Tiffany Goes Travelling

I have started a photo hosting account with Photobucket, and I have my first album with pictures and a video of Amsterdam. The link is

www.photobucket.com/tiffanygoestravelling

Yesterday my cousin Nick and I visited Amsterdam for the day.

We started our journey from Lelystad Centrum station, and it took almost 1 20 min to get to Amsterdam Central. That is unusual, our train had some problems in the cockpit, so it wouldn’t get up to speed. The ticket for two people, return day trip, 2nd class was 34 euro. I had no idea it was so expensive to take the transit here, but I suppose we were traveling to a very popular spot, and a different city. Nick was very generous and purchased our tickets.

When we arrived in Amsterdam, the first place we went was the Dam. It is like a popular square, with momunents, tourists shops and a very expensive shopping center, in English, called the Bee Hive. Also in and near that square are a few musuems. There is a torture museum, a sex museum and Madame Tussauds. They are currently featuring David Beckham and President Obama. We did not go in, but I may go in the future.

We grabbed a bite to eat in an off street cafe, and headed on what seemed like a never ending walk (because I wore heels in a city made of bricks and cobblestone) to the Rijks Museum. They feature a lot of work by Rembrandt, who is apparantly a dutch born artist. I didn’t know that; you learn something everyday.

The museum was very nice, but much smaller inside than it appears from the outside. I got to see a famous Rembrandt painting called “The Night Watch”. It is several meters long, but there is 2 meters missing that were removed some time in the past. The paintings were magnificent, and the museum atmosphere was pleasant. The exterior of the museum was under construction, but I can imagine it is a very beautiful building without the scaffolding. We got there at just the right time, because when we arrived (I think around noon) we just walked right in. But when we were leaving, the line up went out past the front gardens. It cost 11 Euro a person. In the Netherlands, they have something called a museum card, that allows you to get into lots of museums for free. It cost 39euro, and pays for itself in 2-3 visits. I intend on buying it sometime.

After the museum, the walk back seemed especially daunting, and so we took a boat tour back to central station. It was 10Euro (which Nick also paid for; Thank you Nick!) a person, and was roughly 30-40 minutes. It was very lovely and relaxing. I will defiantly be doing that again in the future.

When we got back to the station, it cost .50 cents to use the bathroom. That surprised me, I honestly was not expecting it. I’ve never paid to go to a bathroom, but I think it is something I took for granted in Canada. I’ve heard of people being charged in large cities in the states.

Overall it was a very hot day in Amsterdam, something I am told is not characteristic of the weather in the Netherlands. It has been uncharacteristically hot all week actually. It is a bit different than Calgary in that it is also much wetter here (more humid). I wouldn’t mind so much if my hair would stay straight in all the moisture.

Thats all for now. Next week I move into my place in Leiden and start school. Also, this weekend Nick’s community is having a block party, so I may have stories from that, and I may be going to an airplane museum this Sunday in Lelystad.

I have arrived at my destination. I am unharmed and I have all my baggage, so I’d say everything went well.

I was worried about all of my layovers, but they were actually quite pleasant. Seattle was a nice airport to spend 7 hours. The 7 hour flight from Seattle to Reykjavik was okay…but it was hard to sleep because my legs cramped up and my butt got really sore.

The Iceland airport was really odd. It looked like a giant open Ikea store. Everything was extremely minimal and everything in that airport from the signs to the chairs looked like it was bought from Ikea.

Amsterdam has a damn fine airport, and it is absolutely massive! It is by far the most impressive airport I’ve ever seen. The shopping is superb, the food selection is varied and attractive. The whole airport looks like an art piece; beautiful sculptures and windows everywhere. Very lovely place.

Holland was a hot place to be today. At least 30 degree’s.

My family picked me up from the airport and I got a lovely tour of the countryside for nearly 4 hours. I saw parts of the University, parts of Amsterdam, and I got to see the sea! It was a lovely day, and my family have been very hospitable.

As I write this I am surprised that I have not collapsed from exhaustion after my nearly 28 hours of up time. It will probably happen soon so I will sign out now.