It was one of my last days in Holland, so we made the drive into Den Haag (The Hague) for some final sight-seeing; our first stop: de Vredespaleis (the Peace Palace), on the outskirts of the city. Den Haag has been the primary venue for settling international disputes since 1901, and, since the completion of de Vredespaleis in 1913, it has become a symbol of international law, currently housing the International Court of Justice, the primary judicial branch of the UN. During the past two centuries, so many international disputes have been settled through arbitration behind its brick walls that I had a feeling of reverence as I stood on the hallowed soil outside its gates.
After the awe of seeing de Vredespaleis had worn off, we headed into the center of the city to see the Binnenhof (literally meaning the inner court, aka the parliamentary buildings of The Netherlands) and grab some lunch. Both Roderick and I were fairly 'museumed out' by this point, so after walking around for a bit and stopping at an old cathedral once used as a Nazi headquarters during the German occupation of World War II, we camped out on the terrace of a restaurant on the central plaza with some Heineken and bitterballen to people watch and discuss our plans for the evening.[The above picture was taken at Club Nautique, the beach restaurant where we ate a great many of our meals, but I felt it important to show a photograph of one of my newfound favorite snacks. And even though I was unable to find a Dutch person who was privy to their ingredients, no one should ever leave The Netherlands without sampling the delicious, deep-fried goodness that is bitterballen.]
We batted around some ideas for a bit, but since we were both so exhausted, we decided that renting a movie might be a more suitable choice for the evening's entertainment.
"The movie, Eurotrip, is playing on the television tonight," Roderick said.
And as I was taking a drink of my frosty Heineken, I was struck with a moment of brilliance.
"Ya know, there's nothing preventing us from taking a Eurotrip this summer," I responded.
A gleam immediately appeared in Roderick's eyes as the smile overcame his face; brilliance had struck him as well.
"There is nothing preventing us from taking a Eurotrip this summer," Roderick shot back.
And it was at that very moment, on the terrace of a small cafe in Den Haag, over Heineken and bitterballen, that Eurotrip '08 was first conceived and we would spend the rest of the evening planning what was to be the grandest roadtrip in all of my existence.
