Anne Frankhuis

Last night, after meeting back up with Lisa, we walked into the Prinsegracht area to visit the Anne Frank museum.

We grabbed frites with saus on the way. So Dutch. We had to stand outside a bit when we got to the museum, but it wasn't raining, and the line wasn't long, so it was ok.

It's pretty incredible how they transformed the original hiding place of the Frank family into an accessible museum. You start off in a room that gives you some background info and then you legit walk across a hall into Otto Frank's jam factory.

It's hard to put into words quite what the experience was like. It's one thing to read Holocaust literature, watch movies and visit memorials, but it's entirely anther to stand literally in the same spot that symbolizes such terrible atrocities. To be in a room where 8 people lived for 2 years, in hiding from persecution in their own countries, and in the place where these 8 people learned they had been betrayed and were sent, essentially (all but one) to their deaths.

It felt strange. It felt surreal. I felt a bit nauseous.

I'm so glad to have seen it though. So glad that when he returned from Auschwitz and learned all his family had perished in the holocaust, Otto Frank decided to turn the annex into a museum. It's so, so important that people go there and through the story of one family-one girl really- remember. Just remember.

The museum is very tasteful and simplistic. On some walls, there are inscriptions from Anne's diary. There are a couple displays, but for the most part the rooms are completely empty. The guide book explains how after the Franks and their friends were deported to concentration camps, the home was raided of all furniture. Upon returning and developing plans for the museum, Otto Frank insisted the rooms remain empty, to symbolize the emptiness left by those who would never return.

You know, Anne Frank wasn't just a girl whose diary happened to get published and who happened to live through a terrible terrible thing. She was a real writer. A good one. It doesn't do justice to say it was such an enormous tragedy what happened to so many Jewish people in Europe in the Shoah. Definitely a solemn and thoughtful experience.

A day at the Dam

I'm sitting in the square, gazing at the national monument and quite enjoying the playful wind. Time to chronicle.

When you're gluten-free, finding a place that will make you a version of something you usually can't eat, your day is made.

Today was such a day.

For the first time in 2 years, I started my day off with a bagel and cream cheese. Best.

Breakfast at Bagels & Beans

Feast your eyes upon that g-free bagel!

After our breakfast at Bagel&Beans, Lisa headed to Coffee Company to study, and I wandered off aimlessly in the somewhat general direction of the Dam, for a day of exploring and hitting up museums.

I walked along a couple different canals before stumbling across an ikea-like store called "Hema" where I was able to buy both soap for Denmark and a glue-stick for journaling. Score. When I paid for my stuff, I had my first entirely Dutch transaction. The cashier must've thought I was either incredibly quiet or incredibly stupid, but I managed to chirp out a "dank u wel" without suffering a heart attack, so go me.

There was an H&M in the mall too and I bought a cute pink corduroy skirt. The bathrooms cost 50cents to use, so with an "aww heeeelll no", I set off in the direction of the Amsterdam museum where I knew they had free bathrooms, and where I wanted to revisit anyways.

After sticking it to the colloquial toilet-man I headed to the upstairs "Amsterdam DNA" exhibit to check out what I hadn't had a chance to see on the weekend. When I scanned my personal code to get my - oh shit. A little blonde Dutch boy just caught a pigeon and gave it a big ol' hug. Who does that!?

Anyways. Your DNA options are "civil mindedness", "creativity" and some others I can't remember, but the computer spat me out as being comprised of 100% "freedom of thought". Amsterdam is getting to me. Watch out also for a dorky shot of me wearing a 17th century "civil guard" uniform soon gracing the inter webs.

After that quick fix of history, I headed back down kalverstraat and ducked into a jewelry shop called "six" and bought a pair of cute earrings and a collapsible umbrella that I'm sure will come in handy in the following weeks.

At the palace

Eventually I emerged back in the Dam, and took a stroll around the Royal Palace. The Dutch royal family used to live there, but now they have a different pad, so the old one is pretty open to the public. It was opulent and big and nice, but once you've seen Versailles I feel as if you've seen it all, so I can't say I was overly impressed.

The palace only took me about 15 mins and then I went to the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) where there was kinda an Andy Warhol exhibit on, but it was really just one painting and the some books on a table. The church itself was nice though, with a pretty massive organ and some nice stonework etc.

I got out of the church at about 4:45, and now I'm waiting to meet up with my little bookworm so we can continue our day together. Later days!

Pigeons in the Dam

Amsterdam right.

If you're a die-hard Danica's blog fan, you'll know the beginning of my day was quite a grand one.  Lis and I both feel that it continued in a gloriously successful way.

Following our pleasant stroll through Waterlooplein Market, we hopped on our bikes (oh, we're so Dutch), and pedalled off in the direction of the Dam.  We stopped at some vintage shops along the way, and Lisa got two adorable little dresses.  There were awesome pink pumps I wish I could have bought, but at this point, I'm still keeping my luggage restrictions in mind.  I feel like I may end up getting to a place where I need to buy another suitcase.

