Today was our last day in the country, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it was an uneventful one. Today’s trip revolved entirely around taking a day trip to The Hague, the political capital of the Netherlands. This city is home to all other countries’ embassies as well as the most important buildings in the country. Walking the streets of the Hague, our tour guide took it upon himself to give the tour today, and we learned so much about the Dutch government and how their elections, power system, and processes work. While still surrounded by bicycles, as is every other Dutch city, this city reminded me the most of an American city by its environment and structure. More organized and laid out as a result of the business that is performed in the city, I’d assume it has to be more strict.

I believe the most interesting building we saw, however, was the United Nations Peace Palace. Located in the Hague, it serves as the UN’s International Court of Justice. Here, they don’t try individual criminals but rather settle disputes between states. One of the UN’s 17 sustainability goals is Goal #16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. This palace upkeeps that goal. By ensuring a just world, the ICJ is crucial to ensuring a sustainable world. Similar to how the Supreme Court works in the U.S, they do their best to maintain peace and balance, so that’s a cool similarity in how different nations handle disputes. After this, we got our own free time to explore the city before our metro back to the hotel. That pretty much wraps up our time in the Netherlands. I am forever grateful to have had such a good time there and will never forget it. Thank you to everyone for reading. Here’s Juan signing out!