Sapi, the woman we couch surfed with, let us borrow her and her friends museum pass. In Amsterdam, you can pay about 40 Euro and get a pass that lets you into every museum for free because unlike London, the museums here aren't free, and they aren't cheap.
We first went into the Rijksmuseum to look at paintings by the Dutch masters. The museum itself is HUGE, but most of it was closed which was very frustrating. They did keep one wing open and I got to see most of the paintings I wanted to. The museum cards are registered to your name, so mine had Sapi's name and birthday on it. Going through the first museum, I didn't realize this, but was able to get in without a problem.
The Van Gosh museum was right next door so we headed over there and spent about 10 minutes trying to find the entrance, only to learn that the museum was being renovated and all the paintings had been moved to the Hermitage Museum, so off we went.
This museum was a bit trickier. We gave the lady our cards to get free tickets and my friend got his without any problem because his had no name or birthday on it. She then printed my ticket and was about to give it to me when she checked the info on the card. Crap. I knew she caught me, because even thought my name could be S. Lotta, I was definitely NOT born in January 1975!!! She looked at me and hesitated and was about to say something, and then she just gave me a disapproving look and gave me my ticket. Needless to say, I rushed into the exhibit.
But thanks Sapi for saving us 40 euro each!
Not only did we get to see Van Gosh, but a whole exhibit on impressionism, one of my top 2 favorite movements. Every painting was exquisite and it was such a treat to be able to see Van Gogh THAT close. He truly was amazing.
After the museums, we walked over a mile in the pouring rain back to Sapi's to return her cards. We then hit the super market again to get some food for dinner and had a relaxing night at the hostel chatting with people. I was talking with two girls from Cali that had just graduated from UCSB and NAU, and they were doing a graduation backpack trip. They were going to be in London on Friday, so I told them where to eat, what pubs/bars to go to, what to see, how to get around. After I realized, wow, I know a lot about London and it truly is my home now. We went to bed early because we had to get up early for our flight.
We took a low budget airline back to London. It was such an empty flight - only 30 people on board even though it was two rows of three seats. We were also able to choose whatever seat we wanted, but since we were the last to board (oops), we were asked to sit in the back to even out the plane. We left Amsterdam at 10am and landed in London at 9:30am...say what? Oh time change. But yeah, shortest flight ever. I wasn't even able to read an entire PEOPLE magazine before we landed. Thats how I like it.
Anyways, now I am back in London, happily so, thought I return to papers and class.
It was an amazing trip that I will never forget.
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