Last Day in Amsterdam

The uninteresting front of the Van Gogh Museum.
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We woke up a bit late at about 10 o'clock, still just in time for breakfast. It was nice. Except for some of the staff, we had the entire dining room to ourselves. After a short meal, we went to our room and slowly got ready for the day.

The weather was once again gloomy and windy and wet. We walked to Mike's Bike Tours, this time to rent some bikes. The ones we were given weren't nearly as nice as the ones we had toured on just a few days before, but Pip and Stewart had warned us of that.

Public flatulance never gets old...

The beautiful Vondelpark.
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We rode our bikes to the Museumplein, about a half mile south of the bike shop. The Museumplein is a large park area home to the Rijks Museum (dutch history, I think), the Stedelijk Museum (cotemporary art), and the Van Gogh Museum (you can figure that one out). I'm sure you can guees which one we were there for. A long time fan of Van Gogh and his work, I could not possibly visit a city in which there was a museum devoted entirely to him and not check it out! The museum contains 200 of his 1,100 paintings, 800 sketches, and most of the correspondence between him and his brother, Theo. The exhibit is spread over three floors and also includes works by his contemporaries.

Me, just riding around and around.
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So, Christina and I were walking through one of the first rooms of the exhibit and we hear a quite poot. Our eyes meet, we snicker, and chalk it up to an accidental release. A few moments later we notice a frail, old, white haired lady in an aqua cardigan pushing her way through the crowd. Follwing her was a series of fairly consistent farts. This time we couldn't help ourselves. We both let out obviously audible giggles. Now we are bothpolite young ladies in our twenties and well aware that our uncontrollable laughter was highly inappropriate for setting and situation, but something about an old lady blatently farting through crowds of people really tickeled our funnybones. Public flatulance just never get old I guess.  We tried, semisucessfully, to control ourselves for the next few minutes. After that, we intentionally steered clear of her, mainly out of fear we'd embarass ourselves even further.

Christina, also just riding around and around.
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The rest of our time spent in the Van Gogh Museum was uneventful. We saw lots of Van Gogh's work, including the famous Sunflowers, Irises, and multiple self portraits. There were some paintings I had seen before, as well as many I had not. It was definitely worth the visit.

When we were done, we rode a few blocks to the Vondelpark, an english style park with weeping willows, paths and lakes. It was beautiful, and for awhile we thought the weather was clearing up. That thought didn't last long. Dark clouds quickly rolled in and the rain began to come down. It wasn't so bad though. Un predictable weather with sudden brief periods of rain is completely normal for Amsterdam. We wouldn't have a true experience without it. By the time we reached the Museumplein again, the rain had stopped and sun had starting coming out again. We got off our bikes and just wandered around a bit, enjoying the atmosphere. After awhile we began to get hungry. It was around 5 and we hadn't eaten since breakfast. Although it was still a little early, we decided to return our bikes and set out to find some dutch mexican food. The first place we went to was closed (they aren't open on mondays), but they recommended a place down the street called Rose's Cantina. Rose's was open, so, after some confusion with the doors, we went inside and sat down. The restaurant was nice, almost too nice. A single candle was lit on each table along with empty wine glasses expecting to be filled. It was like I was on a romantic dinner date celebrating my last night in Amsterdam, with my sister. We talked of our future plans over a fancy mexican meal, and Christina serenaded me with an unrecognizable Fall Out Boy song. She will always have a place in my heart. Needless to say, it was a lovely, silly dinner. As for dutch mexican food, it's not horrible. They still bring out chips and salsa as you sit down. We both had a quesadilla, that had peppers and tomatoes in it, black beans and rice. I also has a goat cheese and spinach enchilada. The main food itself was good, the black beans quite tasteless, the guacamole somewhat watery, and the bill more much than american version would ever be, But it still was some form of mexican food and I was glad that we were able to find it so far away from home.

The Reguliersgracht Canal, all lit up for nighttime.
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We walked back to the hotel, rested for an hour or so, and went back out at dusk for some nighttime photography. The Red Light District had been so busy when we had gone saturday night we had had little opportunity for taking pictures. It was less crowded tonight, and we were able to get some shots of the alleys lit with the red lights. You are forbidden to take pictures of the prostitutes. Many are leading double lives, with their families having no knowledge of their alternative careers. If you are caught taking a photo of a girl, it is warned she may come out of her room and smash your camera, destroying any potential photos of her.

We also took some great photos of the canals, with the bridges and houses all lit up. I can't wait to print them out. Unfortunately, at this particular computer in the hotel, there is no access to the usb connection, so we haven't been able to upload any pictures to share with everyone. Maybe we'll have better luck with that in London. Speaking of London, our flight leaves tomorrow around 11:30 in the morning. We will arrive in Heathrow a bit before 12 (we gain an hour), and should be in our new home early afternoon. We'll let you all know how it goes!

Thanks for reading! We hope our stories are interesting and enjoyable!

We'll write tomorrow!

Love you all!

Jess & Chris