Amsterdam 2018, Part Two: History to Red Lights, and Everything In-Between

One great thing about this trip is that I slept pretty well every night. So Monday morning, I woke early, feeling hungry and ready to go. Unfortunately, the earliest opening times for any of the surrounding breakfast places was 8:00. Not very helpful to a hungry body on Pacific time at 6:00 in the morning. I made do with some more M&Ms from my suitcase, and hit the pavement.

Fortunately, there was a St. Arbuck's for me to worship at, or at least, have a cup of tea and a pastry.

Then I was off for a lot of walking and exploring. Monday was the only day I had rain on this trip, and it wasn't very heavy. I didn't even use my umbrella.

I would end up eating here a few days later.

Rembrandt Square

In the heart of Rembrandt Square, a statue of the artist,
with statues of figures from his masterpiece, "The Night
Watch," standing guard.

As I walked along, I enjoyed taking pictures of buildings and the canals.

My goal is to one day take a picture of a Megane next to
a Mini Cooper, so you get Megan E Cooper. 

A statue of Anne Frank, next to the Old Church, and near
the Anne Frank House.

The Old Church, and, next to it, Anne Frank House. You
can see a small crowd of people there.

I had a noon appointment to get into the Anne Frank House, and I was very, very early, so I stopped at the Dutch Cheese Museum.

This, of course, led to sampling. And as I sampled, I learned that all of their delicious cheeses are vacuum-sealed, so they can travel! The cheese-buying commenced.

This was amazing. I bought two packs. 

I still had lots of time, so I found my way to the Bloemenmarkt, a floating flower market famous with tourists, taking random pictures along the way.

The Bloemenmarkt is not just flowers, but also cheesy souvenirs of all kinds. 

Tulips of every color

Magnets. I bought a ton of these.

I did not buy cannabis. 

The market from the other side. 

It was still only 10:30, and I now had a few bags of things I'd bought, so I decided to stop by my hotel for a quick break, then find some lunch on my way back to the Anne Frank House. But first...a quick stop in the Delft shop near the flower market.

I've been trying very hard not to buy more rubber ducks, but Bluey Swimmy from the Delft shop was meant to be.

After my rest, I resumed walking, and came upon a small restaurant on the Prinsengracht. The first item on the menu was pumpkin soup. I was sold. I had to have some.

Every restaurant I went to on my trip was cozy and crowded
with tables, with real flowers on each table and a candle, lit
no matter what time of day. 

Hot pumpkin soup with two chunks of Dutch cheese. It came
with piping-hot fresh bread. I devoured all of it. 

Finally, it was time for the Anne Frank House.

When I initially planned my trip, the Anne Frank House was pretty much the only place I knew I wanted to see. I had to learn about all of the other wonderful places later.

If you go to Amsterdam, a visit to the Anne Frank House is a must. It is the very building where her father owned a spice business, and the very building with the secret annex in which Anne's family stayed, with four others, for two years of hiding. Two years of eight people crammed into a tiny space, with one bathroom, and so much fear.

I had just finished a unit with my 8th grade theater class (in conjunction with their Literature class) on the play of The Diary of Anne Frank, so seeing her last true home was a must on my list.

Let me say here that the museum is wonderful. It's hard to take such a dark event in history and showcase it with dignity, but they manage it perfectly. When the Nazis found the occupants of the annex, they ransacked everything, and left little behind (though, famously, Anne's diary was not taken, and was later found and kept by the heroic Miep Gies, who would return it to Otto Frank after the war). Otto Frank, the only survivor, insisted that the annex never be re-furnished, and to this day, it hasn't been, except for some pictures to be taken to show what it would have looked like during the war.

So the museum is essentially many empty rooms, but there are many pictures, and great information, on the walls. The audio tour is full of bits of Anne's diary, spoken in a young girl's voice. Standing in the office where Miep Gies worked was extraordinary--every day, this woman put her own life at risk to keep the Frank family hidden. She went to work in that very office as though nothing was going on, all while keeping an enormous secret, and helping people stay alive.

Once you get to the annex, the audio tour stops, as does all chatter among other visitors. The crowd shuffles down into one single file line, and slowly moves through each room, up the steep stairs, and reads the information left about each occupant. I was surprised at how quiet we all were, as though we were in a holy place--certainly a place deserving utmost respect.

