Palace of Justice, The Hague. August 2016
[from FB post: August 14, 2016]
Unbelievable travel moment... Actually two.
One, I got to visit the International Court of Justice. Wow. It is maintained by the Carnegie Foundation by the way.
Two, when asking directions to the "Peace Palace" (the local name for the Court) I wanted to be sure it was the right place. I said to the girl (Dutch!!) "This is the International High Court, right?" She just looked at me dumbfounded and went on to explain that she didn't know there were any big international courts in The Hague. ?????? Ummmm, yeah right?
Cluelessness
I most certainly have had my own share of clueless travel moments, but two of the best from other people are as follows:
We were in Costa Rica on a tour to the summit of Irazú Volcano. The views down to the plains were breathtaking and we were lucky enough even to glimpse the far-off Caribbean Sea. That alone was wonderful - the tour was genius. They hauled us to the top of Irazú Volcano to have a look at the view and its caldera and then, with mountain bikes provided, we coasted down the zigzag road from the summit. Not very sporting since no one put any effort into huffing and puffing to get to the mountain top, but who wouldn't love zooming down such a road full-speed through a tropical rain forest? Indeed, it is a good memory of that trip.
The clueless moment: At the summit while witnessing Irazú's incredible view, a Canadian woman in our group exclaimed, "This is the most beautiful island I have ever visited". Brian and I just looked at each other. We asked her again to be sure. Yup, Costa Rica was a beautiful island. We laughed about it for days afterward.
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Then I was in the The Hague and wanted to visit the International Court of Justice which convenes in the Peace Palace.
The Peace Palace is an international law administrative building in The Hague, the Netherlands. It houses the International Court of Justice (which is the principal judicial body of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague Academy of International Law and the Peace Palace Library.
The Palace officially opened on 28 August 1913; it was originally built to provide a home for the PCA, a court created to end war by the Hague Convention of 1899. Andrew Dickson White, whose efforts were instrumental in creating the court, secured from Scottish-American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie US$1.5 million ($50,000,000, adjusted for inflation) to build the Peace Palace.
Doubly dubious for me: with all the atrocities the Netherlands had committed in the East Indies (and elsewhere), why was the court to be built in The Hague? [see: VOC] and this place was funded by a capitalist?? (although Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy was hard to beat). All that aside, it was a place referenced continually in the international news, so I had to have a look. Unfortunately, in tourist high-season tickets for the tour were sold out far in advance. Matt's "just show up" mode of travel was not always the best. I did view it from the outside at least - the building and gardens were impressive and Den Hague was a lovely city.
Clueless moment: the hotel receptionist in my hotel knew about the "Peace Palace" (I had no idea that was the real name of the building), but when I verified "That is the International Court of Justice, right". She gave me a totally blank look. "Sir, I don't know anything about that, but the Peace Palace is nearby, yes". Again, I verified that she understood me - her English, like most Dutch people's was EXCELLENT. Yup, she had no idea about any "International Court of Justice". That time I think I wanted to cry rather than laugh.
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