Since high school, I've learned
that one of the hardest lessons in life is to let go, say goodbye, and be happy
in the process. I feel like this last year especially has been proof of that.
Saying goodbye, whether it's for the short-term, long-term, or forever, is
never easy.
And
with this post, I say goodbye to Europe once again. This last month has been
incredible. I've learned a lot, both academically and personally. But now it's
time to say hello to Seattle and UW campus life once again.
But
for now, let's focus on the good times, shall we? :) The last week in the
Netherlands were full of visits to different courts and tribunals, as well as
visits to the beach. We visited trials at the International Criminal Court
(ICC) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
We also got to visit the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and the Peace
Palace where the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is found. Again, lots of
food, lots of fun all around :) During the week, I also visited Delft, well-known for its porcelain and the home to the painter, Vermeer, and Hugo Grotius, the father of international law. And at the end of the program, I stayed one more day in Amsterdam, where I got to visit the Anne Frank museum. Those are only just a few of the things I did while on the trip, if you want more details, see me. :P
I'm
definitely sad to be saying goodbye to Europe, but I'm hoping that the future
holds more adventures there for me in the future.
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| Mustard soup - surprisingly delicious! |
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| yum!! |
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| downtown in the Hague |
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| in the binnenhof |
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| waffle ice cream sandwich |
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| zoe, martha, and i with our ice cream sandwiches :) |
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| on the left, sherrie, from my freshman dorm floor and who was on the program two years ago, came to visit! :) |
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| love how you can just bike around with a dog in your basket |
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| queen's royal carriage (she's not in it though) |
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| at the ICTY |
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| truffle burger - yum |
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| another lovely picture courtesy of my roommate, kelsey |
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| at the special tribunal for lebanon |
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| outside the icty |
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| beach dinner! |
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| excited to be in delft! |
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| cutest. kid. ever. (drinking a caprisun and then sharing it with his mom! ahhhhh) |
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| i was never a huge fan of flowers till i got here |
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| i climbed this tower!!! |
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| zoe in photographer mode |
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| at the tomb of hugo grotius, father of international law!! |
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| marching band parade! |
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| martha and her buttermilk/orange juice? |
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| vermeer museum |
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| fresh stroopwafels!!! :D (waffles with caramel inside) |
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| canal cruise time in delft! |
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| crooked tower in delft |
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| kata and i in front of a castle thing? |
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| carpaccio sandwiches are delicious |
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| escher museum in the hague |
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| st peter's basilica in the vatican by escher |
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| the best chandeliers ever were in this museum, formerly a palace |
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| see what i mean?! this is barely a taste of what amazing chandeliers they had - think wine bottles, books, bombs (yeah..i don't know why..) |
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| icc detention facility by night |
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| professor giving..instructions? lecture? |
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| at the peace palace |
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| world peace flame - rocks from all around the world are placed all around |
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| map of welcome in all different languages according to their placement |
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| zoe and i in the peace palace |
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| the chairs in this room have a different symbol, indicating the country of which the person sitting on the chair represents |
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| the united states chair |
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| peace palace from the side |
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| in the garden of the peace palace |
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| peace palace garden |
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| united nations flag in the gardens |
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| my work of art on the present for our professor :P |
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| best bagels ever! |
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| i amsterdam in front of the rijksmuseum in amsterdam |
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| part of my hotel room in the hague |
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| kelsey and real dutch gouda! |
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| kata and kelsey with curry fries |
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| kelsey's ear ring from the van gogh museum |
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| at the anne frank museum |
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| the entrance to the secret room |
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| anne frank's diary |
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| kata in mcdonalds with one of the many drunk belgian students that cornered us... |
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| beautiful skies in amsterdam |
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| kelsey and i at the airport in philadelphia, then seattle |
And to end...some pictures that are very out of order that I've stolen from people in our group (all photo credit to them!):
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| zoe and i in delft |
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| charlene and i recreating vermeer |
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| disney figurines at the market in delft! |
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| ellen, zoe, and i on the tower in delft |
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| dinner in galway with some awesome people (l to r: des, jia, me, jovana, jody, tanya, and andrijiana) |
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| <3 delft="delft" in="in" span="span"> |
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| good times in scheveningen |
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| delft |
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| galway |
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| peace palace gardens |
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| delft |
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| belfast |
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| delft |
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| spiddal in ireland |
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| lunch in galway |
Thanks for reading/looking :) à la prochaine!
Europe - words are insufficient to describe this feeling I have for you. I am absolutely, devastatingly, head over heels in love. All I know is that every time I leave, my heart breaks a little more and hurts way too much. Next time, it'll be forever. Until then...
