I can’t believe this is my last full day in Europe. It all kind of hit me this morning that I will be leaving Europe in the morning, and I don’t know when I will be back. But, I pushed away the feelings of sadness because I still had the day ahead of me and it would not be spent in sorrow over s
omething that hasn’t happened yet. The hot breakfast today was eggs, ham, and toast, but I decided to get Muesli with yogurt and a banana instead. The yogurt in Europe is distinctly less sweet than yogurt in the U.S., it has much more of a cheesy flavor than the sweet or tart yogurt that I’m used to. After breakfast we spent another hour at the hostel, where I checked in to my flights for the next day and attempted to figure out the best way to get to the airport. But, we didn’t want to spend all day inside, so we left the hostel to go find Vandel Park. We decided we would walk there instead of taking the bus, which turned out to be both a good and bad decision. It was a good decision because along the way we walked through a market that solely sold Holland Tulips, a used English book shop that we went inside for amusement, and a cheese shop where we sampled different ages and types of cheese and mustard. I’m sorry Dad, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a better smoked cheese in my life. We kept on walking and eventually figured out that we must not be heading in the right direction. And that is why our decision to walk was partially a bad decision. But, we asked a nearby shop owner which way we were supposed to be going and we walked in the direction he pointed us.
Soon enough we found signs for Vandel park and we then easily made it the rest of the way there. Of all the parks we’ve been to so far, I was least impressed with this one. The grass was trampled down and there was trash littered everywhere, and around the central monument in the park there were crews cutting down trees. Despite that, the path was wide for bikers and pedestrians and there were pretty trees and a manmade stream that ran through the park. There were birds everywhere, and they were at least entertaining to watch. We had to take cover under the trees three times to get out of the waves of rain before we were ready to leave the park. After we finished at the park, we walked towards the museum island of Amsterdam and took pictures of the I Amsterdam sign and oogled at the Van Goh museum and another art museum from afar. We were extremely hungry by this point so we decided to go find food. Twice in our three days in Amsterdam we ended up getting thai food, which only made us realize how spoiled we are to live in Seattle. The Asian cuisine in the University District is both cheap and more authentic than the Asian cuisine we’ve eaten in Europe. We were too hungry to really care what it tasted like fortunately, so we wolfed it down and went on our way back to the hostel. When we got back Mira and I rested for about thirty minutes before we went back out because I wanted to find the last minute souvenirs I wanted before I left. When we got back from souvenir hunting, I signed up for the early breakfast service for the next morning and asked the lady at the front desk the best way to get to the airport. She said the best way was by train at central station, so I decided I should walk there by myself so that I could make it there easier in the morning.
The central station is only a ten minute walk from the hostel we were at and it was actually quite pleasant to walk by myself for a bit. I’ve been with people for the entirety of this trip and I had forgotten how nice it can be to have a little bit of time to yourself. When I got to the train station I decided I would buy my ticket for the morning, which turned out to be a very good idea because I couldn’t pay for the ticket at the ticket machines with my debit card and needed to pull out more cash and pay at the customer service office. That would have been quite the hassle in the morning and I would have been very stressed to have to deal with that then. After I purchased my ticket, I went back to the hostel and met up with Hannah and Mira again. We left again a few minutes later to go get a dessert waffle from the waffle shop at the corner of our street, and we watched the city pass us by as we ate them. We then went back to in to the hostel and I took a shower, packed up all the things that I could, then stayed up too late trying to get everything to charge with only one converter to juggle between. By 1am I was exhausted, but everything was ready to go, so I set my alarm for 6:15 and collapsed.
Today
At 6:15 I woke up and got myself ready to go. I finished packing my bag and got my breakfast to go then started my walk to the train station that would then take me to the airport. I am now sitting at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, minutes away from boarding my flight to London. I’ve had such a wonderful time in Europe, and I know that this is only the beginning of my experiences abroad. I can’t wait to see where I end up next, but first it’s time to head home. Watch out Washington, I’m on my way back!