My friend and I started out our trip in Amsterdam. We are definitely not the target audience of Amsterdam, as neither of us had much interest in smoking pot or doing anything in the Red Light district besides gawking during the very safe daylight. Nor did we visit any of the more famous art museums. Regardless, we still had fun, even though it rained a lot.
We arrived first to discover that Dutch people seem to drink tea in clear glass mugs. And you add the teabag into the hot water rather than pouring the water over the teabag. I kept seeing this happen, and even tried it myself (we needed tea after finding the hotel in the rain!).
The narrow houses lean a lot but are still ridiculously cute. The older ones all still stand on wooden pillars. They have to carefully monitor the canal levels to prevent the wood from rotting away – when it starts, the houses lean, and they have to be shored up with other materials.
Did you know many of them used to be warehouses? Now, instead of hauling goods, they use the little hooks on top to haul furniture through windows:
They have ridiculously steep staircases because of their narrow size, which also explains why they bring big furniture in through the windows:
Also, Darth Vader likes to hang out around the palace in Dam Square and lure small children to the Dark Side:
By far, though, the best part, if you can call it best, of Amsterdam was visiting the Anne Frank House. I don’t have any pictures of the experience, aside from a very dark one of the exterior of the building:
That is the warehouse / office that the Frank family hid in over two years. Like most young girls (and probably boys), I read Anne’s diary, more than once, and it’s something that has stayed with me all of my life, and which I’m sure will stay with me for the rest of it too. Seeing the rooms where she walked, the pictures she posted on her walls to cheer up, and pages that she wrote while in hiding was incredibly moving and memorable.
The museum compiles information about Anne’s life, living conditions in hiding, videos from survivors and friends and Otto Frank himself, and actual items from the period. It also ends in a fantastic bookstore. If you go to Amsterdam, you simply can’t miss it. We spent three days there in total and that was definitely the most significant and memorable part of the city for me.
I probably won’t go to Amsterdam again, as I felt like we saw everything we wanted to really, but I’m really glad we stopped there. My favorite, though, was Bruges, which is the next stop for next week!
wow Amsterdam is delightful. I would love to visit it one day. Even in Singapore, people drink tea in glass mugs.
I’m so envious you got to visit the Anne Frank house. Really enjoyed your pics, looking forward to pics from Bruges as well.
I love the narrow houses and the dragging of furniture through windows! After we visited, I told my partner that was how we needed to get furniture upstairs in our house. Alas, he did not think it a good idea.
I hope you had a good time in lovely Bruges! I can’t wait to read about it.
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I really want to go to Amsterdam just to see Anne Frank’s house. When we lived in France, some Americans we knew visited the city and said they felt like they were visiting Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Though I am also not the target audience for Amsterdam, I think it would be nice to visit and see the sights there. The Anne Frank museum sounds very interesting, and like a place that I need to see. Great photos and post today about your adventures!
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Amsterdam is definitely a place I would like to visit one day!
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I probably wouldn’t be Amsterdam’s ‘target’ market either but I still really want to go there someday. Thanks for sharing the pics!
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What a wonderful time with your friend. Thanks for sharing and am eager to hear about Bruges. Saw a movie filmed there it looks like something out of a fairy tale.
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Doesn’t everybody drink tea like that? It really does taste better from glass cups rather than ceramic.
I have spent some time in the Netherlands but my Amsterdam experience is the airport! I need to return, if only for the Anne Frank House.
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The stairs look weird, reminds me of a scene in of those fantasy films. It is great to know that you were satisfied with your trip and felt that you have seen what needed to be seen. It is the opposite case with me because I always think I had not made the most of my trip. There are just so many places to go to but so little time.
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The Anne Frank House sounds amazing/harrowing, I must admit I’ve never thought about going to Amsterdam, as I just presumed I was not the type of person to enjoy it (no particular interest in pot or prostitutes lol!). But I can see it has a lot more to offer.
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I have a friend who lives in Amsterdam and loves it. Your photos are fantastic, and though the pot smoking and RL district wouldn’t be for me either, I love a city on the water.
Beautiful. And yes, Anne’s story affected me greatly when I was young, and I cannot imagine what an experience that must have been.
Can’t wait to see Bruges!
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