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Published: August 27th 2014
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Anne Frank House Museum
Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside Anne Frank is perhaps the best known holocaust victim, yet, as John Green notes in "The Fault in Our Stars," (if you haven't gathered yet, Amsterdam plays a large role in the book; this quote was actually one that was playing on a screen in the Anne Frank House Museum) above Anne in the victim lists are four Aaron Franks. Four people with no one who mourns them on a large or public scale; four people all but forgotten.
We planned to head out at 7:30 this morning to make it to the museum in time to avoid the worst lines. It worked pretty well; we got in half an hour after the museum opened and took about 2 hours to go through the whole thing. It's quite comprehensive: it covers the early times, the move to Amsterdam, the preparations for hiding, the years in hiding (of course), the time after, and the world's reactions to her diary. The annex itself, where they were hiding, is actually all but bare. When the SS came and took the 8 people in hiding away, they cleaned out the rooms as well. Anne's father, Otto, who was the only survivor of the 8,
came back and retrieved the few things his helpers had managed to save, including her diary. When he turned the house into a museum, he insisted the rooms of the annex remain bare, as they were to symbolize the void left by the lost lives during the holocaust.
After that cheerful morning, we made our way up to the longest outdoor market in Europe. It takes a bit over half an hour to walk end to end, so I'm not entirely surprised by that distinction. While there, we got lunch and spent plenty of time exploring, before splitting up. Marie went to a museum that the rest of us will go to tomorrow (but she has to leave Amsterdam tomorrow morning, unfortunately, so she hit it before she left), Liz and Samii went back to the hotel to rest, and the other three of us went to the Heineken Experience.
Much like the House of Bols yesterday, the Experience takes you through the history of Heineken, the special things about it, the process, the secret ingredient, and a tasting at the end. It included one 4D (multi-sense) room where you could follow the path
of beer and they actually played it as though they were making you into a beer, which was quite cool.
We then learned proper drinking information. For example, very few people like the taste of the head, but it's actually necessary to both keep carbon dioxide in and oxygen out. At one point, we were able to taste partially made beer as it went through the process, and took a jaunt through the original brewery room. There were a few rooms about Heineken's international presence, especially in soccer and other major events, like music festivals, and then there was the final tasting room. There, you could, if you so chose (as I did), learn from a professional bartender how to properly draft your own, including all the bar tools available. It was quite cool, and well deserving of the several recommendations that it came with.
On an unrelated note: I'm compiling a list of bests and worsts about my Eurotrip (food, drink, tourist attractions, drivers, etc.). Please email me or comment on this post if there are any best -- or worst -- things you'd like me to rank!
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