Joe M

September 18, 2018 Amsterdam We purchased tickets to see the Ann Frank House exactly 90 days in advance. Only 2000 tickets are available per day, sold for entrance every 15 minutes. You pick your time, pay 20 Euros and show up. Tickets are only sold on-line. Brief history of Anne Frank Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who went into hiding during World War II to escape from the Nazis. Together with seven others, she hid in the secret annex at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. (Our Houseboat was 816 Prinsengracht) After more than two years in hiding, they were discovered and deported to concentration camps. Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was the only one of the eight people to survive. After her death, Anne became world famous because of the diary she wrote while in hiding. Anne ... read more

September 16, 2018 Amsterdam Today was our first day to explore the city. After a leisurely breakfast, our destination was the Van Gogh Museum. We walked south to the “Museum Quarter”. It was a sunny Sunday and the first thing we encountered was a huge Sunday marketplace with thousands of visitors milling about. We wandered the arts and crafts aisles, then we proceeded to locate the museum ticket office. We soon discovered that this museum is very popular and on Sundays all tickets were already pre-sold on-line. We decided to try the Rijksmuseum which is about a block away. We were able to purchase Van Gogh tickets for Monday morning. The Rijksmuseum is a familiar Amsterdam landmark and possesses an unrivaled collection of Dutch art. The museum opened in 1885 to criticism, most vehemently from the ... read more