Amsterdam

Well, in addition to the some of the previously mentioned illicit
sights, Amstersdam is also a sophisticated city that seems to never sleep. We arrived late at night, and according to Chizz, our hotel wasthisclose to the train station. So we walked from the station to the hotel at about 12:30 a.m. We actually flew in and took the train from the airport to the city center (aren't we seasoned travellers?). It didn't feel like it was early, early, early, a.m. because there were all kinds of people walking around. It seemed like rush hour in San Francisco. So we walked for about 1/2 hour or so and got to our hotel. However, it is a wonder we made it in one piece. I have just about mastered crossing the street in London without getting hit, now I get to Amsterdam and it is a whole different ball game. First they drive on the other side of the road, like the US. Secondly, every other vehicle there is a bike. Bikes, everywhere. They seem to come out of nowhere. Most sidewalks have a large portion 30% or more dedicated to a bike path, that walkers need to stay clear of lest the bike riders plow you over. After some close misses, I didn't know where to walk.

It really is easy to walk through all of Amsterdam in few short hours. We proved that by doing most of the items on our list in 2 short days. We spent sometime in the Rijksmuseum. It houses many famous Dutch masterpieces. Right now it is being refurbished, so they have taken their most famous and important pieces and put them together in an exhibit. Sort of museum-lite, which truthfully we liked. All the good stuff condensed in several rooms as opposed to walking through halls and halls of less interesting stuff to get to the stuff you really want to see. We saw quite a few famous pieces:


The Milk Maid










The Night Watch by Rembrandt









The Dutch Masters. That's right, the guys on the cigar box!!!!
We saw them! We also spent some time at the Van Gogh museum. I never knew much about Van Gogh, except the obvious - ear problems, crazy etc. But I learned quite a bit. He was only about 37 years old when he killed himself. Also he came to painting later in life and painted most of his works in a 10 year stretch. At one point, after being in and out of an asylum, he was creating more than 1 piece a day. Almost a frantic pace. We saw most of his famous works, his sunflowers, the self-portrait, etc.

I think one of the most moving experiences for us (well, at least me) was going to the Anne Frank house. It was very sombering but fascinating as well. The house is remarkably well preserved. At first, I thought they had modernized the building because it looked so 70's apartment building style but I saw some pictures inside of what it looked like at the time and except for some changes to the ground floor it is exactly as it was during the time Anne and her family were hiding. We walked up the staircase hidden by the bookshelves in the office. The walls still have the original movie magazine pages that Anne put up in her room to decorate. There are still the markings on the wall to chronicle the growth of the children. Mr. Frank's map to track the movements of troops in Europe still pinned to the wall. It is very surreal. One thing that struck me is that the entire time we were in the house itself, no one spoke a word. This was a crowded day too. All the visitors go through the house in complete silence, no whispers, no comments or anything. I have been on tours of churches where people spoke and pointed things out to each other. Not here. It was as if people were respecting the space and not saying anything to disrupt it. Once you got to the museum part, people spoke a bit more. We saw the actual diaries that Anne wrote, her handwriting, drawings etc. They also show a short film featuring her father and what he did afterward to try and find his daughters and how he finally came to the realization they had not survived the camps. Her family was discovered after the Nazis received a tip. No one knows who tipped them off. Several of the people that were hiding the family were arrested and put in camps themselves. One of the woman instrumental in hiding the family, but was not arrested, had discovered the diaries after the family was taken away and kept them until she was certain Anne was not coming back. That woman is still alive and will celebrate her 100th birthday in 2009. Somehow it doesn't quite seem like "history" when some of the participants are still alive, it seems more real and current. And I think that is why I found it so moving. This wasn't that long ago, several of the participants are still alive. Anne herself would be in her late 70s had she lived.

So as you can see, we did engage in some cultural pursuits while we were in Amsterdam. Considering that we were there for less than 48 hours, I am surprised at all the things we did do. Not that the "seedy" side didn't try to creep back in when we were trying to do more wholesome things. We took a walk to the flower area, where there were stalls and stalls of bulbs that you could take home and plant in your garden. Authentic dutch tulips and the like. Although I am not sure I could take some home to California with me. During the spring I understand these stalls are filled to the brim with flowers and it is a beautiful rainbow of magnificent color. What did we see? This!



No, we didn't buy any! Remember, bar low - NOT resting on ground.