Amsterdam was a beautiful city. So many things to see and so much history to explore. I've never been much of a museum person. I will take in museums that have something of particular interest to me but I've never really been the type to go piece by piece through an entire museum taking in every display. After looking at the most common tourist spots in the city, I did decide to visit two while I was in Amsterdam. The first was the Anne Frank museum which turned out was just around the corner from my hotel. I had decided to get up early as this weekend was a bank holiday here and the city seemed to be very crowded with tourists. I got to the museum just before it was scheduled to open only to find that there was already a queue (English for line ha ha) to the end of the building outside. It was one of my only 'must see' sights for my visit to Amsterdam so I jumped in the queue and waited my turn to buy a ticket. The tour actually takes you through the front office of Anne's father's business and then takes you through to the secret annex where eight people hid from the Nazis for just under two years. I think Anne's story always touched me because I was an pre-teen girl when I first read 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and remembered really relating to her and thinking how terrifying that must have been for her and her family. The family had built a movable bookcase in front of the door to the annex to hide the back apartment of the home and from the day they went into hiding never came out until they were discovered in 1944. It was amazing to see the apartment and the reality of how the families staying there lived for almost two years. The windows all had blackout curtains on them to ensure they weren't seen moving in the apartment from the outside so the rooms were very dark and small. While there are no furnishing in the rooms today there are models showing how they fit the eight people into the few small rooms. On the walls in Anne's room, you can see where she glued magazine and post card photos of film stars from the time to decorate her small space. On one of the walls you can see where the two young girls had drawn pencil lines on the wall to track their growth over the two years they were caged in the small space. Everything there were small reminders that while life was stifled, it did go on for the family while they hid from the atrocities outside. It was a bit like being in a church or a memorial as everyone touring were very quiet and somber walking through each of the rooms. Anne and her sister died in a concentration camp just one month before the liberation. Only Anne's father Otto survived of the eight people who were in hiding in the secret annex. If you haven't read the book before, I would highly recommend it. With the vision of their secret annex fresh in my mind, I do planning on reading the book again for my own reminder and benefit.
I don't think I could post about Amsterdam without talking about the obvious things that people typically visit for. So aside from the unique architecture and gorgeous canals running throughout the city, there is of course the coffee shops and red light district. I think because I was a woman travelling alone, I did avoid these for the most part but it is worth mentioning how open the use of soft drugs and the sex trade are within the city. I think I was contact high most of the days when I was strolling through the central districts of Amsterdam. Coffee shops are the only place where small portions of soft drugs like hash can be bought and consumed for personal use. It is not uncommon to see someone smoking while walking down the street and while I was told it's frowned upon, its not really something that the police focus on. I didn't visit the Red Light district at night just because I felt like it would be swarming with seedy men and I didn't really think I'd feel safe being a single woman down there alone but I did walk through during the day just to get a feel for it. It was interesting as there were women standing in the windows who were barely dressed, waving to men to come in and see them. I guess it does stand to reason that morality and how you look at these things is a cultural construct and while we may be uncomfortable with the display of something that we were taught was wrong, its not universally believed to be so.
Enough of Amsterdam already!! Let's talk about chocolate and waffles!! :) I did take a day trip into Belgium as well. I had the choice of a few different cities and chose to go to Ghent and Bruges because they were the smaller cities with more of the medieval city center that I find so charming. We first visited Ghent which was a very small village which didn't seem to have as many tourist and a very small quaint city center. I only had an hour and a half so I strolled around the many shops, bought my obligatory piece of Belgium lace and then went straight into the cafe known for their Belgium waffles. I've never been a huge waffle fan if I'm being honest but it was pretty amazing. I had mine with strawberries and cream and the waffle was definitely fresh and kind of just melted in my mouth. I'm sure it was a billion calories but if you ever visit, just go for it - so worth it!
We then went on to Bruges, a slightly larger city with an amazing city center of old medieval buildings. It was so much fun just wandering through the cobblestone streets and every other shop was a chocolate store so who am I to complain. It was amazing seeing all the chocolate treats and the smell of chocolate seem to almost be a part of the city landscape. I did sample a piece of chocolate from one of the shops with a cup of coffee in one of the small parks. I also had a traditional Belgium meal of mussels and frites (fries) with mayonnaise. It was a yummy dinner before heading back the three hour bus ride to Amsterdam.
My last day in Amsterdam I decided for it to be a relaxing day. I slept in that morning in my teeny tiny bed and when I finally did venture out I went down to the flower market to explore. I sat out at one of the canal side cafes enjoyed a coffee and a salad and read for an hour or two. I enjoyed the slow pace of the day. It seems that the Dutch culture supports this pace as they never seemed in a hurry to rush me off. The Dutch in general seemed like a very happy welcoming people. The city was also streaming with cyclist, I don't know the hard facts but it seemed like there were more people with bicycles in the city then in cars! I also liked the fact that I didn't feel so 'tall' as there were several women far taller then me there. I loved the Dutch language as well, so different from any other. I didn't pick much up on my visit because as with most European cities, everyone I encountered did speak English. It seems a diservice to American children that they only learn one language (just barely) when it is common place all across Europe that they are often fluent in at least one other language then their native tongue.
I really did enjoy my visit to the Netherlands and Belgium and now that I've been bit by the travel bug, I'm hoping this is just the first in many trips to come!
