Nearly Over

It's May 21 and my time here in The Hague is nearly over. I'm supposed to finish work at the ICTY this coming Friday, May 27th and then head to Delhi, India for a two month internship on Monday, May 30th. I say "supposed to finish" because my plans might be changing ever so slightly. Due to some current passport troubles (for those of you who don't know, my passport with requisite visa for India is currently lost in the mail) I might end up spending a few more weeks in The Hague. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my passport arrives by Thursday!

While I've been dealing with my missing passport and saying goodbye to many of the good friends I've made (people have been leaving slowly - one-by-one) I have not updated my blog. So here is the long overdue report of my life over the past (gulp!) two months! This report will only be about my life outside of work as I plan on writing a reflection on my whole time at the ICTY upon completion of my internship.

Bike Trip to Leiden:
One Saturday I set off for an approximately 40 km round trip bike ride with two of my friends. We left The Hague and biked through the dunes (see picture below) to Leiden. Leiden is a cute little university town with picturesque canals and a windmill. It is also the sight of some of the best Dutch pancakes. After riding the nearly 25 km to Leiden, we rewarded ourselves with some delicious Dutch pancakes. There were 3 of us so we purchased three different pancakes and shared. The pancakes arrive on large Delft pottery platters and they did not disappoint. We ordered a veggie pancake, an apple/bacon/gouda pancake, and an "apple strudel" pancake.
After feasting on pancakes we toured around the city of Leiden and then biked home (although this time we took the shorter route and omitted the journey through the dunes.

Weekend Visit to Duisburg, Düsseldorf, and Köln:
I wrote a lot about Duisburg, Düsseldorf, and Köln on this blog when I lived in the area in 2007 - 2008. So to avoid redundancy I won't write much more here. It was pleasant to go back and see the familiar places and spend time with my German family. Plus this time around I took my roommate, Becky, along.

Weekend Road Trip to Salzburg, Austria:
Over Easter Weekend I took a road trip with my friend Henry to Salzburg, Austria (where we had studied abroad in 2004 - 2005). Henry drove over from England in his mini cooper and the two of us headed off to Austria. We stopped briefly in Köln and in Herzogenerauch (where Adidas is headquartered). This was my first time back to Salzburg since leaving in May 2005 and it was as beautiful as I remember it. On Saturday, Henry and I hiked the Untersberg. It was basically a climb straight up the mountain...Austria apparently does not really believe in switchbacks. During the climb I was battling a bit of allergies and the change in altitude so it was a big challenge. Luckily I was not sore the next day. Henry hiked back up the Untersberg the next day with his sister, but I opted not to participate. Instead I finished reading a book and then went and toured the Stiegl Museum (Stiegl is an Austrian beer). By the time I finished with the museum, Henry had returned so we enjoyed some burgers at Stiegl. Then we headed back into the city for a visit to the Augustinerbrau and a walk around the city. Sadly my favorite apple strudel place is now closed, but we went to a different cafe and I was able to try rhubarb strudel.

Tulip-mania:
The Netherlands are famous for tulips. In fact the Dutch are responsible for 70% of the world's flower market. My friend Terra and I set off for a day adventure at the Keukenhof - a famous garden where you can see TONS of tulips. The Keukenhof is one of the most photographed places on earth and it is well-deserved because it is truly gorgeous. Each year they have a theme and this year the theme was "Germany" so many of the flower displays were made to honor Germany and there were random statues of German composers and blurbs about famous Germans. The downside to the Keukenhof is that it is incredibly touristy and quite busy. When you first enter the park you are greeted by a pipe organ playing unusual renditions of the "Macarena" and Queen songs. But despite the pipe organ and the crowds it is a truly wonderful sight to behold.

Queen's Day:
April 30th is the day that the Dutch take to the streets dressed in orange. The purpose is to celebrate their Queen. Queen's Day starts on the evening of the 29th and The Hague is the best place to be as there is an open air festival and music stages are interspersed throughout the city. On the 30th, the best places to be are either Amsterdam or the random town the Queen happens to be visiting that year. In Amsterdam, it seems that everyone is outside in the streets either listening to live music or selling stuff - the whole city becomes a giant flea market. A large group of us decided to properly celebrate Queen's Day so we went out in The Hague on the 29th and then headed to Amsterdam on the 30th.
Having celebrated Karneval in Germany, I was expecting Amsterdam (and the trains going there) to be mass chaos. Surprisingly it was not as bad as I had anticipated. We arrived in Amsterdam and immediately set off to wander the city - first stop Vondelpark and then some random neighborhoods. You are greeted by a sea of orange, people everywhere are dressed in the color. Wanting to blend in, I decided to purchase an orange hat and an orange boa. We spent an enjoyable day in the sunshine wandering around, listening to music, eating, drinking and being merry.