AMSTERDAM

Well, I had a list of 5 destinations that were a must see for me while in Europe. I have now accomplished the second one and that is the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. The first was the Last Supper in Milano, which I wrote about in an earlier post last Sept.

Cat arrived for a 2 week visit on May 23rd. I decided it would be a good time for us to explore Amsterdam. The two of us took the hour and 20 min. flight by ourselves since Marc was still in the U.S. on business. He was able to join us the last two days of the trip.

In all of my travels, I have come to the conclusion that I like small or private tours for me to really experience and learn about a city, sites and history. Most of the tours are wonderful and worth every penny. Not the case in our first tour in Amsterdam. We started with an hour bus ride around the city...boring and not a good guide. Then on to a diamond making factory, which turned out to be a 45 min. sales pitch. We were then supposed to take a boat thru the canals and end at the Anne Frank house. I knew from reading, it is too small for tour groups, so I assumed we would learn along the way and end the tour there for our own viewing. Once I learned that we would rush thru the Anne Frank house first and end with the boat tour, I said to Cat, NO WAY. No one is going to rush me thru this site, THIS IS WHY I CAME!!! I informed the tour guide we would be leaving the tour at this point. She did give me a voucher to have my boat tour at a later date. (Which sucked by the way)

Before my trip I got prepared by reading The Diary of Anne Frank, so it was all very fresh in my mind. I had also listened to a story on NPR back in the states about the Chestnut tree outside of the attic window that Anne looked at and wrote about in her diary. This tree told her the changing seasons by it's leaves and blooms. Well the tree is dying and will only be alive for a few more years. Ten saplings will be planted in different spots across the U.S. in the next few years, one of those being the site of 911.(other sites that promote tolerence to all peoples) I was so touched as I gazed at the leaves from that tree out of the attic window where she spent most of her time alone or with her friend Peter writing in here diary. Needless to say, it was worth giving up the last part of the tour to spend as much time as I needed in the "hiding place" I was so touched that I purchased two more books at the book shop and read both of them. Once Marc arrived a few days later, we both returned to the hiding place so I could share it with Marc and really re-live it one more time before we left. It was defiinitely the high light of my trip!

Of course we could not pass up the Van Gogh museum. As a post Impressionist artist born in the Netherlands, Van Gough produced approximately 1,100 drawings and almost 900 paintings before killing himself in Auvers-sur-oise in France outside of Paris. The museum in Amsterdam contains 200 paintings, almost 500 drawings and over 800 letters written to his brother during his life time. His life as an artist only lasted 10 years.

The next day was also one of our favorite. We had a small group tour of the city with only 3 other people. Our tour guide was from Cork Ireland, so you can imagine the stories. It was three hours of history walking thru the old part of town covering everthing from the red light district to the "coffee shops" offering legal pot smoking and the Jewish district that became unthinkable slums during and after the war.s

By the time Marc arrived, so did the rain. But we saved the day by spending it in the Rijksmuseum museum containing a great collection of Dutch painting including of course Rembrandt and Vermeer. Rembrandt lived a rich life in Amsterdam, but died a pauper and is buried somewhere in the city in an unmarked grave. We viewed the grand house he lived in.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes. There seem to be no fat people in Amsterdam, even though their food is heavy, because EVERYONE rides bikes. As a tourist you must always be aware of not stepping in the bike lanes. There are people in suits, high heels and dresses and everything in between. Even the motor bikes ride in the bike lanes! They all have bells though, so they can ring, ring, ring when you step into their path!

All in all, a great trip, good food, fascinating architecture and really nice people and they all speak English!!!! Yea.

Therese