Day Three in Amsterdam

When we woke up this morning, Laura and Sierra already left for Spain; Krosbi and Catie would be leaving me around noon. I wouldn't leave until early the next day. It was surreal to realize that the rest of the girls that I had spent a month and a half with, 24/7, would soon be on the other side of the earth from where I would be. 

I took the morning easier and ate breakfast at the hostel while Krosbi and Catie went to McDonalds. On my way to meet up with them, I ran across a family of swans and a cat!

When we finally met up, we went to the famous flower market of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam & Holland as a whole are known for their tulips. Way back in the day, someone in the Netherlands learned how to make tulips. They became prized possessions; their value skyrocketed. Soon, the price of a bulb could easily buy a house. As with all markets, it shortly crashed. Tulips flooded the market and could no longer buy anything substantial. For that reason, tulips are often seen in paintings by Northern European artists.

I ended up buying some tulip bulbs with the idea that I would figure out how to get them home later. I still don't know what my plan is, but it'll all work out!

After the flower market, I said my goodbyes to Krosbi and Catie; I was officially on my own. Since I still hadn't written my paper for the independent study, I decided to go to the Rijksmuseum since it had the largest collection of art by Rembrandt. But before that, I desperately had to go to the restroom. I bought a medium Coke Zero at a McDonalds, which was honestly smaller than the size an of iPhone X but their restroom still cost money! So instead, I went straight to the museum.

This museum was pretty big, but after the Louvre, it was manageable. I saw lots of paintings of Napoleon. I don't really know what he was doing here, though. 

When I finally got to the Rembrandt Hall, I saw lots of paintings that I recognized. This one is commonly known as The Jewish Bride. There's another theory that it doesn't actually depict a scriptural event as previously thought, but who's to say.

It was really exciting to see the famous Night Watch in person. The actual title is much, much longer; I'm glad someone changed it. Due to the dark varnish on the painting, the scene appeared darker than planned, which resulted in art historians believing this was a night scene. With restoration efforts, the scene was actually one which occurred during the day time, but who would name a work of art "The Day Watch?"

I spent a bulk of time at the museum, but what I really wanted to see was the self-portraits which were in storage! I went back to the hostel for lunch/dinner and packed my bags. My flight for Korea would be leaving early in the morning and I needed to get everything ready.

While I packed, I watched the first two films in the Hunger Games series and went to bed around 9. It was impossible to fall asleep since I was so worried that I would sleep through my alarm. Plenty of prayers later, I woke up thousands of times in the middle of the night which ensured that I would be awake in time to get to the airport.