Amsterdam

Thursday was a travel day. After a good Swedish breakfast and a series of goodbyes, we boarded a train in Norrköping for Stockholm. It was a 90 minute ride with 2 stops to Stockholm's central station. In Stockholm, we had to change to the Arlanda Express, a fast train between Central Station and the airport. We topped out at speeds over 100 mph and made the trip in 20 minutes. After some searching we finally found our check in area, and spent our last kronar on souvenirs and lunch. After a two hour flight, a long wait for our luggage, and a 40 minute taxi drive, we were at our hotel in Amsterdam. We went for a walk looking for a place to eat and ended up at a nice Italian restaurant next to our hotel.

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Our main goal in Amsterda was to see Anne Frank's house. I had tried in Sweden to get tickets on line and they were sold out. So, we headed out about 8 AM to get in line and got to the house at 8:30. We were about 25th in line and they actually started letting us in before 9 AM. We were done with the visit by 10:15. The picture to the left is the long line when we left. It turns the corner and comes back toward where I took the picture. I am sure it was over an hour long. The Anne Frank story is very interesting and inspiring. The tragedy is that they were betrayed near the end of the war, sent to prison camp, and they all died except the father. A friend had kept the diaries safe and he and Otto Frank published them. I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read the book, but I will now. I was staggered to learn that 103,000 Dutch Jews were detained and sent to Germany to their deaths. It is hard to understand how such evil could exist and not have people stand up to stop it. You wander what evil is going on now in our world that we are not standing up to stop. Slavery through human trafficking comes to our minds.

The main attractions we wanted to see in Amsterdam were the Anne Frank, Van Gogh, and Rembrandt’s museums.  Visiting Anne Frank’s secret hideaway was the most interesting.  It was very heart wrenching to walk through the rooms located at different levels, seeing how the families lived for two long years. Thanks to a young girls desire to live each moment no matter what, we can experience what it was like to be Jewish during Hitler’s reign.  To be young and full of life yet be trapped with nothing but uncertainties and fear. The most sobering picture was when Otto Frank, who was the only family member that survived, visited the hideaway after the war. It showed him standing in the empty room in a dim light, pondering many thoughts. Caroline

We walked from the museum past the flower market. There were many stands selling flowers and souvenirs, mostly souvenirs. Tulips were on display of course.

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We also went in a cheese store. I could have purchased a lot of cheese there if we were on our way home.

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Amsterdam is a city of bikes. I am sure there are as many people on bikes as there are are in cars. They are everywhere. They are clearly designed for utility, not speed, and aren't necessarily careful with pedestrians.

From the air we could see the many canals channeling through Amsterdam. Seing the canals and remember that much of Holland is below sea level brings back the story of the little boy that stopped the leak in the dike with his finger.  Chuck was in “bike heaven” as I am sure there are more bikes than cars in Amsterdam.  It was very picturesque sitting near the canals eating and watching the various boats float by.

Here are a few examples of the multitide of bikes in Amsterdam.

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In the picture above, there is a second seat for a child that includes toe straps to keep their feet in place and a seat belt to strap them in. They all have fenders, most have bike racks, many are single speed with old-style coaster brakes.  There are separate lanes for bikes separated from the streets. They have separate traffic lights. And, there is clearly a bike lane etiquette. I've uploaded a movie I took of the bike traffic. You can watch it here. It is a 96 MB file, so be patient as it downloads.

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We ate lunch at a pleasant little cafe on a side street. Caroline had an omelette that surprised her by its size (see picture) and Chuck had a panini.  We had great weather. It was actually a little hot by Chuck's standards, but just right by Caroline's.

After lunch we went to the Rembrandt museum, actually the Rijksmuseum which featured Rembrandt and other painters of that era.

Our last stop of the day, after a respite in the hotel was the Van Gogh museum.

After all of those historical sites and museums, we decided we had enough culture for this vacation <grin>.

More about Amsterdam in the next post.

© Charles Eklund 2012