Day 7 has been filled with lots of exploring! This morning, we hopped on a train at Rotterdam Centraal to spend the day at The Hague, the location of the Netherlands’ government and the international city of peace and justice. After arriving, we were given our 1-day public transport cards and set loose on the city to roam about. As we walked the streets of The Hague, I immediately noticed that it had significantly fewer tourist attractions than downtown Amsterdam. Something I found particularly interesting is that there was nothing that claimed to be Dutch – in fact, there were lots of Middle Eastern, African, and East Asian (in Chinatown) crowding the streets, which I did not expect to see here.

After wandering the streets, we made our way to Mauritshuis, a government collection of famous artwork located in the Hague. I was especially excited to see Johannes Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring, and it did not disappoint! The lighting that Vermeer conjured with oil paint was absolutely gorgeous. There were also multiple other renowned and gorgeous paintings there, such as Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. The other wing of Mauritshuis was dedicated to how the museum preserved its artwork during the turbulence of World War 2, including categorizing paintings by value and importance with markings on the back, building its own bunker in the case of bombings, and sending away important paintings as an extra precaution. I had never before considered how war could affect the world of art and cause the destruction of many precious pieces, so I found this section of the museum very insightful!

With a bit of free time left before lunch, we decided to climb the Binnenhof viewing tower to get a look at our surroundings from up above. After 8 flights of stairs, we stood atop the trembling viewing platform and looked out over the city, seeing the Binnenhof in its entirety. The Binnenhof is the world’s oldest continuously operating government building, and is currently completely closed down for a total renovation and restoration. 

Then, after grabbing some food, we headed off to Vredespaleis, also known as the Peace Palace. Home to the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice, the Peace Palace’s goal is to resolve conflict through law and justice instead of war. A fun fact that I found interesting is that Pittsburgh’s very own Andrew Carnegie was a leader in the establishment of the Peace Palace, insisting that there be a library instated and donating $1.5 million to build the Peace Palace. 

Later, we grabbed a tram to Scheveningen Beach, a popular area of The Hague buzzing with activity. While I didn’t get a chance to go for a swim (it was freezing out there!), it was nice to get a glimpse of the beach and roam the market along the coast.

Notes on Sustainability

While I was climbing the Binnenhof tower, I noticed that there was a fairly large rooftop farm on a building in the middle of the lake by the Binnenhof. It was the first rooftop garden that I had seen in its entirety, and one of the plaques on the tower told me that the building it was on was a construction accommodation for the Binnenhof renovation project. It’s clear to me that the project is being carried out with the intent to be as environmentally friendly and efficient as possible, which is good to see. Also, when visiting Scheveningen beach, I noticed that the sand was very clean and didn’t appear to have much (if any) trash in it at all, which was actually somewhat jarring for me to see. I’m used to seeing litter scattered throughout the sand at every beach I have been to, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that Holland seems to be caring for its coasts well.  I also spotted off-shore wind turbines for the first time, which I was thrilled to see!

Dat is alles, bedankt! See you tomorrow!