Day 7 -Amsterdam
AMSTERDAM!!!
What a day! We were blessed with a full nights sleep, finally, so already the day started on high. We made our way towards The Anne Frank House hoping to find a place nearby to grab a bite to eat and a coffee. We stumbled into a Coffee Shop, ready to sit and have a bite, instead we were welcomed by a nice young man and a counter full of weed.
Whoops! He pointed us in the direction of somewhere we could get food and luckily it was right down the road. We walked into a tiny café with Euros hanging from the ceiling and 70's music softly playing with a friendly face to seat us. We grabbed cappuccinos and toasties and had excellent conversation until our reservation at Anne Frank House.
Entering the museum and then the Annex where Anne, her family, the van Pels, and Fritz Pfeffer lived for over 2 years was something one can't really put into words. I'm afraid I can't put it eloquently enough how important this experience was. We walked through what was once a working warehouse and passed through the secret annex attached to the warehouse and disguised by a moving bookcase. Otto Frank, the only surviving member of the Frank family, asked for the rooms to never be furnished but the walls were still adorned with scraps Anne and her sister cut from magazines, excerpts from her diary, original countertops and pictures of what the rooms looked like while the 8 of them hid from the Gestapo and more are on full display.
A somber experience that had me thinking to myself, how did they do it? How did Anne manage to stay a sweet bright child, living in this fear everyday? And why did this ever have to happen? Again, I'm afraid I cannot summarize this experience with the right words.
Afterwards, Sam and I made the walk towards the museum district. We got a hot Belgium waffle with Nutella at a stand nearby and queued up for the Van Gogh Museum. Four floors of his original work for us to explore at our leisure. Tons of painting, sketches and sculptures. I had no idea he sculpted...but all was impressive and I felt super fortunate to see it all in person in his home town.
MOCO Museum was next, and a great last stop for our museum tour. Banksy, The Kid, Kusama and so many other famous street artists for us to see. The bottom floor, an area packed with immersive art, perfect for Instagram pictures.
We wrapped up our day of museums with a nice River Canal Cruise and a bottle of wine. Toasting and drinking under every bridge we went under, we had a nice buzz by the end and worked up an appetite. Dinner was delicious and Sam and I talked about all the wonderful things we got to see and do.
All in all, we love Amsterdam - and we can totally see ourselves living in a HouseBoat right on the Canal....
Who knows ;) Happy travels my dears!
Keely