Carnival in Dam Square

After the Vintage row, we went the rest of the way into the square, where they seemed to be (and indeed, yes, they were) setting up a carnival.  There is a massively high ferris wheel that I reckon would afford some great city views, so I hope we can go up that at some point.

look at those baby condiments!

We were feeling rather peckish at this point, so we stopped into a little Cafe Lis recommended for some tea, and some fries with Mayonnaise.  The Mayo and Ketchup came in cute little jars.  Anything mini is automatically adorable, I feel.  My cup of Earl Grey hit the spot, but Lisa ordered a nasty smoked tea that smelled kinda like smoked salmon.  Read: gross.  The cookies they served us with tea were delicious though.  Read: cheating the g-free diet.

After our bite to eat, we realized it was too late in the evening to give enough time to the museum we had hoped to visit, so we hit up the museum of modernly chic and moderately priced Swedish clothing, perhaps better known as H&M.  Oddly enough, this shop (1 of 4 in the area, Lis tells me) featured a lot of similar clothing items to the WR store, but also other ones, obviously.  Super sweet and different though, was the fact that they had a housewares section!! Pillows and candles and towels and stuff!  If I lived here, I would totally be decking out my room in that shit.

After H&M, most of the other stores on Kalverstraat were beginning to close, so we decided to have dinner.  We went to a place with full glass for the front wall, and sat at a table where we could people-watch and just gaze out at the busy square as the sun set and gave way to warm lamp lighting.  Although the restaurant boasted "authentic dutch cuisine", Lisa and I stuck with what we knew (and what was much cheaper), and went for Spinach Salads and Salmon Caesar salads, respectively.  Yummy.

Although many of the Amsterdam museums close at the reasonable hour of 7pm (9pm if you're lucky), we managed to conclude our evening with the one museum open later: The Hash, Marijuana and Hemp Museum.  It started to rain as we biked toward the museum.  T'was a little freaky adding water and darkness to my already shaky bike-confidence, but I managed.  The museum is split into two parts, a few doors down from each other.  The first, the Hash and Marijuana Museum, was super informative and had lots of eye catching posters and displays, rounded out by a legit grow room.  The second part, the Hemp Gallery, was less exciting, but it was cool to see the many different ways the "billion dollar crop" could be used.  The Gallery also boasted a hilarious photo booth whose results can be seen on the facebook and the twitter.

We left the museum rather inspired.

Its 3am! Nothing for most Amsterdammers, but jeez, I'm still not used to it.  More to come!

Sunshine. When I'm with you I can fly

Coffee Company Mocha in hand,
strolling the Waterlooplein Market!

3:44pm. Ams.

Today has been a lovely autumn day so far! There's a definite chill in the air, but the sun is shining and the blue sky is peeking through the clouds, so I really can't complain.

Lisa and I are just taking a quick coffee break after spending the first part of our afternoon perusing through Waterlooplein Flea Market. It's a great open air market, with lots of friendly people and lots of awesome tents. Lisa found a cozy cream Irish wool sweater and some kitschy records, and I am ecstatic about some vintage Christmas finds (here's looking at you, mom).

Once we've warmed up, it's back to our bikes for a quick cycle over to Kalverstraat, the main shopping drag. H&M ain't gonna know what hit it.

Baby went to Amsterdam...

This evening's post has musical accompaniment:

click here!!

Where did I last leave off? Oh yes. The late late night and the late late "morning". Yesterday Lisa and I roused ourselves at around 1pm, and shortly thereafter headed out to meet her friend Carmen at what's become their local haunt. It was raining pretty hard, so we took the metro from Lisa's flat to Centraal Station. Then it started POURING. Thank goodness for my maroon Costco raincoat!

Lis and I wound our way through the crowds and along the slippery cobblestone streets (all the while watching out for those fearless Dutch bikers) and met Carmen at "The American Diner"- apparently quite close to the Red Light District. I hada major egg craving, and Lisa suggested this place because apparently breakfast isn't a big deal in Holland. Probably because they don't go to bed until dawn.

The diner was very fifties style and fun. They had the front doors open, and it was nice to watch the people go by.

After brunch, we went to the SexMuseum. Apparently it's a tourist staple, as is the giant penis chair upon which I was peer-pressured into sitting on for a picture. Sigh- Amsterdam is corrupting my innocence!

After the museum, Carmen headed back to Utrecht and Lisa and I finished our evening wandering around the shopping district. Going over the bridges lit up with Victorian looking lamps was so lovely.

This place.  My goodness, so gorgeous.

