So tomorrow is my first of two finals and I officially leave the Netherlands next Thursday! Time has gone by pretty quickly since I went to France. I've been trying to get the most out of the Netherlands while I'm still here and also pretending to be studious so I don't fail my finals.
Last weekend my friend Nora and I tried to do the 7 mile walk from Nordwijk beach down the coast to Scheveningen (try pronouncing that I dare you) beach by Den Haag. We tried. It was freezing and windy but beautiful. We've only had really good weather so far during the Icelandic volcano eruptions parts 1 and 2, so I didn't really expect to be in the water. There was a contest going on for windsurfing with those giant balloon things. At one point the wind stopped and we had to dodge one when it almost came down on us. There were lots of adorable dogs running around playing in the water. We tried it out (the water not running with dogs) at one point and immediately scampered back out to dig our feet into the sand. Two or three hours in we threw in the towel at Katwijk and bused home exhausted.
I really am going to miss being so close to Amsterdam after I leave. It's such a great city. A little small for me, so I don't think I'll ever live there, but I know in the future I'll make a point to come back. Been going up a lot more just so I don't miss anything I really want to do. I had a particularly good day on Monday when I went up. I forgot it was Pentecost so the Nordmarkt (weekly flea market) and a bunch of stores I wanted to check out were closed, but I did spend a lot of time staring into windows (it's probably better that way). I finally got a chance to check out the FOAM photography museum that is a little outside city center on the bottom end of the Keizergracht. It was awesome. I'm now officially a photography addict. My favorite exhibition there was on Ari Marcopoulous who was born in Amsterdam but lived in New York and California documenting youth culture in the late 90's. . . really cool. Speaking of street stuff, I randomly found a tag by Laser 3.14 who is pretty big right now. I'll put up the picture if I find it.
I spent some time on the Spui (which traditionally means 'sluice' which makes sense but now is ironically a term for smoking weed) which is up close to Amsterdam Centraal and therefore close to the touristy stuff. It has its merits though- there are some great Dutch and English bookstores that I spent time browsing in. Also there is the main entrance to the Beginhof Chapel area that is a serene escape in the middle of the city. It was originally an area for religious Catholic women who did not want to take their vows and so built there own community. Definitely recommend it. It was beautiful out so I took advantage and spent a few hours studying at an outdoor cafe watching the world and the Amsterdammers go by.
Before I left I took a quick run through the Bloemmarkt (flower market) on the Singel and passed through Rembrandtplein where a lot of eventful things have happened but is now a huge touristy outpost. I also went through the Waterlooplein, which is usually a market area on the weekends before looping back up to the station passing the Pathe Tuschinski theater. I love how walkable Amsterdam is.
I swear to never walk up or down the Damrak EVER again (it's the main tourist drag that leads up to the train station that is almost impossible to avoid). I came very close to punching lots of people as I fought my way through but particularly a woman in yellow crocs.
That's about it for now. . . In my last week here I plan on going up to Amsterdam a few more times for festivals and Den Haag for the Tong Tong Indonesian festival (really excited to see some Indorock). Other than that I'll be packing up and getting ready for England and Wales with my dad and brother! I leave next Thursday and spend time in Oxford, Bath, the Stonehenge area, four days in Wales and then three nights in London! Really excited. I get back to Pittsburgh on June 12th in time for the arts festival and Greek food festivals and back to Worcester on July 1st!
Ashley
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