I spent the past weekend in Amsterdam. Due to a certain minor volcanic eruption, I could have been spending a lot longer in Amsterdam. I probably should've stayed considering how unproductive I've been since returning to Prague but hey, whatever.
I paid $39 for a train ticket to Amsterdam so I braced myself for a 16-hour ride of joy and comfort. Some lessons were learned:
1. Never get onto a long-haul train thinking there will be a food cart just because the Hogwarts Express has one.
2. Don't assume that just because your compartment is empty for five and a half hours that it'll stay empty once you hit Berlin.
3. Don't ever, ever, ever get onto a train without food.
Okay. So. Sixteen hours and one frozen neck later, I arrive in Amsterdam. It's GORGEOUS and sunny and the best weather I've seen all semester. As a city Amsterdam reminds me of Copenhagen, only not shitty, pretentious, or full of douchebags. But anyway.
After settling in and blowing off a CNN report on a volcanic eruption in Iceland, I attempted to find my way to the Central Station to meet up for a free walking tour of the city. Ended up bonding with Lia, a girl from Canada traveling after her semester abroad. I wound up hanging out with her for the rest of the day, alternately dragging each other in bookstores and coffee shops and just kind of wandering. We wound up in the red light district at night and I can safely say that I've never felt that uncomfortable in my life; I don't care if the women working there are cool with it, I've just never felt so awkward before.
Day two was a bit more productive. Started figuring out that my flight from Brussels probably wasn't going to happen so I booked a $160 train ticket back across the continent to Prague. I really wanted to give up my $20, one-hour flight from Belgium, I can assure you. At one point there was a three-hour-long wait to talk to the international ticketing people in the station; the police were guarding the entrance and weren't letting anyone else in. Cool, volcano.
I started the morning at the Anne Frank House, and it was probably my favorite part of Amsterdam. It's one thing to read the diary and then it's another to actually walk the stairs, see the bookcase, be in their rooms-- it was really affecting and emotional. Normally historical sites don't really do it for me (case in point: Auschwitz) but there was something about being in the annex that got to me.
Visited the Dutch Resistance Museum and then kind of bummed around Rembrandtsplein before going to the Jewish History Museum and then to see Chloe (by the way? SUCKED). The Jewish History Museum had a painting by Marc Chagall, one of my favorite painters ever, and I didn't expect to just kind of stumble upon it so it was a really, really nice surprise.
Went to the Van Gogh Museum at night for their extended hours; they had a DJ and a bartender and it was a grand ol' party for everyone there except for the humorless Japanese tourists. The museum was really cool but none of my favorite paintings were there so I found it a little hard to get excited about "Sunflowers". Met up with Kim and two other Praguers afterward, booked the train ticket home.
I was supposed to go to The Hague on Saturday and continue on to Brussels but plans change, volcanoes erupt, the usual. Wound up going to the Rijksmuseum and then kind of bumming around. I bought a tourist card so I had a free canal cruise that I promptly fell asleep on because I hadn't had time to get coffee so COOL. I was pretty disappointing to not be going to The Hague because I just wanted to see the International Court of Justice and "Girl With A Pearl Earring" but I suppose both will always be around. Played with three different dogs in the English-language bookstore! I love Amsterdam and could definitely see myself living there in the future because God knows my path does not involve any more South Florida than is absolutely necessary.
The train ride home mildly blew. The compartment was completely packed but at least I slept, I think, for most of the ride. A ton of people are still stuck in various places around the continent so I'm just really happy to be home. I probably should have done the irresponsible thing by staying in Amsterdam but whatever.
So, fun things in Prague:
1. Everyone in my study abroad program got a notice from the Czech foreign police saying that our American health insurance was no longer good and if we didn't buy Czech-certified insurance within five days they'd start the deportation process. We all got the insurance but it's been a bit of a hilarious mess.
2. The volcano erupted and now our flight to Istanbul on Thursday is in doubt. THANKS, Eyjafjallajökull.
3. Both beds in my room have bedbugs. I slept on the floor of another room with my snuggie and a towel-as-pillow. NOTHING IS REAL.
4. I need to start the visa extension process because I desperately want to say this summer. C'est la vie.
Song of the weekend:
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