Anne's beloved post cards and celebrity pictures are still on the walls. They are covered in glass now, but still there, where you can be right up near them. This young girl, full of hopes and dreams, pasted them on the walls to give herself some of the comfort of home, fearing what might come, but hoping, too, that it would all pass and she would be free again someday.

When you step out into the gift shop at the end, it's almost jarring. I have to give big props to the gift shop--there are no toys or gadgets or knick-knacks for sale, only books, educational videos, and post cards. The post cards were useful, as pictures are not allowed in the museum (as a matter of sensitivity). I bought two sets, one for me, and one for my colleague Chrystal, so we can share them with our students.

The next item on my list for the day was to see the Royal Palace. The palace is considered to be the people's, even though it is also used for state events. It is not lived in, only used as a place for visiting heads of state to stay for official visits, and other state events. It is next to the New Church, and in front of the palace is Dam Square.

New Church

The Palace

King Willem-Alexander, the former Queen Beatrix, and
Queen Maxima.

Citizen's Hall, with the huge Atlas statue at one end. 

The royal family seems lovely and largely scandal-free.
They have three adorable daughters. Amalia will be
Queen one day.

Dam Square

Another view of the palace.

You can actually climb in for pics, but I refrained.

Appelflappen, or you know, an apple turnover.

You can't avoid the Red Light District in Amsterdam. And I didn't intend to, at all. It's part of the history of the place, and I'm perfectly fine with legalized prostitution if it means that the women participating are safe from abuse and financial exploitation. So after the palace, I wandered that way. And while I am far from being a prude...there was still a little bit of shock seeing prostitution be so open and out-there.

The canals are just so fascinating.

I knew from my research that taking pictures of the women in the windows is considered bad form, so I only took pictures of buildings that were not open for business. 

One of the buildings.

I found the Old Church, and as I walked around it, looking for the entrance, I glanced up and--Oh. OH.

There were three women in the windows of a business, each in her own little cubby with a pole and a stool. And it was here where the American Puritan came out. I looked away quickly, thinking, "Oh, I should respect their privacy...but wait, they don't actually have an expectation of privacy when they are advertising themselves in the windows like that! I can look!" I looked again. And then: "But what if my mom saw me looking?!" I looked away again. Then I laughed at myself and realized I am such an American in so many ways.

The churches in Amsterdam are not like churches in, say, England. Most of those are still used for religious purposes on a daily basis, but the two biggest churches in Amsterdam, the Old and New, are currently being used for art installations. In the Old Church, it was a very strange exhibit by Christian Boltanski.

Before you go in the church, marvel at the hand on a breast
in the cobbles outside.

The exhibit, called Na, "invites you to venture into the quest, to experience absence, and to commemorate our predecessors. Black tombs of various heights have been positioned above the graves. The enclosure wafts languidly due to the breeze of ventilator fans. These tombs determine your route through the church and cause you to appear and disappear, like the other people in the space. Statues with heavy coats and lamps as heads pose questions for you about the way in which death occurred."

Creepy? Yes. Thought-provoking? Sure.

Mostly, I was there for the architecture.

Coats on the floor under lowered chandeliers. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering, enjoying a bit of street art I found, and making my way back to my hotel for a bit. I called my parents from there, and then set out for dinner at a nearby Indonesian restaurant.

Looks very much like a Banksy, as does the next one, but
they are not--I asked at a museum the next day. 

A friend had told me to be sure to take pictures of myself. This
was the first attempt in which I looked somewhat awake.

As a teacher at an IB school, I sometimes joke about being a risk-taker (one of ten IB Learner Profile Attributes). So I tried Indonesian food at a great little restaurant just down the street from my hotel.

I'd had loempia in the past, so I ordered a starter of that, and a chicken dish for my entree.

Again-- always fresh flowers and a lit candle. 

Complimentary prawn chips with peanut sauce. LOVED the
sauce.

Loempia with a variation of sweet and sour, and a small salad.

A chicken dish with a side of cooked cabbage and carrots. It
was spicy, but not in a burn-your-tongue way, just very
flavorful and delicious.

After dinner, I was ready to crash, so it was back to the hotel for a quick shower, and some time in bed with my book. Tuesday would take me a little ways out of Amsterdam, and I needed my rest.