Overall....we were very impressed with The Netherlands. Not just the sights, the sounds, and history....but the people were terrific. Very kind and genuinely thoughtful and friendly...and genuinely tall (not kidding...I could only see from my nose up in many public restroom mirrors...)
Luke, Greg, and I left for Holland on the morning of New Year's Eve. I had big plans for the crew to be up and at 'em by 6 in the morning. Turns out, I was the only one to set my alarm (slept through it), and no one woke up until 9. Well...the extra sleep did us good I suppose. We had about a 7 hour drive, and barely hit traffic. We were in town by 5:00 pm. Amsterdam was the city that we wanted to visit, however..do you KNOW how expensive it is...and on NEW YEAR'S??? So we stayed in what I call "Amsterdam's little sister", Haarlem.
...its not the one you are thinking it is...
Haarlem is only 15 minutes on train from Amsterdam...and a WORLD cheaper to stay! Upon arrival we checked into the hotel, and headed to find some food. Literally around every corner and alley, someone was setting off fireworks. I can't even tell you how many times I jumped and screamed simultaneously. I once again, felt like Mario Bros, jumping and dodging explosives.
Trains to/from Amsterdam stopped running at 8 pm...and we didn't feel like paying 100 euro for a cab that evening to stand shoulder to shoulder with millions of other tourists in downtown Amsterdam...so we stayed in sweet old Haarlem for the night. It actually was just perfect.
We enjoyed a magnificent firework show beginning at midnight, in the little main square (called Grote Markt). The fireworks were RIGHT THERE. I'm talking...one exploded on the ground, and Luke and I were literally standing inside of this beautiful red explosive. They were being set off all around the square by so many people. Pictures do not do it's justice one bit. We heard constant "BOOMS" for over an hour before we decided to go to bed. Anyhow...we loved it. We were free to enjoy this beautiful fireworks display, in a beautiful little square, and honestly we were probably the only tourists in the town! Everyone else went to Amsterdam! We had SPACE! It was really cool.
The next day we woke up, and headed to Amsterdam via train...to wait. And wait. And wait. In line. Forever. Actually for about 2.5 hours, we waited in line to enter the Anne Frank house. TOTALLY WORTH THE WAIT.
The line went around a few blocks...
At least we had nice things to look at while we waited.
FYI...if you ever want to go to Amsterdam and visit the Anne Frank house...plan your trip more than 3 months in advance. We booked the trip in early Oct. You can purchase "skip the line" tickets online. By the time we checked in Oct...they were booked until after the New Year. We had no other option, than to wait in line. Along the wait...I found a little gouda cheese shop. So I hooked everyone in my 3 person group up with a cheese snack while we waited. It really wasn't so bad. We really wanted to see this house.
We were not allowed to take photos inside the house, but here is a snap of the outside:
It is the one with the red roof.
It was incredible to tour the annex. Pretty sure this has been on top of my bucket list since I was 12. I've read so much about this time in history, and have seen and read the Diary of Anne Frank too many times to count...so not much was news to me when I visited the house. It was just neat to be there and see it all in person. The rooms seemed bigger than I had imagined them to be. Greg and Luke thought the same thing. But then thinking of the rooms crowded with furniture, 8 people, and no time out of there for 2 years...made me begin to feel claustrophobic. The families in hiding were already hearing about the allies moving in before they were found. Still we do not know who turned them in. Could've someone who worked in the offices underneath them.
I bought two books at the gift shop. One is the whole hiding experience from the perspective of Miep (one of the office workers who helped to hide the families). The other is about the last 7 months of Anne Frank, stories told by people who knew her in the camps before she died. I am reading that one now. Really good read.
It is crazy to me that people were found in hiding places in these Dutch buildings. They were so confusing on the inside. Even our hotel we stayed at...we were on the 3rd floor. The stairs do not just go all the up in one swoop...once we were on the 2nd floor, it took us a little game of hide and seek to find where the stairs were that took us to the 3rd floor! I bet you anything that people were hiding in that building...not just because it was confusing with the stairs...but because the Dutch are awesomely generous and kind people and if they were then like it seems the people are now, I have a feeling they were hiding people left and right in the day.
So...after the first night, we ended up having dinner in Chinatown each night. We were really feeling the Chinese food...and it was glorious.
Dam Square...
Old Amsterdam City Gate...
Amsterdam Central train station...
