Touring, eating and birthdays

Peace Palace

Our first full day in The Hague was very exciting. We woke up at about 7:30 a.m. (which is 1:30 a.m. in the United States). We had a delicious traditional Dutch breakfast in our hotel which consisted of bread, cheeses and meats with fruit juices and coffee. After eating, we proceeded to walk to the World Forum building, where the THIMUN conference is held, and we met our tour guide. He led us all around The Hague. He showed us the city hall, a church, and a palace where important political figures stay when they visit The Hague. We learned about past monarchs of the country. We continued walking around The Hague. We passed a fish stand and tried haring (herring to us). It was great! We saw the Parliament buildings and learned about each of their functions. We saw the International Court of Justice, but were not allowed to go inside, since they are preparing for an upcoming case. Instead of going inside, we completed an interesting interactive walk-through activity using headphones.

Bullet holes for the assassination
of William of Orange

After spending some time in the Hague, we went to a small city called Delft. We started with eating lunch at restaurant that specialized in delicious thin pancakes similar to crepes. You could choose to get sweet or savory toppings on them, such as fruit or meat. Following our yummy lunch, we did some touristy shopping for a few minutes. We saw the state house and the Old Church, which was beautiful. Near a gorgeous canal and surrounding side streets was the New Church, which was leaning to the side due to some architectural and engineering mistakes. As a last stop, we visited the William of Orange museum and learned about his achievements in life. We saw the spot where he was assassinated and learned about how and why he was assassinated.

At the conclusion of our day of touring, we returned to The Hague and had a bit of free time in the hotel. Before departing for dinner, we discussed the upcoming THIMUN conference and the resolutions we have prepared... then celebrated Gavin and Arman's birthday with singing and cake! We went for dinner in the city center and split into smaller groups for our meals. It was cold and rainy but we had a great time. We're all ready for another amazing day in The Hague and we're excited for the conference tomorrow!!!
(Nina & Sabrina S.)