Friday, February 13, 2009

This morning I got up at 7:30 so I could be on the 9:00 train to Amsterdam.  The train station is about a 15-25 minute walk, depending on how fast you walk.  When I arrived in Amsterdam, I set off to meet with Rick.  I had written down directions to a determined meeting place.  I soon learned that the map I used was not correct.  I finally gave up and walked to Dam Square.  This was our backup plan in case we couldn’t find each other.  Everyone knows where this location is so it would be easy to find, just not centrally located.  We had a few problems with our cell phones, but finally we were able to find each other. 

Rick got to experience typical Dutch winter weather.  It was cold and rainy this morning.  It was not fun walking around.  Thankfully after lunch, the rain went away.  We started our day by signing up for a free canal boat tour.  Our options were Friday night or Saturday afternoon.  We decided that we would rather go in the afternoon on Saturday.  We then went to the FOAM Museum.  This is the photography museum.  I was told that it was very cool.  However, Rick and I were a little disappointed.  They only had one photographer exhibited.  The majority of his photos were of people from the chest up with a white background.  There were many pictures of people we recognized such as presidents and musicians. 

After the museum we decided to find something to eat.  Many of the restaurants post a copy of their menu on the windows so you can read what they have and the prices.  I wanted to find something a little on the cheaper side and a traditional Dutch meal.  We found a place that had Pannekoeken or Dutch pancakes and other items.  We decided to eat there.  Rick had a pineapple, ham, and cheese pannekoeken.  He thought it was good.  Earlier this semester, my Dutch professor told me that I should try another traditional Dutch meal.  So I did.  I ordered fried eggs on toast with ham and cheese.  I thought there would be something special about them, but there wasn’t.  It was still good though.  Since Rick and I were both cold, we ordered hot chocolate to drink.  It must have been made from melted chocolate and tasted wonderful.  This restaurant did not have free tap water, so ordering hot chocolate was actually cheaper than a bottle of water. 

After lunch, we wandered the streets.  I showed him a few sites Steef showed me on my previous trip to Amsterdam.  It was nice to be a tour guide and show off what I have learned.  On the internet, Rick found a microbrewery that offered free tours on Friday afternoons.  We toured the Brouwerij’t IJ.  After the tour, we took the typical tourist pictures in front of a Dutch windmill.  We then explored a new section of Amsterdam.  By this time it was getting late.  We took the train back to Leiden.  We made a late supper and then went to bed.