Good Bye Amsterdam!

­ Yesterday was our last full day in Amsterdam. A stop we made today was at the Anne Frank House. It's eerie how quiet everyone gets once you enter. Very chilling. We first get an introduction and brief history in like 15 minutes. Then we cross through some double doors and bam-we are in the warehouse. There are quotes from Anne Frank on the walls throughout the museum, along with some interesting family pictures and other memorabilia. So we get to go through the entire bottom floor of the warehouse then up a flight of stairs to the offices of Otto Frank and his associates. There are miniature replicas of what the offices used to look like. All the window are blacked out like they were when Anne Frank and her family lived there. I was in there for an hour and was super curious what it looked like outside, can't imagine not being able to look out the windows for 25 months!

After cruising the offices, we head upstairs yet again to where the secret Annex is. The infamous bookcase is actually not much taller than I am (shattered the image in my head that it was huge) and still has Otto's files and books on them. There is a handle on the back of the bookcase that allowed it be swung open easier from the inside. Its at the end of a narrow hall, that isn't all the long actually, at the top of a stair case. Its at the same time a lot larger than I expected, but also oh so tiny. Especially when you think about how 8 peopled used to live here. The wall paper is in tack, as are the sinks and toilets. I caught myself running my hands along some of the walls in the bedrooms, it was amazing to touch them and imagine Anne and her family having done the same thing. Anne has her picture cut-outs still pasted to the walls. It's impressive to see that most of the rooms are tiny yet had 2 beds in them plus a desk/chair. Everything is unfurnished--Otto's request. After the secret Annex, we move back across a glass walkway that leads into the museum side of things. We get to see Anne's original diary open, and her additional diaries, short stories, and quote books. I hadn't realized she had created such a large body of work. All in all, it was a great site to visit.

To get us in a more positive mood thereafter, our group took a ride on the train then transferred to the city tram (whose bus system works way better than ours!). We took a speed walk through the Red Light District, guess older folks don't want to spend too much time gawking…then we were whisked off to the Rijks Museum where we got to view some beautiful art work. With the bit of free time we had before the Canal Cruise, Mike and I ran off to the Van Gogh Museum. Again, great pieces of art work, although some of his more known pieces were not here (I am assuming we will see things like Starry Night etc. at the Louvre). After getting to see a whole exhibit dedicated to him, I realized why I like his work so much. I like being able to see the texture in his paintings, not just what he paints into the picture--but being able to see his brush strokes and finger prints in the paint. LOVE Van Gogh--his painting "Wheatfield and Thunder Clouds" is one of my new favorites. When I came around the corner saw it, it just randomly made me smile…that's how you know you've found the perfect piece for you. Unfortunately, they didn't have a print in the gift shop--go figure. That's what Amazon.com is for right?

Glad that our stay in Holland is over, after spending nearly a week here I am ready to move on and see some other sites.