Here we are now, day 20 of my 21-day trip to Europe, and I find it very sad. I have seen, enjoyed, experienced so much, and believe me when I say I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to explore so much of the world on my own terms. On this, my final full day in Amsterdam, Nick knocked at my door around 9:00 this morning to let me know that he was going to catch his train back to Brussels. He told me that as he got his bagel and coffee across the street, he had a sudden epiphany about my all-time favourite film, "The Wizard of Oz", and why it appeals to me so much. He said that in the film, the characters all long for something they already have but they don't know they have it: the Cowardly Lion for courage, the Tin Woodman for a heart, the Scarecrow for a brain. He says that there is an interesting parallel with my own life, where I am longing for courage and strength, but he says it is obvious to him and to all of my friends that I have ample supplies of this, and simply do not realize it. And that this realization should help me to deal with the anxiety I so often feel. After this short exchange, he leaned in to hug me, and told me because it was grey and rainy outside, I should roll over and catch some more sleep, which is exactly what I did.
When I finally got up, shaved, showered, got dressed, checked my e-mails, etc., I headed out with a definite purpose today: I wanted to visit the Van Gogh museum, just south of my lodgings. I got there around 1:00 p.m., and discovered that tickets were all sold out until 3:00 p.m., so I got myself a ticket for that time. I figured that in the meantime, I could maybe buy my postcards and fill them in, and then catch a bite to eat once it had been two hours since I had taken my medication. So I set out towards the city centre to find some postcards. Unfortunately, I was heading west, and lost a lot of time coming back to where I wanted to be. So much so, that by the time I got back, I only had a little more than an hour before the scheduled visit to the museum. So, I stopped at a corner store and got some postcards and some stamps, then I made my way to Wok to Walk for another helping of the noodles I had yesterday, but this time with pineapple chunks. Delicious, and filling.
Even though I had a ticket for three o'clock, I had to wait in a long line-up of people who had 3:00 p.m. tickets, and then an equally long line-up to check in my umbrella, which I could not take in with me. I finally was looking at the first of Van Gogh's artwork about 30 minutes later than I expected, but it was all good. It was exciting to see so many of the artist's masterpieces, and it was thrilling to be able to take pictures of them. The highlights were the numerous self-portraits of Van Gogh, his sunflowers, and (my favourite) his bedroom. I tried taking advantage of the free wi-fi at the museum to call my parents and to call Martin, but no one could come to the phone just then.
I then bought a ticket for the tram (my 72-hour pass having since run out), and made my way to the north of the city to update my blog, which had fallen considerably behind. I have been slogging away now for the best part of 90 minutes, and am proud to report that as of now (7:30 p.m.), I am up to date. Now to go out for a good dinner.
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