Crowds

There was one more museum to be seen and that was the Anne Frank House. I got out early because my understanding was that the line for this could go on for blocks.
I arrived twenty minutes before opening.

The house is set up differently than I had expected. There is no furniture recreating the house at it was.  This makes sense because there would simply be no room for visitors to make their way through. Instead, the curators furnished the home, and then took photos, which are hung on the walls of each empty room.

 

 

In each room on different surfaces, are quotes from Anne’s diary. It was incredible how her words breathed such life into these empty spaces.

“I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young and know that I’m free”

In her bedroom they were able to preserve the magazine cut outs and post cards that she pasted on the walls.

And the pencil marks her father made of her and her sister Margot’s growth during those two years.

It was overwhelming to be in the place where Anne Frank spent those years in hiding. You experience the physicality of the how small and cramped it was, how stifling it felt in the barely lit the rooms. Her story was remarkable but sadly not unique, so many families lived in that same circumstance.  We are blessed to have this precious record of that horrible time.

 

After the museum I went back to the room for a bit.   I rested and set out to do some souvenir shopping. Earlier I had spotted a cool Van Gogh shirt for my son Matt so I headed over to the gift shop at Museumplein to pick it up. I was getting hungry so I looked around for something for lunch when I saw this in the park…

Now, I’m not opposed to the good old American hot dog, but there is something about this that is just wrong.  Is this the best that the USA can offer?

 

I wanted to try something I wouldn’t get at home so I stepped up to a “Haring Kart.”  A traditional snack in the Netherlands is pickled herring.

I’m pretty sure you have to be indoctrinated from the time you are a wee child to enjoy this.

 

I decided to be only sort of brave and try a sandwich instead.  I pointed to a couple of these fishy salads hoped for the best.

Turns out they weren’t so crazy. One side was salmon and the other tuna with capers. I’m definitely going to put capers in my tuna fish from now on. Thanks, Haring Kart!

 

I finished my tasty sandwich just before a tour bus of boisterous senior citizens converged on the place.

 

I had picked up my Dutch tchotchke but it was still early in the day.  My ”I Amsterdam” guidebook mentioned that the P.C. Hoofstraat area was prime for shopping. Who am I to argue? I found said street and soon discovered that this is the Rodeo Drive of Amsterdam.

Here are some of the hoity toity stores found there:

 

 

While I was looking around I had a brush with a semi-celebrity.  You know that guy who won season three of Project Runway with the neck tattoo? You know Jeffrey something or other? I totally saw him!

Back on the street where our hotel was the hustle bustle had already begun. I’m sure the warm weather skewed things, but it didn’t cease to amaze me how the pubs would just spill over with people as early a 3:00pm.

Here’s a video I took so you can get the feel of the hustle and the bustle: amsterdamstreets

With all these people out and about it seems that it is prime opportunity for street performers to make a buck (or a Euro).

At first glance it seems charming, but you quickly glean that the business owners do not appreciate this. I witnessed a grumpy waiter shooing away a juggler with disdain while I was at a café.  I didn’t have my camera at the ready, so these pics will have to do:

 

 

The musicians seem harmless, but these performers were rather disruptive. They would stop traffic and do some weird ninja dance routine while others played drums and chanted.

 

Time to meet up with Jeff. I’m getting a bit self-conscious about our evenings in Amsterdam because we seem to be in a bit of a rut.  Let me sum up: walk, tasty dinner, walk, scotch at the pub, goodnight!