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bitchy_merlinI HAVE BEEN TO GERMANY!
Well, technically it's been a week since I was in Germany (and if you want to get reaaaally nitpicky about it, I've been in Germany once before, to visit Tante Freidl - but I was in grade four then, so that doesn't count for these purposes), but I'm just getting to the post now, because a) there's a lot to process and b) NO TIME OMG.
Let's start the journey!
On Friday, November 25th, I sacrificed the sanctity of my Social Influence lecture to get up at 7, go for a run in the Noorderplantsoen, and then hop on a train to Amsterdam Centraal with Hanna. We arrived in Amsterdam around noon and (after bemoaning the pricey public washrooms - 50 cents a leak!) immediately set off in search of coffee, which we found alongside an open park somewhere presumably near the city centre. Having caffeinated ourselves thus, we headed to the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam for some epic Tourist Time (tm).
a;slfdkj OMG MUSEUMS. The entrance prices were outrageous - 12,50 each - but the exhibits were well worth it. I saw the book chest in which Hugo Grotius made his escape from life imprisonment*, which made my inner Dutch history nerd flail a lot. I also saw Frans Hals' Isaac Massa en Beatrix van der Laen, which caused paroxysms of joy since we had studied it rather extensively in two of my Dutch Studies courses.
The flailing reached truly epic proportions, however, when we entered one of the last rooms of the exhibit - and BAM! In my face, SURPRISE!REMBRANDT'S NIGHT WATCH. The security guard gave me some very strange looks when he saw my flaily hands, but whatevs, haters to the left! I do have to admit, though, that I was nerding out for all the wrong reasons. Instead of admiring the Epic Historical Significance of the painting, the only thing I could think of was the cover of PTerry's Night Watch, and my Discworld fangirl instincts took over from there. I actually managed to get a picture of the painting (technically forbidden, but shhh!) It's up at DUTCH MY LIFE.
From the RIjksmuseum, now with wallets considerably lighter, we moved on to the Vondelpark (named in memory of Joost van der Vondel, the "Prince of (Dutch) Poets") where we froze our asses off eating lunch on a bench. We then meandered through the Amsterdam streets in search of affordable coffee. We browsed through an antique book market before settling on Cafe 353 (there were no places with coffee for less than 2 euros; at least it was decent coffee), near the train station.
From 6:30pm to 10:30pm, we sat huddled together on a bench in the Amsterdam Amstel train station, cold and miserable. I originally tried napping, but was interrupted by a security guard who said, "You are not allowed to sleep here." I was really rather indignant about that. It was a loooong four hours.
But we finally got on the bus!
...And found out that they were playing a Czech movie on board. With full sound coming from the loudspeakers. Yeah. So, over the eight hour bus ride, Hanna and I got approximately three hours of sleep between the two of us. But we survived. Eight hours, two frantic bathroom trips, over nine thousand levels of discomfort and one epic faceplant later...
...WE WERE IN NUREMBERG!
PART 2
*He's also famous for writing the Mare Liberum, among other things, which formed the basis for international law. But he's most famous for the escape he orchestrated, involving his wife, a book chest, and a serving girl.
Well, technically it's been a week since I was in Germany (and if you want to get reaaaally nitpicky about it, I've been in Germany once before, to visit Tante Freidl - but I was in grade four then, so that doesn't count for these purposes), but I'm just getting to the post now, because a) there's a lot to process and b) NO TIME OMG.
Let's start the journey!
On Friday, November 25th, I sacrificed the sanctity of my Social Influence lecture to get up at 7, go for a run in the Noorderplantsoen, and then hop on a train to Amsterdam Centraal with Hanna. We arrived in Amsterdam around noon and (after bemoaning the pricey public washrooms - 50 cents a leak!) immediately set off in search of coffee, which we found alongside an open park somewhere presumably near the city centre. Having caffeinated ourselves thus, we headed to the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam for some epic Tourist Time (tm).
a;slfdkj OMG MUSEUMS. The entrance prices were outrageous - 12,50 each - but the exhibits were well worth it. I saw the book chest in which Hugo Grotius made his escape from life imprisonment*, which made my inner Dutch history nerd flail a lot. I also saw Frans Hals' Isaac Massa en Beatrix van der Laen, which caused paroxysms of joy since we had studied it rather extensively in two of my Dutch Studies courses.
The flailing reached truly epic proportions, however, when we entered one of the last rooms of the exhibit - and BAM! In my face, SURPRISE!REMBRANDT'S NIGHT WATCH. The security guard gave me some very strange looks when he saw my flaily hands, but whatevs, haters to the left! I do have to admit, though, that I was nerding out for all the wrong reasons. Instead of admiring the Epic Historical Significance of the painting, the only thing I could think of was the cover of PTerry's Night Watch, and my Discworld fangirl instincts took over from there. I actually managed to get a picture of the painting (technically forbidden, but shhh!) It's up at DUTCH MY LIFE.
From the RIjksmuseum, now with wallets considerably lighter, we moved on to the Vondelpark (named in memory of Joost van der Vondel, the "Prince of (Dutch) Poets") where we froze our asses off eating lunch on a bench. We then meandered through the Amsterdam streets in search of affordable coffee. We browsed through an antique book market before settling on Cafe 353 (there were no places with coffee for less than 2 euros; at least it was decent coffee), near the train station.
From 6:30pm to 10:30pm, we sat huddled together on a bench in the Amsterdam Amstel train station, cold and miserable. I originally tried napping, but was interrupted by a security guard who said, "You are not allowed to sleep here." I was really rather indignant about that. It was a loooong four hours.
But we finally got on the bus!
...And found out that they were playing a Czech movie on board. With full sound coming from the loudspeakers. Yeah. So, over the eight hour bus ride, Hanna and I got approximately three hours of sleep between the two of us. But we survived. Eight hours, two frantic bathroom trips, over nine thousand levels of discomfort and one epic faceplant later...
...WE WERE IN NUREMBERG!
PART 2
*He's also famous for writing the Mare Liberum, among other things, which formed the basis for international law. But he's most famous for the escape he orchestrated, involving his wife, a book chest, and a serving girl.
