More at the Rijksmuseum!

Today was quite fabulous (besides the rainy weather…and cold).

Went back to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden where I met with the head Egyptian curator. He was extremely nice and willing to answer my questions. After our interview, he showed me the storage rooms of the Egyptian collection. WOW! Seeing the mummies up close was really neat and almost surreal…to know that the bodies inside are thousands of years old, unbelievable! I was also able to visit the restoration laboratories where they take care of the objects, as well as the library and archives.

The assistant curator had arranged a meeting for me with the director of collections and the director of exhibitions. This was a great surprise and a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more about the museological perspectives of their museum. They had some fascinating things to say and were really open about giving me their opinions and ideas about the museum; concepts that will definitely help me with my research, which I can apply to the other museums I will visit.
Once I finished there, I walked around the main street of Leiden where there is an H&M every 2 feet (it’s absolutely insane!) and plenty of nice shoes to look at. I then proceeded to pay a whopping 35 cents to be able to use a restroom in one of the stores. (At least it was clean). Took the train back to Amsterdam and went to take a nap at my hotel (hey…I was tired!).
For dinner, I wanted to try something Dutch. I’m not usually very adventurous when it comes to my taste buds, but I can’t leave Holland without having eaten something Dutch! Arnold, the very nice guy from the hotel, suggested a nice little restaurant just down the street called Kop van Jut. Boy am I glad I went! It was absolutely delicious! There were about 7 tables total, so very small, but very quaint. The waitress and the owner were very nice and made me feel very welcome (even though I also felt extremely awkward to be eating alone!). I ordered chicken in Indonesian sauce with homemade fries and a salad (all for a very reasonable price!)…mmmm soooo good!
Back in the hotel, the Barcelona vs. Manchester United game was on in the lobby, so I watched that with one of the hotel workers and two Canadians. Barcelona won (I was happy…that’s Thierry Henry’s team!).
And now I am just sitting in my hotel room, writing up my notes from the day and probably heading to bed soon so I can try to wake up early tomorrow!

Today's photos can be found here (for now I'm not able to include them in the blog itself because the photos won't load for some reason....sorry!)

And here is a themed album: The Colors of Amsterdam
Unlike the French, who only wear neutral colors and look at me funny when I wear anything with bright colors and patterns, the Dutch really know how to flaunt their colors! So here's an album dedicated to that :)