Exploring Amsterdam

Our last 2 days in Amsterdam we tried to have more of a scheduled plan for the day, but not surprisingly it didn't really turn out that way. The next morning we woke up relatively early to go the Anne Frank House but by the time we got there 9:20 the line was already over an hour long. So instead we decided to grab some breakfast and do some more wandering. We ended up renting bikes and navigating our way around the city. We headed to the Van Gogh museum but once again we hit a 2 hour long line and decided to save that experience for later. Next we decided to be real tourists and headed for the Heineken Experience/museum. It was super touristy but we had a good time messing around. Afterwards we tried to go back to the Van Gogh museum but the line was still super long so instead of riding the bus back to the boat we decided to try and do it on our bikes. Lets just say I learned that I've definitely been in better shape before. On our way back we stumbled across what we think was a honey bee festival in the residential area near the boat. It was packed with families with small children tasting all different kinds of honey and little kids getting their face painted. It was a great find. Afterwards we stopped and the local grocery store and bought some super stinky cheese and crackers and some delicious orange juice. There is a small restaurant near the boat that we've passed a few times but never really paid attention to. This time we decided to stop for dinner. It was a really really tiny building with only a few tables and one old man working there who we assumed was the owner. It was such a cute little building with white lights and tree branches covering the ceiling and a full wall or windows looking out of the canal. We were the only people in the restaurant. At the owner took our order and went to go cook our food he also changed into a chef shirt. We had a delicious Mel and left with full stomachs and happy hearts. 

We learned our lesson about long lines, so the next morning we woke up super early and rode our bikes to the Anne Frank house. We were the 3rd group of people in line and waiting for about 40 mins in the cold. Walking through the house and attic where Anne Frank and her family and friends hid during WWII was both an eerie  and inspiring experience. We've all learned about Anne Frank since we were little and I've studied so much about theHolocaust in many of my human rights classes at SMU but being there was an indescribable experience. Seeing and learning about the struggles amd obstacles they encountered while in hiding, while reading about the hope and faith in a better world that Anne Frank expressed in her diary was heartbreaking and inspiring. Just like my travels in Rwanda, it's an eye opening experience to see and touch things that you have learned so much about in a classroom. After the Anne Frank house we sat down for breakfast on the opposite side of the canal. We talked about what we saw while eating giant think pancakes. Afterwards we decided to return the bikes. My legs had bikes all they could handle. After our luck getting into the Anne Frank house we decided to try out luck one last time at the Van Gogh museum. Don't know what kinda mojo we had going that day but there was barely a line at all. The Van Gogh museum was huge! There were so many different paintings and drawings from every stage of his life. I would have to say my favorite part was seeing his sunflower paintings. He apparently did dozens of them trying to getting just rights before the sunflowers wilted and died. 

I trying to keep this as brief as possible so I can have time to write about everything. But basically those are the highlights of our trip in Amsterdam! Amsterdam was such a cool city. The buildings were neat looking and the winding canals were easy to get lost in. I would love to go back there when it isn't so cold and rainy but all I all I had an amazing time! 

"To build a future you have to know the past" -Otto Frank