Amsterdam is a cool city. Very edgy and artsy, they don't really give a damn about anything. We spent about two days here in Amsterdam.
The first day in Amsterdam was my favorite day in the city and I think my most anticipated day of the whole trip. I was so excited to go and be in the actual place where they all hid.
Thank you to Danny's sister is all I have to say because she saved out asses. She told us that we should bye tickets before we left so that was a few weeks prior and we got the last time slot that would allow our whole group.
We had a 12 time slot. We were really worried that we were going To struggle finding it so we left about an hour before our time slot. The tram and bus system in Amsterdam is good it is just not as good as Paris or Rome so you have to allow for extra time. It took us about 30 minutes to get there. At this point we again thanked Danny's sister because the line was very long and we were all glad that we didn't have to wait in it. To kill time and I had to go to the bathroom we went right next door to the left of the house to a little restaurant and cafe. We went back about 10 minutes before our time and they let us in early.
The Ann Frank House is just such an educational and touching experience. It is beyond wonderful and something I think all people should do. They have done an amazing job with the organization of it and the information that they have included. This may partially have something to do with Otto Frank having so much to do with the museum. I have been teaching Ann Frank to my students for 5 years and thought that Christie and I did a pretty damn good job teaching it. But this coming year we will kick ass. There is so much more I have to add to this unit. Like so many of the names were changed, or that so many other kids in here class had tried to hide, or that Ann was supposed to have a date the day her family disappeared. In one of the last room you watch a video that her friend Hannah made. She talked about the last time she saw Ann. They were told that they were in the same concentration camp. The first time they saw each other they were on opposite sides of a fence that separated the work camp from the prison camp. Ann told Hannah that her whole family was dead and that she had no one to live for anymore. It was one month before the camps were sent free. It is so sad to even think about how close she came to being free. In the very last area they talk about how racism and genocides affect us today and had a very interactive way to do it. I can't wait to try it with the kids. You can not take pictures in the house so I only got one outside.
On the second day mom went home. 😔We decided to do a boat tour of Amsterdam. It was fun but the rocking motion did make us all sleepy though. We were a little worried because we bought our tickets and then realized everyone around us was talking another language and not one of us had asked what language the tour was in. The first words on the tour were in some other language and we all burst out laughing. Can you believe that! But in fact the tour was done in three different languages. Here are some pictures.
Pirc was bound and determined that we should find the I am Amsterdam sign. We just right where it usually is so we walked over. It was not there so we asked these two lovely cops that told us it moves. They radioed it to ask where it was. After a few minutes they told us and gave us direction as to how to walk there. Now the way they made it sound you would have thought it was just a few minutes walk. It took us over an hour and asking several people for directions to finally get there. So everyone did the picture thing. Nick took pictures for Pirc and I.
Here is one of me.
Now the worst part of this trip is that sometime durning the whole picture extravaganza I lost my sunglasses. I was so upset I love my sunglasses and they were a wedding present from Pirc.
Whatever, we went to dinner and I got over it and then went home. The boys went out. My face hurt and so I just went home and read. It was so nice to relax with a glass of wine and a book.
All and all Amsterdam was an interesting,fun, clean, and different city. I enjoyed much more than I thought I would.
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