We started out with a tour of the Peace Palace, which houses 2 of the courts of international justice. No pictures allowed on the inside, but it was a really great building to tour. Built with financing by Andrew Carnegie, the idea was to capture through architecture and art the ideals of peace. It was built just before WWI (so much for the peace idea) and contains priceless art from all over the world symbolizing peace and justice. It's still used today for international disputes and arbitration cases:
The famous cases you have probably heard about aren't held at this building, like the trials for war crimes in Kenya and the former Yugoslav. They are all connected, but held in different parts of the Hague.
After that, we headed to the Escher museum, which I had seen before. It was packed, so it was hard to get a good feel for the museum, but it's a nice art exhibit in the old residence of the Royal family. I like the building more than the art. Escher is an illusionist artist - different people can see completely different things in them. It's fun to look at, but not pretty.
Then we headed to the Hague Historical Museum, which had some interesting exhibits on the city's history, some of which I didn't know. For instance, the area I live in right now was bombed in WW2 by a misguided British RAF bomber. Most of the Hague wasn't bombed, but I happen to live in the one area that took a hit. It turns out that the Germans were most likely firing missiles toward the UK from the woods close to my house, but the bomber missed the woods and got my neighborhood. The other interesting part was the trenches dug from the beach, which are now canals that are used to monitor the water levels in the city. The rest of the museum was a special exhibit on Dutch golf - which just felt odd and misplaced.
After that, it was off to the Mauritshuis to see that elusive girl with the pearl earring. She's back from her tour of the world!
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