Amsterdam

So, this trip was actually back at the beginning of September.  The very beginning.  Like, Labor Day Weekend.  We went with some friends and stayed in a very fun, very family friendly resort in the Southern part of the Netherlands (it was only about a 4 hour drive).  We stayed in a little bungalow (very basic, but also very inexpensive) and had at our disposal a huge indoor water park, a lake with paddle boats and canoes, bowling, tennis, ping pong, mini-golf, restaurants (although the food was REALLY not so good) and lots and lots of playgrounds.  It was a perfect spot for us to spend the weekend.  I was recovering from an illness (I'm fine now) so I was able to relax while Ben played with the kids.  Although the trip was mostly centered around family play time, we did manage to drive up to Amsterdam for a day.  It was wonderful.  I had never been to Amsterdam, and didn't really know what to expect.  I've heard some pretty sketchy things about Amsterdam (the city of pot and prostitution) so I was a little worried about the environment.  Turns out, the red light district is very defined (it's actually a tourist destination), so it is easy to avoid, and if you avoid it, you're pretty much fine.  Amsterdam is really a beautiful city.  I really want to go back - one day was not enough.  The things we were able to see:

The Anne Frank House

                                                                

I didn't take any pictures of the actual house (the outside is not much to look at, and there is no photography allowed inside). This is a statue of Anne the is right around the block from her house.

                                                                  

This is the church around the corner from Anne Frank's house.  I really enjoyed visiting the Anne Frank house.  Having visited Auschwitz as well as the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, I've witnessed the horror of the Holocaust on a large scale.  Seeing the Frank family's hideout and reading their letters, as well as quotes from Anne's journal, and imagining trying to keep my children quiet for 2 years, hidden in a tiny space and never letting them outside was touching in a more personal, more intimate way.  I think sometimes we see tragedies unfold in the news and they are so huge, and so horrible that they are literally mind numbing.  I think it is good to see how world events (historical and contemporary) affect individuals because through doing so we develop more empathy and a greater desire to effect change.  On a lighter note, I read Anne Frank's diary when I was in elementary school, and it was exciting to see a place I had imagined as I read.

The Rijksmuseum and the VanGough Museum

                                 

           

Okay, so only the first picture has anything to do with the museums.  (Once again, no photography inside.)  I loved both museums.  A big plus for us was that 80% of the Rijksmuseum was closed for remodeling, so all of their treasures were packed into one wing of the museum.  Had I not been traveling with young children, I would have enjoyed a lengthy ramble through the entire building, however, with kids in tow, the condensed version was perfect.  We saw the Vermeers and the Rembrandts and we did it all in 90 minutes or less!  Between museums, we took a break for lunch and some play time on yet another REALLY unsafe playground.  We went to the VanGough museum after lunch (Ben carried a sleeping N through the entire museum and all the way back to the car) and then headed back to our bungalow.  We had a great day. 

*Oh, and for any music nerds out there - here is a picture of the Royal Concertgebouw.  It is right across the plaza from the museums.  If you look really, really closely, you can see the golden lyre.