A Fortnight with Whit - Netherlands Day 5, the Hauge and the tulips

It's Whit back here on the blog to tell you about our day visiting The Hauge and Keukenhof!

Kris left off on our drive to den Haag. While I missed most of the drive, I managed to stay awake to meet our AirBNB host and to go out for dinner. His flat was super cool but had stairs that at a 83 degree angle would never meet code in Canada - gotta love Europe for that. We headed our for dinner on the town and then to bed knowing we had a busy day ahead of us.

Our day started early with breakfast at a corner cafe that was recommended to us by our AirBNB host: espresso, pancakes, croissants, scones, homemade granola, fresh squeeze orange juice, fresh cheeses and cold meats - I must admit there is no better way to start a day!

We headed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a briefing. This part of our trip was something we had all been really looking forward to because of the work that the ICC does. We had to book our tour over a month beforehand just to get security approval to get in. Their mandate, granted by the UN and ratified by 124 countries, is to prosecute international criminals who commit crimes that fall into four specific categories - crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes and (soon to be ratified) crimes of aggression. Many of these heinous acts are perpetrated against women and children, they displace communities, ravage the land and leave a complete and utter wasteland behind. The work that the ICC does also includes enabling communities to rebuild after war, victims to receive aid and support, and a host of educational programs to help under-developed and war torn parts of the world. Through the ICC, many of the worst kinds of criminals face their day in court and are held accountable for the atrocities they've committed or instructed other to commit.

This was us outside the ICC

Unfortunately, the court wasn't in session while we were there so our briefing was exactly that, brief.  We had a short introduction, watched two videos that described the functions and processes of the court and that was it. We were all a little underwhelmed by the briefing but still learned a lot about their ongoing cases and outreach work.

After our morning at the ICC, we hopped back in the car to find us some tulips! Onward to Keukenhof we drove - and by we, I mean Justin, while I again slept in the backseat. Keukenhof is a garden situated in the small town of Lisse who's bread and butter is tulips. Twice a year, the town explodes with tourists who come for one thing - tulips, either in bulb form or flowering. The Keukenhof garden is a 32 hectare park where 7 million tulips are planted annually. Since we arrived a few weeks early for the tulips, we were treated to daffodils, peonies, crocuses, and many other flowers I can't name in the outside gardens.

The colours and scents were amazing - I know I won't be able to do justice to them in pictures but here are a few examples.

Kris did some playing around with the cannon

We had the most Dutch experience while we were there and the perfect picture captured by JP.... standing on the top of a windmill, eating a freshly baked stroop waffle, with a tulip field behind us, while in Keukenhof.

The Dutch-y-est of photos

Followed by the classic clog photo

European standards of safety are far different than ours - it's totally ok to wander out into the pond with no signs, no handles and let people play on wooden lilypads. Though it does make for an awesome picture, and no none of us fell in.

When you really need a wing-man to make sure you don't step in the flower beds.

Without knowing it, we saved the best for last as we wandered around the outside garden paths and finally ended up in the Williem-Alexander greenhouse. This was without a doubt, the most breathtaking of all aspects of the gardens - here the tulips were in full bloom and splendor. We saw tulips that I wouldn't have even believed were tulips had we not been there.

We spent nearly 3 hours there and Justin had to drag Kristin and I away, we happily could have spent the whole day there. If you ever visit the Netherlands in the spring, you MUST make the trip to Keukenhof, you won't regret it.

Among the daffodils

Hanging out with my bro

It was then time to head back to Amsterdam and return the car before meeting up with another one of our Dad's cousin's Anne. Justin and Kristin had met Anne earlier in the week for a beer while I was sleeping off our biking escapades. Anne, while never having met us, was still gracious enough to invite us into her house for dinner and to spend the night. Anne's son Daniel brought over some pizza's handmade by a friend of his and we spent the night drinking, laughing, learning about each other lives, talking about culture, travel, experiences and as Justin so aptly explained in our Day 1/2 post, feeling the comfort of gezellig all around us. It was another wonderful night with new-found family that stands out as a highlight for all of us during the trip.