Amsterdam: the final day. Unfortunately, today is our last day in Amsterdam. We spent our last day very well.

We began the day with another short bus tour of a different part of the city which led us the Portuguese-synagogue. We had the opportunity to tour the inside and surrounding rooms. It was very interesting to have this experience because I had never been in a synagogue before and didn’t know a lot about Judaism.

After this, we got to go to the Jewish historical museum. Here I got to learn more not just about the religion but about the history of the Jewish people which was very fascinating. They also had an interesting temporary exhibit here called “Face It!” This was all about our first impressions and perceptions of people based on how they look. I thought his exhibit was very eye-opening.

We had the amazing opportunity to take a canal cruise of Amsterdam. This was a truly unique way to see the city!

The next part of the day is something I have been waiting for the entire trip, going the the Anne Frank house.

It was amazing to see the reconstruction of the house and walk through the passageway. I really liked the way the museum was put together. I especially liked the quotes on the walls and curtains as well as the height markings on the wall from when they kept track of the growth of Anne and her sister Margo. One of the most moving components of the whole museum for me was the interview with her father after her had found the diary. It was amazing to be able to see how he felt about her words as someone who was very close to her.

After this, we did some light shopping for our last souvenirs and the returned to the hotel for dinner.

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Today was our first day in Amsterdam we started the day with a short walking tour of the city. We got to see first hand how important bikes are to the city of Amsterdam. On our way to the Rijks museum, we saw that even with bikes, rush hour is crazy. There were scours of bikes on every corner and they sped through intersections without hesitation.

Our time at the Rijks museum consisted of both free time and and a guided tour. On the tour, we got to see a lot of very prominent historical paintings including the infamous “NightWatch”.

I soent most of my free time on the thrid floor with the modern art. This is where I found my favorite work. My favorite work was simply, ” Psychadelic Drawing” by Franz Deckwitz.

It depicts two hands reaching for one another along with some blurred lines and a lot of blended bright colors. I really liked the color combinations and the imperfection in the edges of the hands. It was done in crayon in 1966.

My favorite museum we have visited this far is the Van Gogh museum. I love the way he uses color and combines a multitude of different colors together to create a beautiful rendering of life.

Although I really enjoyed the colors of his more popular paintings, my favorite painting was the “Head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette.” I really loved he shadows on the bones which made the Skelton appear very realistic. I think I liked this painting the most because while I enjoy the joyful colors of his other works, I find that I am usually more drawn to darker more unusual things.

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Today was our day trip to Antwerp. The winter festival there was much larger than the one in Ghent. We started the day by taking a walking tour of the city and some of its most prominent areas. We saw a music museum that used to be a meat market, walked through a castle and learned about the cities history. We had the second half of the day free. After a great lunch at an Italian resteraunt, we ventured off and explored. After some time walking the streets and perusing gift shops, we walked to the train station.

The train station was amazing. It’s grandeur and design we’re beautiful. I would definitely say the train station was my favorite part of the day!!

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yssterday was our last day in Ghent. We got to spend most of the day walking around freely and getting our souvenirs. We started with an info session with Christine who told us a lot about everyday life in modern Belgium and answered all of  our questions. She also took is on a tour of the lesser known locations in Ghent and guided us to the best places to shop.

My favorite part of the day was visiting a bookstore that we stumbled upon while exploring. I also really enjoyed a store called The Other Shop which had eclectic books and gifts. Another amazing part of the day was riding on the ferris wheel that was in Ghent for the winter festival. At the top, we could see all of Ghent and I got some amazing pictures! We also got to experience he world renown Belgian waffles which were too good for words.

Day 3 of our Belgium experience continues with an in depth walking tour of Ghent. We met our guide, who as we walked, pointed out prominent locations in Ghent along with their history. She took us in the town hall where we got a glimpse of Ghent’s law making and even a chance appearence by the mayor. We went to St.Bravo’s cathedral where we got to see the magnificent sculptures, paintings, and decoration. It was here that we got the see The Ghent Altar piece. As we continued to make our way through the city, we got to see many sidedness of Ghent’s city center. We passed modern shops, 12 century homes, and a 21st century ice skating rink.

We had a wonderful lunch that began with a salmon mousse and white asparagus soup. We then had beef stew with French fries and dessert.

Our afternoon began with a trip to STAM. In this museum, I especially like the books as well as the room with the floor map and miniature model of the city. The room with leather walls relocated from the town hall was very cool as well.

We concluded our day with an amazing trip to the museum of fine art where we got to see the panels of the Ghent Altar piece which are currently being restored. The grandeur of the museum was amazing but my favorite part of both the day and he museum itself was the symbolism room. I stumbled upon this room a little over halfway into my way through the museum and stayed there for much of my free hour. I walked in and saw three paintings that i immideatly loved. They were all together on one wall and I would later find out they are all by the same artist, Leon Spilliaert. Once I found these, I sat and observed them for a long time. One was a picture of a man in silhouette against the background of a window inside a house. The one in the middle was of a woman with unnerving eyes, posing, painted all in black and blue. The last was of what I took to be a bed at an asylum or a hospital. This has a lot of gray in it. My favorite of the three was the woman. This primarily was because of how captivating her presence was. I also really enjoyed all of the sculptures and Oskar Kokoshka’s painting of a man with a blue book.

Hi! My name is Bailey and I plan to double major in Psychology and Theater. After college, I hope to become a Criminal Psychologist for a government agency like the FBI. I have never traveled out of the country but I have been to New York City a few times and have lived in a few different states.

My documentary was about Max Beckmann’s Christ and the Woman Taken to Adultery. I found Beckmann to be especially interesting because he came to America and continued to paint here after World War II.

I am very excited to be immersed in a different culture and experience a different way of life as well as observe the amazing architecture and history these countries have to offer.