Never Goodbye!

Day 61. We woke up rather early and rather late today, saying goodbye to Noah at the crack of dawn and then going back to bed for quite some time. Dave and I went to the store and bought a brunch for everyone and then we all prepared the meal together (Jalapenos burgers minus the bun with a delicious salad and lots of fruit. I swear I am eating more good food here than I have anywhere else, I always so full!). After brunch, Hen, Kat, and I rode our bikes to museum plein and I went to the Van Gogh museum while Hen and Kat enjoyed the sunshine in the park next to the museum. The Van Gogh museum was excellent and I got to see some of his most famous works like his Self Portrait, the Sunflowers, the Room in Arles, Wheatfield and Crows, etc. I love Van Gogh!! The museum wasn’t overcrowded and I got as much time as I liked in front of all his works. I loved it! The temporary exhibition going on was on nature and I thoroughly enjoyed those works as well. My favorite though was a statue upstairs on the 3^rd floor called ‘Solidarity’. It was of two guys embracing and it was fantastic, very moving. After the museum I met back up with Hen and Kat and we rode our bikes through the city back to the main station to return our bikes (It was so weird having to walk through the city once we return the bikes!). Dave suggested a good Thai place for dinner so we walked to China town and ordered from there and took our meal to the Nuiewmarket area. We bought some beer and then sat down on a wooden round table and ate our delicious meal (thanks for the suggestion Dave!) by some tiled mosaic couches along the canal. Back in Frieburg, Tom had given me some Lego pins he wanted me to pass on to other super awesome fellow travelers, and I couldn’t think of better people than Hen and Kat, they are SO GREAT! So I made them close their eyes (which was a bit of a challenge due to a crazy lady who had just come up to us) and then placed the pins in each of there hands. They were so excited about getting a Lego piece like my necklace that they gave me a monster hug, and it felt so great to pass along the tradition as Tom did for me (Thanks Holger!! You HAVE to meet these two, you will love them!). It was getting a bit late at this point, and I wanted to see the Red light district at night, so we walked through it one last time and ended up in Dam square where we hung out for a bit before catching to Tram back to Dave’s (We learned our lesson the first day here, his flat is just a little too far to walk). We relaxed for a bit and drank some wine before we got ready to go out (we were determined to go out tonight and Dave knew of a close-ish party going on). We finished our wine and then…DANCING!! We went to a very underground house party way out of the city center for a taste of what real Amsterdam is like. It was lots of fun and we danced all night long. I ate a sandwich along the way to the club and then finished it outside and danced some more. I was quite stuffed by the end of it all and I was glad to have Kat walk with me back to Dave's (Thanks Kat!!). We talked for hours and hours again and then we passed out upstairs in Dave's neighbors spare room. I once again tried watching The Walking Dead before sleep... but again to no avail. I was asleep before it even started. Ah well, such a fun night regardless, and we finally made it out!

Day 62. Gah!! Where did this weekend go already?? I have been having so much fun with Hen and Kat that the weekend seems to have flown right on by. Today we slept in again and then we all made a brunch together, although Dave did most of the work. He bought some meat from the local butcher and grilled it up and made a salad and cheese and bread and more of the dipping salad we keep snacking on (I think I may have an addiction…). I am always so full here in Amsterdam. I haven’t been starving once and am always stuffing my face (Haha, I blame the sandwiches!), but it has all been relatively good food so I’m not terribly worried. Today is my last day with Hen and Kat! I am so sad to see them go. It is so hard making such great friends and then knowing you won’t get to see each other again for quite some time. It is one of the biggest downfalls of travelling, hmmph. We caught the tram with all our stuff to the central station and stored our bags in the lockers there. At the station, Hen found one of those old school four shot photo booths and we just couldn’t resist taking some photos together. After dropping off our stuff we walked to the World Press Photo gallery. It was really, really cool. It’s a competition for photography taken from important events, issues, topics, etc. from the world press of that year. It had photos from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, issues in Egypt, endangered rhinos, shark fins, and even a really touching story about a man married for 65 years caring for his wife with Alzheimer’s (It almost made me cry). It was quite a good exhibition and I loved the photography and informative world news. We walked back towards the train station where I told Hen and Kat “see you later” (Never goodbye!) and how much I loved them and then we embraced each other one more time. This weekend was so nice and so great travelling with friends. I will miss them so much, but will hopefully see them again just as soon as we can figure it all out. Dave was a wonderful host (Seriously Dave, thank you so much again!) and I will miss Hen and Kat and Noah and now Dave so much! After numerous hugs and kisses I walked to the Anne Frank house and museum. After waiting in line for about 50 or so minutes I got to go inside. It was very interesting to see the secret annex and I kept remembering my high school’s play about Anne Frank. The museum was nice with lots of history and information all through the house and I got to see actual pieces from her diary. Very cool. After the museum I walked around Amsterdam one last time soaking in its atmosphere, going into all the coffee shops I could find, and finally figuring out my way around the city. I bought and ate a pastry since my last one wasn't anything special, and I just finished buying a Buddha cheese sandwich when I noticed the time, gah! Where does it go??? I hurried to the train station, got my bags and jumped on my train. Nothing says a relaxing evening like a 15 hour train ride, woot woot! Tomorrow is Copenhagen!! I started another The Walking Dead marathon on the train ride (finished season 2!), the police came to check that I wasn’t a secret terrorist (I can’t believe I got away, haha).  I had my ticket checked, ate some fruit, and then went to sleep. The pastry was delicious and hit the spot. Win.