Day 12: Den Haag and Farewells

Album of the Day: You’d Prefer an Astronaut – Hum

Today we took one last adventure in the Rotterdam metro all the way to The Hague. The Hague is where a lot of the Netherlands’ politics take place, having all sorts of important courts and even the prime minister’s quarters and workspace. While Amsterdam is considered the actual capital city of the Netherlands, The Hague contains most of the political buildings and parliament in order to limit the power of Amsterdam over the rest of the Netherlands. Most of the day was spent wandering The Hague and getting taught Dutch politics from our tour guide Enno. While the Netherlands is also a democracy, just like the USA, it functions quite differently. The biggest difference is the number of parties and the election process. While the Netherlands still has a few main parties, it has around 15 total parties, which get elected through popular vote and form coalitions within the government structure. The winner of the popular vote gets to decide the next prime minister, but other parties still have a say in parliament and government. The Dutch government also still has a king or queen. They serve as a public figurehead of politics while holding no real executive power, being more of a symbolic role held through tradition. Overall, the politics of the Netherlands are incredibly interesting and being able to learn about it right where it happens was such a cool experience.

For me, the day was mostly spent wandering and really taking in my last day here. I went and had one las stroopwafel (which was nowhere near as good as the one in Amsterdam sadly), enjoyed some of the shopping, and took in some very beautiful sights. The Hague is like the midpoint between Amsterdam and Rotterdam when it comes to design. While Amsterdam is very well preserved and historical, Rotterdam is incredibly modern in its design, and The Hague exists right in the middle, having a lot of modern design built around some of the beautiful waterways and historical political buildings that are still in use today. While different from the rest of the trip, The Hague is well worth the short journey from Rotterdam. After leaving the Hauge, our group went out to one last dinner. This was a very peaceful journey on our final day, and I very much enjoyed myself around my peers. I am forever grateful to be able to travel so far and experience the amazing culture of The Netherlands.