Before we made our way to the Botel (yup, a hotel on a boat), we stopped at a farm to see how Edam and clogs are made. I skipped the clogs, but left with a massive block of cheese encased in wax - it was delicious!!!
To get from the Botel to the city itself we had to take a short ferry ride of about 10 minutes. It was pretty cool - just us and a thousand Dutch on bicycles. :) We were amazed at the number of bicycles in Amsterdam, even though it's a pretty well-known stereotype. On our first morning we actually went on a guided bike tour of the city which we thoroughly enjoyed - the weather was gorgeous and we were able to cover a lot of ground in a short period of time (super helpful for planning the rest of our day). We had explored the famed Red Light District the previous evening which was really entertaining. We considered going to see a sex show, but ultimately decided our money could be better spent on other experiences (such as waffles drench in Nutella and sliced bananas). Ditto for the "coffee shops" - because our time was limited, we didn't want to be too high to remember it. :)
After our bike ride we back-tracked to the Anne Frank Huis. It was an incredibly moving experience and extremely well done - you get all of the information you need without being completely overwhelmed, and they have a fantastic interactive display on social justice on the ground floor. Anne Frank, of course, was a young German girl whose parents, sensing that trouble was brewing for the Jews, emigrated to the Netherlands as Hitler rose to power in the 1930s. When the Nazis began to send the Dutch Jews to concentration camps, Anne and her family - as well as another family and a single man - hid in the secret annex of the building behind her father's business. They hid successfully for several years, aided by their friend Miep Gies (and several others), before they were betrayed and sent to separate camps. Here are some (poorly written) facts about Anne Frank from The Anne Frank Center USA:
1. How unique was the hiding place or the Secret Annex?The Franks were most unusual both in finding a place to hide together and in having so many people who were willing to help them. It is very important to put Anne Frank's story in context to the stories of what happened to most Dutch Jews. Three out of four were killed and a very small minority found places to hide, mostly with farmers.
2. Who were the Helpers in the Secret Annex?
Bep Elli Voskuijl, Miep Santrouschitz Gies, Victor Kugler, and Johannes Kleiman. Remember all the silent helpers too, the butcher, the vegetable grocer, Miep's husband, Jan. All of these people were helpers of the Frank family.
3. Why is Anne Frank so well known?
A young victim of Nazi tyranny and the author of a famous diary, Anne Frank has become a symbol of 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. For many people Anne Frank became a symbol of the six million Jewish men, women, and especially the children who were murdered by the Nazis in the WWII. It is almost impossible to comprehend this number, but the story of Anne Frank makes it possible to understand what the war meant for one of these victims.
4. What language did Anne use to write her diary?
Anne wrote her diary in Dutch.
5. Where did the family go into hiding?
The secret annex was located The Opekta-Works at Prinsengracht 263, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The date the family went into hiding was July 6, 1942.
6. Why are there different versions of the diary?
The (a) version of the diary was the very first writings made by Anne. After hearing on Wednesday, March 29, 1944 on a daily radio broadcast from London, Anne heard the Dutch Minister Bolkestein, say that after the war all diaries and letters about the war would be collected. The (b) version of the diary is Anne rewriting of her work as she stated on May 11, 1944 " You've known for a long time that my greatest wish is to become a journalist someday and later on a famous writer" In any case, I want to publish a book entitled het Achterhuis (The Secret Annex) after the war, whether I shall succeed or not, I cannot say, but my diary will be a great help. The (c) version of the diary appeared after a Dutch newspaper in April 3, 1946 (Het Parool รถ The Motto) printed an article about the diary and a publisher was found. Anne Frank's diary was published in an edition of 1,500 copies in the summer of 1947.
Anne died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen in March of 1945. Of the eight people who hid in the secret annex, the only survivor was her father, Otto Frank. In the annex, there is a large black and white photograph of Mr. Frank standing in the empty space after he is free. The look on his face will haunt me forever. How cruel to survive so much only to find out that your wife and children (as well as so many other members of your family and friends) are gone. How lonely.
Even if you have never read Diary of a Young Girl, I highly recommend visiting Anne Frank Huis if you ever find yourself in Amsterdam.
That afternoon we wandered around, had a fantastic meal in a pub, and then stumbled upon the traditional Sinterklaas parade.
Now, there is something inherently fun and quirky about the Dutch. I'll be honest, however, in stating that I didn't know what to make of this highly regarded tradition. We have Santa Claus parades all over Canada every year, so the idea itself wasn't new to me - what kind of freaked me out (uber liberal that I am) was my introduction to "Black Pete." We've since learned that Black Pete is the mythical sidekick of Saint Nicholas, and he is/was a chimney sweep, which is why he is referred to as "black." The thing that kind of took me by surprise, however, was that all of the participants in the parade other than Saint Nicholas himself (who came in on a white horse, which was sweeeeeet) were in blackface.
Something which I thought was really cool about the parade - and so very, very wonderfully Dutch - were the tulip-shaped umbrellas the kids used to catch candy and ginger cookies along the parade route. Awesome.
Following the parade we took in the fantastic Van Gogh museum (which, we all pronounce thoroughly incorrectly, our friend Hiske taught us :). It was PACKED, but well worth it - though I've never been a fan of Sunflowers, it was cool to see it in real life. (We also attended a Van Gogh exhibit in San Francisco last year - we're both fans!) It was a very full day, but we made the most of it and would love to go back!
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