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Despite the fact that we were looking forward to exploring a little of Amsterdam it was so sad to leave Katherine, Sienna, Evie and Isabella (Thomas too but he actually wasn't there when we left). Darling Isabella was asleep so I hope she wasn't too confused when she woke up and found that her Grandma and Grandpa had gone.
Amsterdam initially greeted us with rain which rather dampened our first venture out to discover what the town had to offer. But come the next day, although there were a couple of showers, by and large the weather treated us kindly, if not a little cold. At various times during the day it was hard to believe that we were experiencing summer weather. But of course we soldiered on, deciding to buy a day pass for a 'hop on, hop off' canal boat as it seemed the best way to see as much as possible in the short time we have in Amsterdam. It was quite an education as we learnt such a lot. For example the canals are three metres deep with a total length of 100 kms, connected to the North Sea which is 30 kms away by the
Isabella was sleeping when we left
I really would have loved to wake her up for one last cuddle!North Sea Canal. We also learnt that Amsterdam started life at the beginning of the 13th century and there are now 740,000 inhabitants made up of 173 different nationalities.
It really is a fascinating place. There are no tall buildings as the ground is too soft to support them; years ago the houses were built on wooden stakes but concrete ones are now used. Special permits are needed to change anything in houses alongside the canals. With regards to the question of the bikes in Amsterdam, my guess is that there are more bike riders here than in CPH; next to the main railway station is a huge three storey parking station just for bikes which was choc-a-block full.
You can't visit Amsterdam without going to see the Anne Frank house but I didn't expect that just about every other person there would have the same thought in mind! When we arrived in the morning prior to its opening at 9am the queue was so long it would have been a wait of around three hours to get in. As it was we decided to go back after 4pm when we were told that it wasn't quite so
busy but even then we had to queue for over one and a half hours. But it was well worth the wait and a sobering experience to see the hiding place where Anne, her sister, parents and four others lived for two years before being arrested by the Nazis and taken to various concentration camps where all but Anne's father Otto Frank died. We learnt that 103,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands and killed in Nazi concentration camps. I must say though that I find it heartening that so many people would queue for so long to visit the house in what I see as honouring those who died.
One quote from Anne Frank's diary entry for 23 August 1943 which specially interested me; "Father is sitting (with Dickens and a dictionary of course) on the edge of the saggy squeaky bed". Underneath the quote was a copy of "Sketches by Boz".
Anne Frank's writing is included in the World Heritage List of Documents which no doubt she would be very pleased to know as she wanted to be a famous writer. "I want to go on living even after my death" she wrote in her diary
Amsterdam canal tour
Kev about to relax and watch the city sail by on 5 April 1944.
The museum is open from 9am to 10pm and apparently the queues are much the same most of the time.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, after dinner we visited the Red Light district before calling it a day.
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Robert Murdoch
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Ann Frank house queue
We visited the Ann Frank house in September and at 9.00am went straight in.