Amsterdam: Anne Frank, trams, a canal tour and an afternoon in Jordaan

---

Everyone seems to love Amsterdam. Count us in that group (if we can succeed in avoiding being run over by a bicycle). The architecture is quaint and colorful. The canals create a sense of openness missing in the winding streets of Brussels. The Dutch are friendly and pretty much all speak English. Although the map looks large and intimidating, like Rome, the actual city center is very walkable. Great food, great vibe. This place is going on my list for further exploration some day.

Our task in the morning was to figure out how the trams (street cars/light rail) worked. There is a stunning lack of information on this but with more fumbling (our favorite pastime) we mostly figured it out. We need this information to get to the Van Gogh museum and Rijksmuseum Sunday as it is too far to walk.

After this, we started at Anne Frank's house on the Prinsengracht Canal. June missed this on a earlier visit in the '80s and I, while familiar with her story, never read her book. It is a poignant experience. The house is empty with photography showing how it was furnished during the war with interpretive material in every room. Anne is everywhere through her words and observations. Had her life not ended in the camps, what would she have become? Her father was stunned after the war at the inner life of his daughter which he knew nothing about although he thought he was close to her. Of course, she has come to stand for so many young lives lost in the Holocaust but it was her personal story, words and sad end that brought a tear to my eye. Not for the first time, I felt true anger towards the Nazi's and their mundane and bureaucratic death machine that ground so much of the world into dust under the banner of racial purity. This is where blind devotion to a compelling but insane leader goes. This is where unbridled nationalism, racism and fear of the "other" leads. The message for our time is real.

After a quick lunch (Dutch pancakes with bananas and chocolate - OMG) and a return to our flat, we headed out for a canal cruise in the same area (Jordaan) where the Anne Frank house is located. The cruise was informative (I learned that most of the very posh houses along the Prinsengracht Canal were built as warehouses and then converted to housing). The weather was great (for the first time): broken clouds and sun with temps in the mid-60's. It was a very enjoyable hour.

The skipper of the canal cruise talked to us afterward and recommended a Spanish restaurant in the neighborhood. Excellent and just around the corner (L'Olive). We were even able to locate a nearby tram line after dinner and ride instead of walk back to our apartment.

As I said, Sunday is museum day with more Amsterdam and packing for our cruise departure Monday.

---