19 December

We headed out early today. They served a nice breakfast in our hotel and the array of cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sliced bread gave me the idea of making our lunch at breakfast. Saket and Sachi quickly agreed so we proceeded to do just that as inconspicuously as possible. It worked marvelously and we did the same every day at that hotel. Our destination of interest that day was The Hague, known in Holland as “den Haag.” Thus, you can pronounce it with a long “a” or a short “ah” and you would be correct. The train ride there was uneventful though the weather looked dishearteningly somber. It wasn’t until around noon that the clouds finally broke in the city and we could appreciate its features better. For those not in the know, den Haag is a center for world affairs. The ICC, or International Criminal Court, is located just 15 minutes by car outside the city. The Ministry of Justice, Peace Palace, and such are also located there. Many shops and attractions in Europe are closed on Monday and businesses usually do not open until later in the day, so we found ourselves on mostly empty streets for the first couple of hours in den Haag. The buildings were not as impressive as those I saw in Vienna and the construction present everywhere both reminded me of UNC and definitely detracted from what beauty the city had. Around 2 or so, we ate lunch then headed north to the beach by the North Sea. The sky was still cloudy though we got extremely lucky after we walked out onto this pier-like shopping center [insert awesome picture here]. The sun burst through the clouds at the perfect moment and you can see here how happy I am to feel the sun on my face [insert picture here]. It was a nice view though the weather was quite cold and thus we left shortly after the sun ducked behind the clouds again. From the beach we went to this small town called Delft that is world-famous for its porcelain. Its layout is similar to Amsterdam though the buildings and streets were prettier and we spent about 2 hours total there. We tried to find this placed that apparently shows off Delft’s porcelain but after walking for nearly 25 minutes and no luck, we gave up on it and found a tram and train back to Amsterdam Centraal. Upon returning to Amsterdam we went to the Anne Frank House and Museum. I’m sure many of you remember reading the diary in middle or high school but I must say you cannot really appreciate what she must have gone through until you see for yourself where she lived. I cannot imagine living for years in such tiny rooms without being able to go outside or laugh and play carefree. After that sobering visit we walked around the city some more, found purely vegetarian restaurant for dinner (a bit expensive but good food), and then back to the hotel for sleep and planning for the next day. We had purchased some local brew at a grocery store which we shared, or rather, which Saket and Sachi split and I had two sips of. It was my first taste of beer and I must confess I found the taste simply awful. I am not found of bitter drinks in general, like chash (an Indian drink of some spices and yogurt) and coffee, so I wasn’t too surprised to find beer distasteful. I am afraid this dislike may prove troublesome in England where nearly every college student drinks (there’s even a pub in my dorm), but either I’ll eventually acquire a taste for it or just stick with some sweeter drinks.