This post should also be called Life After Exams: Doing Everything you Haven't Done Yet.
The past few days (well, since Friday) have been filled with me trying to fit in all the things around the Netherlands that I still wanted to do. Has it been fun? Oh, yes! Extremely fun. Have I done everything I wanted to do? Not a chance, but I have hit all items at the Very Top of the List. And if I did everything now, I wouldn't have a reason to come back, would I?
Right, so what have I done? Most Calvin people began scattering all over Europe last Saturday as soon as exams were finished, but I have been in Amsterdam and the surrounding area. (My international adventures begin tomorrow). On Saturday, with an iced mocha in hand:
I wandered around central Amsterdam, going absolutely anywhere I wanted to go. I found a market I didn't know existed, watched a man balance on a pole in Leidseplein, and did my final souvenir/gift shopping.
Souvenirs -- check.
Sunday was mostly cleaning my room and packing. I will spare you the details.
On Monday I made it back to Den Haag. I wanted to finally make it to the Mauritshuis:
If anyone is looking for touring tips, I would strongly recommend this museum. Like the Rijksmuseum, it has top-notch art (Girl with a Pearl Earring, for example) but all contained within only 12 rooms. The small size lessens the chances of catching Museum Fatigue, an all-too-common ailment in Europe. Plus I got to listen to a free audio guide and, thanks to the uncrowded nature of the place, I could stand 6 inches away from paintings (including GwaPE!) for
as long as I liked. This was no Louvre where you and five hundred closest friends look at the Mona Lisa together. If you're in Den Haag, go to the Mauritshuis!
After the museum I came across a cafe I had heard about from Deborah and Bonnie. I knew it was the right place because it had the stroopwafel Frappuccinos they told me about!
Keep in mind that an iced coffee in the Netherlands usually means the ice is blended, so it really tastes more like a Frappuccino. And, yes, I can call it a Frappuccino even if it isn't from Starbucks! You still call that Puffs tissue a Kleenex, right?
Gotcha.
The stroopwafel frappuccino was a dream come true.
Final item on the Den Haag agenda was...Madurodam!
Madurodam, Madurodam, how I love you so,
Of all the places in the world, you're where I want to go,
A tiny Holland, built with care, for me to wander through,
Madurodam, Madurodam, oh how I do love you!
That spontaneous poetry stemmed from how amazing this place was. The best way to describe it is as a tiny Netherlands.
You can feel like a giant for the day and wander through the buildings replicated at a 1:25 scale.
I was smiling the entire time I was there. First, I kept finding buildings I knew (The Dom in Utrecht! Kuypersport in Middelburg!), and it was like reliving my entire semester. Second, I had a good time placing my miniature friend amongst the miniature buildings.
Obama now has a test for you: How many of these Dutch landmarks can you name based on their miniature alone?
A)
B)
C)
If you said A) Maeslantkering, Nieuwe Waterweg; B) Dam Square, Amsterdam; and C) Binnenhof, Den Haag, YOU WIN!
But really, I got a huge kick out of Madurodam and have over 100 pictures to prove it. Miniature Holland was a blast!
Another thing on the Very Top of My List was the flower auction in Aalsmeer. I had only heard wonderful things about it, and let me tell you...
...it lived up to the hype. Maybe I was still on a Madurodam-high Tuesday morning, or maybe I was just pleased not to be visiting another museum/church/city hall (no offense to the thousands out there to be seen), but I thought the flower auction was one of the coolest sights I've seen in Amsterdam.
The gist of it: Every weekday morning millions of flowers are auctioned off in the auction halls located throughout this giant warehouse. Meanwhile, outside the auction halls, life in the warehouse is organized chaos. Flower carts are pulled around in trains, or pushed around individually, with beeping and honking and clanging and craziness.
To top it all off, the entire warehouse looks like a patchwork quilt of flowers.
AND the place smells amazing.
I took about 100 pictures here too. These will hopefully give you an idea of the colors:
This video might give you some idea of the noise and ordered chaos going on down on the warehouse floor. So many workers driving like crazy! Yet they don't run into each other!
I'm very sorry, but I can't think of any way to get the beautiful smell in the warehouse to you. You will just have to visit the flower auction yourself! Go now. Bus #172.
I'm serious.
...
Although I am not leaving until Sunday, yesterday (Tuesday) was my last chance to go into central Amsterdam. Continuing with my theme, I took about 100 photos of my favorite places:
I also enjoyed delicious ice cream from a street vendor (something else I've heard wonderful things about, just now tried, and now agree that is wonderful), poffertjes from a street vendor, and a croquette from the vending machines of a FEBO.
Try the ice cream:
Enjoy poffertjes one last time:
Finally visit a FEBO:
Check, check, check.
Checking things off mental lists feels great!
I also tried to achieve some personal poetic justice. This was the first picture of Amsterdam I took this semester (Jan. 30):
And this is the last (June 1):
How nice.
...
...
...
I realized on the tram ride back that they are of different canals (Prinsengracht vs. Keizersgracht). It's the thought that counts, right?
On to the final Dutch adventure: the Efteling!
Efteling is the coolest of all Dutch theme parks. Well, there is not that much competition, but it is still very cool! I have heard (and heard and heard) about this place from some certain Dutch people I know :) Eva and I went down for the day, and now I can say I've had the true Efteling experience!
There we are with our little elf friend. Highlights of the day include getting "cursed" on the Flying Dutchman (a ride that goes from boat to roller coaster to boat!), eating fries in a grassy field with sad, sparse grass, getting wet on the river rafting ride, wandering through the fairy tale forest, seeing an unsupervised child fall 10 feet down a ledge (he was fine, but learned his lesson about sitting on railings!), getting "stuck" in the Python roller coaster seats (worker-boy brought out his special hydraulic pump to release us), eating ice cream by a garbage can that wouldn't shut up, getting the theme music for every ride stuck in my head...
You get the point -- Efteling was great! The weather was also perfect, and I did not at all mind spending a lovely day outside.
And my list is complete :( The only adventures I will have in Holland now will be had at the airport, and I hope to not have
any adventures there since "adventures" in the world of flights are never fun. The three days I have left will be filled with beer, fries, waffles, chocolate, and other Belgian delicacies. Close to the Netherlands, but not quite! It should be great fun, and you might hear about some of it Saturday night.
But I feel like I still have pages to write about this semester. I don't want it to be over! So this blog might continue for a little while after I get back to the States, just so I can get caught up on everything worth saying ;)
Words of advice: keep checking back in! And as always, thanks for reading!
