Thursday, September 01, 2005
An Unusual Wednesday: Amsterdam with Van Gogh
The weather the past week has been quite sunny and the Dutch love it. Everyone seems to be in a good mood. For example, I was told I didn’t have to go to work yesterday. My fellow intern did not have to come either and be both ventured to Amsterdam at different times during the day. I thought going to Amsterdam mid-week to visit a museum would be less busy than visiting a museum on a weekend.
I awoke, showered, went to the tourist info center in Rotterdam, bought a discount card for travel via train at the train station, hopped on the intercity train headed to Amsterdam, figured out how the trams work in Amsterdam, got on a tram five to take me to the Museumplein stop, got off a stop earlier than Museumplein because it was closer to the Van Gogh museum, bought a museum card at the museum, entered the museum, got an audio tour, walked the entire museum for about three hours, walked back to the Amsterdam Centraal area, walked around some more, and hopped on a sneiltrain back to Rotterdam.
A section of the museum currently has a bunch of Van Gogh’s drawings on display. This hasn’t happened for a long time due to light sensitivity, fading, etc. It won’t happen again for a long time. So, I was lucky. There was one drawing with watercolor in particular that I quite liked. I can’t remember the name of it but it is drawn of the garden of Saint Remey.
On my trek back, I decided I wanted a cola light. A difference here: diet coke is cola light. Not only does it have a different name but there is a slight difference in taste. Originally, I liked diet coke better but have become accustomed to cola light. I have forgotten what the taste of diet coke is like and may miss the taste of cola light when returning to the states. Back to my point…
I decided I wanted a cola light. It’s not as easy to stop into a store and purchase a cold, refreshing cola light as it is at home. Actually, it’s a lot easier because cola light isn’t sold at home. :) I found a store similar to a convenience store where a refrigerator was located with cold cola light inside. I grabbed one and went to the counter to pay speaking in Dutch. I was quite proud because they spoke back to me in Dutch. Often if an accent is detected, response from others will be in English. I succeeded! I walked out the door very pleased with myself. Prior to purchasing a cola light, I purchased a kass croissant, (cheese croissant), at another store answering and ordering in Dutch. Again, I was quite pleased with myself.
I took some pictures of Amsterdam this time. I tried to blend and not stick out too much as a tourist fore the streets of Amsterdam reek of them. Had I been a scavenger, it would be quite easy to steal from these lost and confused folk wandering the streets in search of a coffee shop. I think it is easier for me to blend because I am a solitary person wandering the streets and I try to pretend I know where I am going. Due to my stay in Almere and the bike rides with Caroline, I know what kind of signs to look for to point me in the right direction so am somewhat familiar with my surroundings. These pictures will be uploaded in my allotment next month.
Until I write again…dag!
I awoke, showered, went to the tourist info center in Rotterdam, bought a discount card for travel via train at the train station, hopped on the intercity train headed to Amsterdam, figured out how the trams work in Amsterdam, got on a tram five to take me to the Museumplein stop, got off a stop earlier than Museumplein because it was closer to the Van Gogh museum, bought a museum card at the museum, entered the museum, got an audio tour, walked the entire museum for about three hours, walked back to the Amsterdam Centraal area, walked around some more, and hopped on a sneiltrain back to Rotterdam.
A section of the museum currently has a bunch of Van Gogh’s drawings on display. This hasn’t happened for a long time due to light sensitivity, fading, etc. It won’t happen again for a long time. So, I was lucky. There was one drawing with watercolor in particular that I quite liked. I can’t remember the name of it but it is drawn of the garden of Saint Remey.
On my trek back, I decided I wanted a cola light. A difference here: diet coke is cola light. Not only does it have a different name but there is a slight difference in taste. Originally, I liked diet coke better but have become accustomed to cola light. I have forgotten what the taste of diet coke is like and may miss the taste of cola light when returning to the states. Back to my point…
I decided I wanted a cola light. It’s not as easy to stop into a store and purchase a cold, refreshing cola light as it is at home. Actually, it’s a lot easier because cola light isn’t sold at home. :) I found a store similar to a convenience store where a refrigerator was located with cold cola light inside. I grabbed one and went to the counter to pay speaking in Dutch. I was quite proud because they spoke back to me in Dutch. Often if an accent is detected, response from others will be in English. I succeeded! I walked out the door very pleased with myself. Prior to purchasing a cola light, I purchased a kass croissant, (cheese croissant), at another store answering and ordering in Dutch. Again, I was quite pleased with myself.
I took some pictures of Amsterdam this time. I tried to blend and not stick out too much as a tourist fore the streets of Amsterdam reek of them. Had I been a scavenger, it would be quite easy to steal from these lost and confused folk wandering the streets in search of a coffee shop. I think it is easier for me to blend because I am a solitary person wandering the streets and I try to pretend I know where I am going. Due to my stay in Almere and the bike rides with Caroline, I know what kind of signs to look for to point me in the right direction so am somewhat familiar with my surroundings. These pictures will be uploaded in my allotment next month.
Until I write again…dag!
