July 2nd -- All over the map

Discovering the night before that class today was to be somewhere new to us, we (Lisa, Johnson, Kayla, and I) did not look forward to our trip to lecture we had to set out on at 9am. To our surprise, we found our way quite easily (with time to get coffee I might add) and were the first ones to make it to class and early as an extra bonus :)

First stop: Lecture on the Netherlands' criminal justice system

Second stop: Cafeteria Lunch
Kayla made me try a piece of her smoked salmon today at lunch. It was good though I think I would enjoy it better cooked some other way. I wasn't too fond of the smokey after-taste.

Third stop: Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum
With the handy "Museumkaart", I can get into any museum in Amsterdam for free and without waiting in line for a ticket. Today, I visited Rijksmuseum where there were a lot of paintings by the famous Rembrandt, as well as the Van Gogh museum. The Van Gogh museum obviously had many Van Gogh pieces, but also had various artists' work that had personally inspired Van Gogh.

Fourth stop: "Canal bike"
When walking from the museums in the direction of Centraal Station, I spotted a paddle boat on the canal. At once, Kayla, Lisa, and I decided we must try using one on the canals! For 7 euro a piece, we got a paddle boat for an hour. As we made our way through the canals, we took a wrong turn somewhere and were told by angry Dutch boat owners that we had entered waters where "canal bikes" were prohibited. We eventually found our way to a destination where we could drop off the small boat just before our hour was up. Though we stressed the whole way trying to find our way back to where we were permitted, the view of the city from the canals was beautiful and it was an adventure I will remember forever.

Fifth stop: Cheese shop
For just over 6 euro, I bought a goat cheese covered in pesto! It is very tasty and will make a good snack on crackers for the days to come.

Sixth stop: Coffee Company (again! :))

Seventh stop: Centraal Station
When needing to go to the bathroom at the train station, there is one bathroom for guys and girls (girls on one side of course while guys are on the other). Though this was new to me, I was more amazed by the fact that it costs .50 euro to use the restroom! What?! This is beyond strange! Is it not?!

Still bewildered by the bathroom situation, we made our way back to the dorms to finally kick off our shoes and get to...reading for class tomorrow morning :/ Oh the joys of going to school in the summertime...

PICTURES TAKEN 7.2.12

Posh Spice, Baby Spice, & Sporty Spice for the day :)

Rembrandt

 

Icecream boat?