On day 2, we started our morning in Haarlem. We went to visit the Corrie ten Boom house. Her father was a watchmaker. During WW11, she and her family hid I think 6 Jews in their home. Corrie had a special hiding place for them to go if the house was being searched...in her WALL:
They would crawl in through an opening in the bottom of her closest:
Bottom of the closet opening...once all had crawled through, the last person would pull down the wall. Corrie would place linens and things in front of the wall, and the last person in would sit firmly against the wall...making it harder to lift if anyone thought to try.
Obviously this wall is knocked out now to show us the inside of the wall hiding place. Back in the day it was closed off. Corrie's bedroom, by the way, made the Anne Frank house look like a mansion. It was TINY. Like the size of my mom's walk-in closet.
Here at the bottom of the stairs, Corrie would hide extra ration cards...as they were then feeding more mouths.
The people in hiding would hear a faint bell sound if they needed to go to their special hiding place. They had to make it look like they were never there. This meant that if they were sleeping, they had to take all sheets off the bed (take with them), lay their bed up against the wall, take all cups/small belongings they had with them, etc. After all preparations outside of the hiding place...they all had to crawl into the wall in Corrie's room. The group had this routine down to 70 seconds.
You can look up and read one of her books called "The Hiding Place"to learn more.
It's still a watch shop...
After visiting the Corrie ten Boom house, we went into Amsterdam. At first we trekked all the way to the Van Gogh museum through the city on a tram. Once we arrived at our destination...we noticed quite a large line to enter. As professional as we were at standing in long lines at this point...we decided to nix the exploration Van Gogh on this day. We had other museums to check out, and it was our last day. Besides...I see Amsterdam in our future anyhow, we can check it out next time...AFTER we buy skip the line tickets for that one.
And here is a story of a Dutch woman being the best type of human ever. So we bought tickets for the tram...got off at our stop, realized we didn't want to wait in line, and got right back on the tram to go back the way we came. So really...we rode the tram for nothing. We thought the tickets were good for one hour, so we could just use the same ticket to go back. Turns out, we were wrong. When we got back on the tram, the driver told us to purchase new tickets in the back. So we went back to the booth like honest beings, and I said "these are finished, we need new ones". The kind woman at the booth must've seen the time on the tickets...and that we JUST got off and she said "Well....I am finished too, and I, uh, do not have anymore tickets left. So, have a seat, Happy New Year, and have a good day". The fact that she did not get off the tram, and that other people were buying tickets after us, tells me that she was kindly being untruthful. It was around this time that we decided the Dutch are awesome.
We headed back to where we came from, and found the Maritime Museum.
We went inside of this whale...
Whaling was big here in the Golden Age.
I thought this was really cool...a map from 1482!
Some figures that used to be on ships...
A yacht used by Dutch royalty throughout history...
Some gouda stored up in the ship...
A pretend feast in the Captains Dining Room...
Greg in the "Captains room"... He's never felt so tall!
We were a little obsessed with the ceiling inside of the museum...
Here are some photos from just wandering around on this evening after touring the museum:
Though it was the coldest we felt on the whole trip...we still took a walk up the beach, and stopped at a little lodge for some hot chocolate.
This in the beach that the Franks used to go to in happier days.
Check out this landscape...
Luke, Greg, and I left for Holland on the morning of New Year's Eve. I had big plans for the crew to be up and at 'em by 6 in the morning. Turns out, I was the only one to set my alarm (slept through it), and no one woke up until 9. Well...the extra sleep did us good I suppose. We had about a 7 hour drive, and barely hit traffic. We were in town by 5:00 pm. Amsterdam was the city that we wanted to visit, however..do you KNOW how expensive it is...and on NEW YEAR'S??? So we stayed in what I call "Amsterdam's little sister", Haarlem.
Haarlem is only 15 minutes on train from Amsterdam...and a WORLD cheaper to stay! Upon arrival we checked into the hotel, and headed to find some food. Literally around every corner and alley, someone was setting off fireworks. I can't even tell you how many times I jumped and screamed simultaneously. I once again, felt like Mario Bros, jumping and dodging explosives.
Trains to/from Amsterdam stopped running at 8 pm...and we didn't feel like paying 100 euro for a cab that evening to stand shoulder to shoulder with millions of other tourists in downtown Amsterdam...so we stayed in sweet old Haarlem for the night. It actually was just perfect.
Hanging in Haarlem's train station.
