I had my reasons. I will not elaborate on them, but in the beginning of May something happened and I'm still dealing with its reverberations, on a practical as well as on an emotional level.
Since then, I spent a great deal holing up at home, binge-watching my way through Netflix (I even bought a TV! Imagine that!) and trying to ignore the fact that apparently someone in the Netherlands had forgotten to order summer weather for this year. Well, not completely. We still did some fun things since my I-might-miss-something-neurosis always makes me itchy after a while, especially in a city like Amsterdam. And I did not cancel my trip to WGT in Leipzig either, although this year is definitely not going down as my favorite WGT ever. I might catch up on here on some parts of the past months, we'll see.
Year 1 of 2 in my MSc is over now as well and I am proud to say that I've finished it with an 8.5 grade average - considering that a 10 is almost never given in the Dutch academic grading system, this is pretty good. If I manage to keep this average next year, I can graduate cum laude.
But for now I'm on summer vacation until the beginning of September, which I plan to enjoy as much as possible (and I do hope that the weather will show a certain level of collaboration on this one!).
What I've planned so far:
Until mid-Septemer, the Rijksmuseum is showcasing its collection of fashion plates - with my Museumkaart and the Rijksmuseum around the corner, it's a must-see for me.
Castlefest
A festival in the Keukenhof in Lisse, organized by the same people as Elfia, but with more bands. I'm very much looking forward to this one, especially since we'll have friends from Germany over for the weekend.
Utrecht
It's just around the corner, but I've only ever been there at night for concerts or for changing trains. Will make for a nice daytrip, I guess.
Leiden & Delft
..will both also be good for a day trip, cute little student towns.
Den Haag
The Gemeentemuseum seems to have a decent costume collection, plus as the seat of the Dutch government and one of the largest cities in the it's probably worth visiting.
Bruges
I've heard so much raving about Bruges, that I really need to see it - it may be a bit too far for a day trip (3+hours one way), so I might stay over night and combine it with Ghent. And it's Belgium, so there will be chocolate stores!
London
...because I have tickets to the most in-demand theatre play of all times, ha! Going there for a long weekend in mid-august, not sure yet what else I want to see while I'm there.
And, in other news: As of yesterday, my hair is purple!
