged war criminals. The defense was attempting to discredit the report of Human Rights Watch. It was really nice.

We found out that typical Dutch food is bar food, and that the best food to eat in the Netherlands is Indonesian food. Drs. D and H went out for Indonesian food with D, C and I. It was so delicious! Afterward the students all went to the beach to a piano bar while I stayed in to grade papers. I thought at the time it was a smart idea, but afterward I regretted it.

The next day, we took a tour of the beautiful Peace Palace. This is where the International Court of Justice is housed. We weren't able to have a briefing or observe a trial, but the building sure was beautiful. After a lunch of even more bitterballen, some of us went to the Mauritshuis. This museum houses some of the most beautiful Dutch art in the world, including several Rembrandts and Van Rijns. The highlights, though, were three Vermeers. There only exist 35, and three of the most famous were there. I stood in the presence of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. Amazing.

Finally, that afternoon we paid a visit to the Dutch parliament for a meeting with a parliamentarian. She spoke to us about immigration issues in the Netherlands, as well as being a woman and a black person in politics. It was really marvelous!

We then headed to Brussells.