getting lost in amsterdam

The title is a reference to one of my favorite songs ever, amsterdam by guster. But seriously, it was even more confusing than venice, which was pretty darn difficult to navigate! On the bright side, my travel companions (Charlie, Mike and Nzaba - it was quite a bro-tastic weekend) and I got to explore a lot of the city that we normally wouldn't have seen. Unfortunately it was pretty cold and our Madrid-adjusted bodies could not tolerate wandering around in the 10˚C weather, so we spent a lot of time hanging out in cafes and other indoor venues. Here are some photos from the wandering. So pretty!

damrak-- one of the biggest streets/canals. you can see the train station in the distance.

sex museum. we went there. it was interesting.

most demanding/controlling street performer I have ever seen! 

charlie took the same photo; according to him the biker makes it look more "dutch"

neat alley I found when Charlie and I were trying to find Mike and Nzaba

love canals! 

Charlie and I in the I AMsterdam sign. I need to figure out how to photoshop the two pictures together to get the whole sign in one shot! 

Museumplein: large square/park with Rijksmuseum on one end and Van Gogh museum at the other. Also home to the I AMsterdam sign. 

I really wanted to go to the Van Gogh museum but unfortunately by the time we got to the Museumplein (it's a bit far outside of the main downtown where we were staying) it was 3:30 and the museums both close at 6 AND there were huge lines at both. Charlie and I did the Rijksmuseum, which has a lot of classic paintings buy Dutch dudes like Vermeer and Rembrandt. It also had a lot of scenes from the Dutch Golden Age -- shipping, trading, tulips, protestantism, you name it. I find this period of history really interesting so I had a great time in the museum. There were also some non-painting works on exhibit like Delft tiles and silver engraved plates and sculptures. Mike and Nzaba went to the Van Gogh museum, for which I will be eternally jealous because I LOVE Van Gogh and always copied his style when I did painting in high school. Although that may have just been because I can't draw for love or money. I guess that's something for my next trip...

I'm sorry this is such a sorry excuse for an update, but I actually have work this week and my parents and Jack are visiting next week so I'm gearing up for that as well!! Hopefully I'll have time to fit in another post about life in Madrid--this is the first weekend in almost a month that I've been in my home city!

Love,
S