Life in The Hague

At first glance, this probably looks like a dull image of a police motorbike and some cars but, if you read further, you will see how it is a representation of life, here, in The Hague. What the photo doesn't convey is the movement and colour that I experienced whilst taking the photo - the flashing blue lights, the sense of importance of whoever was in the black car and the general sense of occasion that I'm now becoming accustomed to...

In the nine months we have lived here I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many police motor bike relays with blue lights flashing, stopping in the middle of a junction, holding up traffic lights (just when you’re running late and in a hurry), halting the traffic and waving through a cavalcade of big black cars. At first I thought the delays were due to yet another accident but then remembered, ah yes, we live in The Hague – home to 115 embassies or consulates, the Dutch royal family, 160 international agencies (indeed Boutros Boutros Gali called The Hague, the ‘legal capital of the world’) and all of them seem to possess big, black cars that are waved through by police escorts. I've stopped being impatient and now crane my neck and try to see if anybody interesting is in the cavalcade!