December 19, 2013: Day Two in Rome

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, is the ideas of living." -Miriam Beard

I realized after all of my travelling that it takes a day to figure out how to properly navigate a new city.  By now, I knew where to get on my bus and where to go.  I decided to go back to Vatican City and see the Vatican Museum.

I will never forget the moment before I was about to enter the Vatican museum.  I was stopped by a man who was trying to sell me a tour with a guide around the Vatican Museum for 40 euros. I tried to bow out but he was very persistent and would not let me leave. I just had to walk away and less than 10 seconds another one approaches me. Like seriously? Did you not just see me talking to your comrade? I was going to tell him the same thing I told the first guy and then a British girl walks by having just left the Vatican Museum and yells over to me “Don’t listen to him! It’s a scam!” and a part of me wanted to yell back so badly “I KNOW!” like right in the guy’s face to let him know that I wasn’t falling for it. So heed my warning, never take a tour offered by a guy on the street. Plan it out beforehand. Rome definitely wasn’t as museum-heavy as Amsterdam but this one museum had more than enough to entertain me. Spend a couple hours at the Vatican Museum and you will be thoroughly satisfied.  At first I was a little hesitant at paying 16 euros to get into the museum but then I realized that it is a very large museum, like a museum conglomerate. You will get your money’s worth plus extra.

I remember after finishing walking through the Vatican Museum, I was trying to find the beautiful spiral staircase that I had seen in photos. I was about to head towards the exit but something was telling me to go back and find it. I was at the gift shop that was arranged around a circular banister.  Across from be I see people start to walk down an incline and then I looked over the banister and sure enough I had found the staircase.  It made for a gorgeous photo.

After the Vatican Museum I walked around to kill time until a free walking tour of Rome was to start.  I went to a McDonalds and was surprised at how packed it was.  It just goes to show how influential America is.  I ordered my meal and a Pistachio Mcflurry that I’m pretty sure was just a vanilla Mcflurry with crushed pistachios and green flavoring. 

Once I met up with the tour guide and met some nice people, we travelled around Rome.  The guide was a little soft-spoken and the tour was not as great as the one in Amsterdam, but I still learned a lot about the ancient city.  I got my photo taken at the Trevi fountain and saw a someone proposing to his girlfriend in front of the fountain. After parting ways, I walked back to my hostel and on the way bought a few souvenirs for my family and ate dinner at a nearby pizzeria. I packed up my things and fell asleep, ready for tomorrow. Ciao Roma!

December 16, 2013: Day Two in Amsterdam

"Maybe you had to leave in order to miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was." -Jodi Picoult

With my only full day in Amsterdam, I was determined to see as much of the city as I possibly could.  I started my day off with a breakfast provided by the hostel of two pieces of toast and a boiled egg.  But I’m not complaining.  At least they had breakfast. My first stop was De Niewke Kerk, the New Church, which was having an exhibit on the Chinese Ming Dynasty.  The exhibit was very enlightening and was full of many ancient Chinese artifacts.  I bought a gift at the gift shop to bring back for my Chinese teacher.  By this point, I had gotten the hang of navigating through the city by tram and I journeyed on to the Museumplein.  I took a photo of the famous Iamsterdam sign and went on to the Van Gogh Museum. 

The only problem with packing your schedule is that it leaves very little time to savour the museum. I had only spent about 45 minutes at the Van Gogh museum. I did this in order to make it in time for a free walking tour of Amsterdam by Sandeman’s New Europe Tour Company. They hold walking tours at most of the major cities in Europe.  Their tours are free but they operate on a tip-based service.  My tour was led by the wonderful Kendra who kept our entire group of 30 entertained for the whole 3 hours.  I tipped her a whole 5 euros for her amazing service.  I learned so much about the city that I never would have known (like why the De Oude Kerk aka the Old Church is in the center of the Red Light District) had I not gone on this tour.

As the day turned to night, I took the opportunity to wander around the Illuminade Walking Tour, held in conjunction with the Amsterdam Light Festival.  There were a few gorgeous pieces however at times it was hard to navigate.  My advice is to take the Watercolors Canal Cruise if you want to see most of the beautiful light pieces. However the compilation of lamps called “We Light Amsterdam” on the Walking Tour is a can’t-miss.  The end of the walking tour signaled the end of my day in Amsterdam.  And it was a great one.