Tripsource.com - Janet in Germany

July 27, 2003

After a very late night, I think we finally got to bed after 5:30 am, we got up and motivated after 12 noon. We found a café overlooking the Amstel River for brunch and each had a yummy bowl of tomato soup with crème fraische, fresh bread, and a variety of cheeses. I had the warmed goat cheese with thyme and honey on ciabatta bread. It was very tasty. Oh, and a latte and lots of water (minus the bubbles).

My friend Kristi and I headed over to the Anne Frank House after brunch. We wandered down the Amstel River, and then across the central part of downtown Amsterdam to the house and museum. There are so many cool buildings in Amsterdam.

At the Anne Frank House we encountered a long line that went quickly, and we chatted with a group of teenagers from Boston, and befriended a nice gentleman from Orlando who told us about his whirlwind trip through Sevilla, Praque, Amsterdam, and then onto Paris.

The Anne Frank House was unassuming, and they did an excellent job teaching you about the life of Anne Frank and her family while they were in hiding during WWII in the upper back levels of the house. The rooms were filled with quotes from Anne Frank’s diary, which she kept while in hiding and described the daily life of her family and the other family hiding with them. It was a very moving, sad, and interesting commentary on the life of this young woman. One of the quotes that really stand out to me is her comment about being a writer. As a writer myself, my heart goes out to this young, optimistic woman who still dreams of pursuing a career even though she is hiding away from persecution by the Nazis. She says:

"Will I ever become a journalist or a writer? I hope so, oh, I hope so very much, because writing allows me to record everything, all my thoughts, ideals and fantasies." (April 5, 1944)

Not sure who knows the story, but Anne Frank was one of the Jewish victims of Nazi persecution during WWII. The Frank family went into hiding in July 1942 in the building of Mr. Frank’s business. After more than two years they were betrayed and deported. Anne died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945, only a few weeks before this concentration camp was liberated. Otto Frank, her father, and the only member of the group to survive, returned after the war and published his daughter’s diary.

One of the things I’ve noticed about Amsterdam is that it is very pedestrian friendly and very biker friendly. There are separate paths for cars, pikes, and pedestrians. And the number of bikes that can be found is amazing. This row of bikes could be found block after block.

After visiting the Anne Frank House we returned to Irish John’s apartment, which is where we were staying for the weekend, packed our bags, headed back to Frankfurt, a four hour drive without all the accidents we encountered on the drive in.

July 26, 2003

We drove to Amsterdam yesterday. I should say I drove to Amsterdam yesterday. Five hours straight. Well, don’t count the accidents on the autobahn that delayed us by about 1 ½ hours. I had fun driving on the autobahn though. Pretty much drove between 120 and 180 kilometers the entire time. That was fun.

We arrived in Amsterdam around 11:30 pm Friday night. In time to freshen up at John’s apartment, and then go out. We went to Three Sisters Pub for drinks and dancing until about 2 am. Then we headed to the Zebra Bar, Zebra Lounge, something Zebra. I’d prefer to call it the Bar of the Beautiful People. No joke, the people in the bar were gorgeous. The Dutch in general are very attractive people. And I have to admit, for the first time in a long time, I felt short. The Dutch are also tall people. Can I just say, YUM! I felt at home in Amsterdam immediately. ? We finally got home after 4 am after eating the best schwarma from this little Egyptian restaurant called Cleopatra’s.

Somehow managed to get up around 10 am on Saturday and head to the Van Gogh museum. Wandered around the streets of Amsterdam, over the rivers, along the canals, even stopping for some lunch at an outside café.

We wandered through the Rijks Museum, literally, through the pathway carved below the building, and visited the Van Gogh Museum. Pretty crowded place, but thoroughly enjoyed learning about Van Gogh’s paintings, and seeing my favorite in person: Sunflowers. The museum also had some Gaugin paintings as well. Also saw a modern exhibit, called GoghModern, that was interesting as well.

That evening we did a canal tour of Amsterdam that was very educational and interesting, just not conducive to photos because of the enclosed boats. If you do this tour, be sure to get on one of the boats that have windows that open so your flash doesn’t ruin your photos.

Afterwards we went to several different bars, and drank a variety of alcohols. My favorite was the “white beer” served with lemon. A very clear, pale beer, which was refreshing in the heat. Later, much later, around 2 am we wandered over to the Red Light District to see what the fuss was all about. Finally got back to John’s apartment at around 5 am.

July 25, 2003

While camera was visiting Munich or Munchen as they say here, he took these photos to share with you. Again, since I wasn’t there I have no idea what these are, but they are interesting to say the least. Actually, I do know that the guy is Patrick, someone Kristi met, standing by the Lowenbrau Lion, apparently very famous at the Oktoberfest celebrations. The statue was one Kristi took in Olympic Park.

July 24, 2003

I let my friend borrow my camera for day trips, big mistake, because now I can’t take any fun photos. However, she got a few good shots while in Cologne, or Köln as its spelled here, regardless, pronounced like the perfume. So I thought I’d share her shots since I was working. I don’t know what any of this is, so no description unfortunately. Enjoy.