iv. AMSTERDAM

yesterday, wednesday, was incredible. i woke up early and sylvia and i walked down to the bakery near the apartment and i had the most delicate, rich and moist pain au chocolat of my life for breakfast. we walked over to the rijksmuseum where the dutch history is exhibited along with some beautiful dutch paintings, think vermeer and rembrandt. we then walked through the city built on canals. there are houseboats and special constructions made for the waterbirds all over the canals making them green and lively. thats not to mention the bicycles amongst the huge rows of buildings which house the people of amsterdam. we wandered through the university and made our way to a place called waterloo which is a vintage area, but the highlight, in terms of museums, is rembrandt's house. this house is where he used to live when he was still wealthy. so it was an exhibit of it and some of his paintings. then as fate has it, i was walking through the market and walked right into a friend i dont know so well, paul. we ended up spending the rest of the day together. we bought strawberries and bread and made our way to vondelpark and sat in a foresty area making some meals and taking pictures. we made way north afterwards towards to jordaan area which is quite trendy, though not snobby. its a very nice area. after hours together i had to find my way back to sylvia's in time to go to the most beautiful cinema i have seen. we spent the evening there eating cupcakes, drinking champagne and eating sweet popcorn. today, van gogh.