We made a stop at the local grocery store, the "Albert Heijn". It's always fun shopping for produce in other countries. Here, they're big fans of prepackaged and individually packaged items. Vacuum packed eggplant is my favourite find so far. They also have neat candies and baked goods and CHEESE and their dairy cartons bid us to "have a good milk!"

Lis and I made a fine meal of Salmon, quinoa, green beans and salad, and then cozied up in her room for a viewing of "Moulin Rouge". What a classic. We did our nails, enjoyed a cup of tea, watched way too many Irish dance videos on YouTube, and then went to bed.

Mac Bike!

This morning was meant to be an early one, with a grand bike trip in the Dutch countryside, but the weather didn't cooperate. Instead, we rounded up Jenny and Povka from the flat and biked to the Amsterdam Museum. That's right ladies and gentlemen- cycled. I've rented a candy apple red bicycle, the word "tourist" therefore stamped on my forehead, but at least I'm trying. As nervous as I was, I must admit its great fun to bike around the city, and much faster than walking!

The Amsterdam museum was lovely. I so enjoy the peaceful and pensive atmosphere any museum affords. The "permanent" exhibit took you from the year 1000 right through to the present. I most enjoyed the 20th century floor. My favourite part was this photofinder you peered into that alternated between a shot from 1900 and then the same scene from 1999. It was cool to see not only what had changed, but what had stayed the same.

Line 8 was the tram used to take Dutch Jews to the square
where they awaited deportation to Concentration Camps.
After WWII, a #8 train has never run in Amsterdam.

There was also an exhibit called "Amsterdam DNA" that included lots of stats and figures, including the number of gay marriages each year, the number of Dutch Jews lost in the Holocaust, the number of churches in the city, and things like that. I wish we'd had more time to wander. I may go back again before I leave.

After the museum we biked to another part of town for all you can eat sushi with Megan and Frank. So much food!

We're now back at Lisa's place, watching Sound of Music. Great prep for Salzburg! Tomorrow, Lisa and I plan to get our shop on. Should be good!

I AMsterdam

the beauty view from Lisa's dorm window

Day 3 of my trip is winding down, and I feel as if I've started to absorb what it is to visit Amsterdam.

Yesterday I didn't see much daylight. This was partly due to grey, cloudy and often rainy skies, and partly due to the fact that I slept in until 1pm, and then again from 3:00-6:00pm. That said, the night picked up after my second waking.

Lis had a group project to work on, and her group mates were kind enough to have me tag along to their dinner meeting. We walked (in the rain. Yuck) to Lisa's friend Liz's place, where she lives with her boyfriend Barto. Their flat is just beautiful! It felt so nice to be in a cozy home after our wet and windy walk. While Liz and Barto made a scrumptious dinner, I got to know Lisa's other groupmates, Crainy and Frank. One of the coolest things about staying with Lisa is that I'm getting to meet people from all over Europe. She has dormmates from Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Germany, England, France...you name it really. It's very multicultural and cool. I really like the myriad of accents floating around not only in Lisa's dorm, but around the city in general.

the maroon monster makes
her first European showing ;
walking to Liz's

When Lisa's meeting was over, we all headed back to her place for a big international student party her floor was throwing. We drank punch made with undetermined Dutch alcohols and had a rather fun time of it. The only bummer to the night was a broken bottle of red wine by Lisa's door- but we quickly mopped that up.

At about 1pm the party starting winding down, and apparently in Amsterdam, that means phase two of the evening is only just beginning. Many options were discussed and it was decided that we would go find a bar at Rembrantplein.

A decent sized gang headed out. The stragglers amounted to 8. Only 4 with bikes. And so I had my first experience riding on the back of a bicycle. It was scary! But also really fun.

The first bar we lined up for was really snobby and wouldn't let us in because we didn't know the name of the DJ. The next bar had Spice Girls trickling out its doors, so clearly it was the place for us to be. We danced to some classic nineties tunes, and left the square at about 3:45am (I know, right!?)

Rembrandtplein!

Lisa and I got quite adventurous at this point in the evening. She convinced me to get up on the bike, and then, amazingly, we mastered the whole double biking thing! Lisa is pro at managing the extra weight, I am pro at balancing on the back, and we're basically just pro together.

When we got home, we decided the kitchen needed cleaning, and just went to town on it. Mopped and everything.  By the time we got to bed, it was 6am.  Needless to say, today started with a sleep in.

Up in the Air

From somewhere over the Atlantic I can report that I have 3 seats to myself (hello cozy nap zone!), and the tv's have episodes of friends, himym, and glee, and movies like "Big Miracle" and "The Lucky One".

I've already watched the whale movie. After a teary farewell to my parents at airport security, it was the perfect sappy and happy flick to assure me everything is good in the world.

In approximately 6 hours I'll be touching down in Amsterdam, meeting up with Lisa, and as she tells it- suffering from absolutely no jet-lag and starting the party.

Stop 1- The Netherlands!

Goedenavond!