We were not allowed to take photos inside the house, but here is a snap of the outside:
It is the one with the red roof.
It was incredible to tour the annex. Pretty sure this has been on top of my bucket list since I was 12. I've read so much about this time in history, and have seen and read the Diary of Anne Frank too many times to count...so not much was news to me when I visited the house. It was just neat to be there and see it all in person. The rooms seemed bigger than I had imagined them to be. Greg and Luke thought the same thing. But then thinking of the rooms crowded with furniture, 8 people, and no time out of there for 2 years...made me begin to feel claustrophobic. The families in hiding were already hearing about the allies moving in before they were found. Still we do not know who turned them in. Could've someone who worked in the offices underneath them.
I bought two books at the gift shop. One is the whole hiding experience from the perspective of Miep (one of the office workers who helped to hide the families). The other is about the last 7 months of Anne Frank, stories told by people who knew her in the camps before she died. I am reading that one now. Really good read.
It is crazy to me that people were found in hiding places in these Dutch buildings. They were so confusing on the inside. Even our hotel we stayed at...we were on the 3rd floor. The stairs do not just go all the up in one swoop...once we were on the 2nd floor, it took us a little game of hide and seek to find where the stairs were that took us to the 3rd floor! I bet you anything that people were hiding in that building...not just because it was confusing with the stairs...but because the Dutch are awesomely generous and kind people and if they were then like it seems the people are now, I have a feeling they were hiding people left and right in the day.
So...after the first night, we ended up having dinner in Chinatown each night. We were really feeling the Chinese food...and it was glorious.
Amsterdam Central train station...
On day 2, we started our morning in Haarlem. We went to visit the Corrie ten Boom house. Her father was a watchmaker. During WW11, she and her family hid I think 6 Jews in their home. Corrie had a special hiding place for them to go if the house was being searched...in her WALL:
They would crawl in through an opening in the bottom of her closest:
Bottom of the closet opening...once all had crawled through, the last person would pull down the wall. Corrie would place linens and things in front of the wall, and the last person in would sit firmly against the wall...making it harder to lift if anyone thought to try.
Obviously this wall is knocked out now to show us the inside of the wall hiding place. Back in the day it was closed off. Corrie's bedroom, by the way, made the Anne Frank house look like a mansion. It was TINY. Like the size of my mom's walk-in closet.
Here at the bottom of the stairs, Corrie would hide extra ration cards...as they were then feeding more mouths.
You can look up and read one of her books called "The Hiding Place"to learn more.
It's still a watch shop...
After visiting the Corrie ten Boom house, we went into Amsterdam. At first we trekked all the way to the Van Gogh museum through the city on a tram. Once we arrived at our destination...we noticed quite a large line to enter. As professional as we were at standing in long lines at this point...we decided to nix the exploration Van Gogh on this day. We had other museums to check out, and it was our last day. Besides...I see Amsterdam in our future anyhow, we can check it out next time...AFTER we buy skip the line tickets for that one.
And here is a story of a Dutch woman being the best type of human ever. So we bought tickets for the tram...got off at our stop, realized we didn't want to wait in line, and got right back on the tram to go back the way we came. So really...we rode the tram for nothing. We thought the tickets were good for one hour, so we could just use the same ticket to go back. Turns out, we were wrong. When we got back on the tram, the driver told us to purchase new tickets in the back. So we went back to the booth like honest beings, and I said "these are finished, we need new ones". The kind woman at the booth must've seen the time on the tickets...and that we JUST got off and she said "Well....I am finished too, and I, uh, do not have anymore tickets left. So, have a seat, Happy New Year, and have a good day". The fact that she did not get off the tram, and that other people were buying tickets after us, tells me that she was kindly being untruthful. It was around this time that we decided the Dutch are awesome.
We headed back to where we came from, and found the Maritime Museum.
Whaling was big here in the Golden Age.
A replica of a ship...
Here are some photos from just wandering around on this evening after touring the museum:
We left on Sunday, the 3rd, and headed to the beach in Zandvoort before we drove back to Germany.
Well, that was it! I know we only spent a few days in Amsterdam, but I'll be so bold as to say that it is one of my favorite cities. It is up there with London in my eyes. I do not often proclaim that I WILL be back to cities (not one to repeat locations, when there are so many left to see...), but Amsterdam is one that I would skip going to a new city for. Loved it.
-Gina
