Van Gogh Antwerp and Brugge

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I HAD to visit this VAN GOGH museum. It was part of the origional plans of this trip so I couldnt leave town without that. But that just meant I couldnt catch a train out of Amsterdam till later on in the afternoon. I checked it out and the museum was open at 10am. Ah it was fine I could just go back to the hostel and hang out for abit and maybe get some breaky. Problem was it was raining. Pissing rain actually. As soon as I left the station from my slumber!! I didnt bring an umbrella for space reasons. I figured I would be fine with just a rain jacket. NOPE. Best thing to do with the rain is keep it the hell away from you.
I walked towards the hostel to go back on the internet and maybe see the Aussies who were gonna go to the museum as well.
I get into the bar at the hostel plug in the comp and the old guy comes over to me and says, I dont appreciate you lying to my colleauge about taking a train early in the morning. What a dick eh. I said oh well I missed the damn thing ha. He said whatever you better buy something. SO i bought a coffee and he shut up. Real welcoming and shit.Im glad I didnt stay another night at that place now.
Spent untill 930 there and then walked to the Museum. Bit of a walk but not that bad. Saw a cool sign of Amsterdam in this park near the museum. Found the place where the line up began. It was already down the road but it wasnt open yet. I got there like 6 mins before. ONly took like 5 more mins to get inside. Then here was the kicker. 12 Euro to get in. AHHHH I managed to scam a student disount but at 10 Euro it wasnt much of a deal. But I have been waiting for this moment for god knows how long. Last time we were here we missed it because of my brothers who were not the best behaved in museums. I guess you could include me in there as well. But I really really wanted to see it last time. I mean its the third reason you go to Amsterdam!!
Got inside and WOW it was everything I had hoped for. The second painting in was his famous self portrait. NO PICTURES ALLOWED. I got told this very quick. HA the sign on the wall was like 2 inches square so I bet that keeps those buggers busy. It never really said anything so I just went to town. Well they were NOT pleased. After the scolding I kept an eye out for a good time. Managed to sneek a few with my cunning skills. HAHA had to say that.
I think I spent something like 3 hours in awe. It was sooo cool to see all the stages he went through. It really is just something else to see what the artist was doing with his strokes and details. There was another exhibit on a dutch painter that I checked out upstairs but wasnt as impressed.
After that I walked on back to the station. Had a single tear saying goodbye to Amsterdam!!! The train went to straight to Antwerp, a larger city in Belgium. After that I took a smaller train to Brugge. My plan was to go to Brugge but come back that same night and stay in Antwerp in the station trying to save some cash. The train was a couple hours to Brugge so that gave me 2.5 hrs to explore around the ancient town in Belgium and then come back. Got to Antwerp found out the station closed at 1230 and then opened at 430!!! Took the next train to Brugge. What the hell was I gonna do in between 1230 and 430. Hmm I looked for hostels but they were all a rip off at 30 Euro a night.
Ahhh see what happens. Whats the worst that could happen as Simon said to me.
Got to Brugge and had to put on the rain coat again. Christ. It was quite a cool old town though. Sat by this canal under a tree and relaxed for a bit while the rain sprinkled down. I grabbed a few beers from a corner store as I continued on. Nice and cold like they should be. After my 2 hours and a bit was up I went back to the station being careful not to miss this one. My train to Paris left from Antwerp so it was best to get back there if I wanted to be in Paris earlyish. Got back to Antwerp and they were just shutting the doors. I had to figure out if I wanted to lock up my bags or not. I was pretty much officially homeless tonight so maybe I should. NAHHhhh i might need em when its starts raining or whatever. Left the station and walked around to see if i could find a funky internet cafe or something late night. COuldnt find too much in the way of that though. I ended up just chilling in this stack of chairs for a bit and writing my blog. It was a pretty funny realization of what I was doing then and there. I thought about being homeless and how easy it is. Unless I pay this hostel place whatever they are asking im pretty much homeless. Not like professional homeless but close enough. HAHA funny thoughts. Might have been the gigglebush as well.
I stayed there untill about 230 and ppl were still wandering around. I was getting hungry and wanted to do some more exploring. It was a tuesday night so nothing too bumping was going on. I walked around a bit and found this kebab place open. Well I was pretty darn lucky. It was two guys running it and they were freaking cool. I ordered my kebab and they had me sit down. I asked them about internet and they said oh yah sure here talk to him about it. HE busted my balls at the start actually. I asked for a kebab and he said that will be 18 Euro. HAHAHA fucker. I said what hes like oh im just kidding. I got a special price on a coke as well just cause he liked me he said. DOnt take that the wrong way you homophobs (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE). I was there for a couple hours and they even made me a couple coffees which was nice. I ended up falling asleep at the table and woke myself up around 5. Ahhh time to go to the station to lay down. Long day it was. NIGHT NIGHT

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Photos

CLEANER BARGE
gotta keep er clear

Second pic in!!!
love this one