Daily Archives: August 19, 2007

August 18 –

It’s the last day of the adventure!  We got up early to try to beat some of the queues at the Anne Frank House so we headed out after breakfast.  The lines weren’t too bad and we got in fairly quickly.  Boy, have things changed since the last time I was there about 20 years ago!  The rooms and the basics of the house are the same of course; but I remember walking up to an ordinary looking house and then going in to see a basic layout of the hiding place with lots of additional information about the Holocaust.  Now, the front of the house is behind a steel and glass façade and there are lots of video screens and voice-overs.  I think it detracts from the impact of the place because it gives the impression that there is more space.  The kids were affected and Gillian begged me to buy her the book but I remember being moved to tears.  How things change….

Afterward, we walked around the market at the Noordermarkt and Gillian found a really cool puppet at a toy store in the Jordaan neighborhood.  We had a few more errands to run so we headed back toward the shopping area to pick up a few more things and grab some lunch.  Then it was time for a canal cruise.  This was very different than the one we took in Brugge and we got to see lots of the city and the harbor and other neat stuff.  I was lucky enough to be sitting by the smartest women alive – at least she wanted to give that impression!  She expounded on everything from the beauty of Brugge and how things are different between Amsterdam than Paris.  I was embarrassed for all my Canadian friends when during one of her enlightening tips she talked about “back in Ottawa.”  Ugh!

We wanted to visit the old Heineken brewery – another of my favorite places from the last time I was here – but since it isn’t an operating brewery anymore, they have made it into the “Heineken Experience”.  The line was longer than the one for the Anne Frank House and it turns out that the entrance fee was higher too!  11 euros!  But that includes 3 Heinekens…. we decided that it would be time (and money) better spent to buy a few Heinekens and do some packing.

So back to the hotel to get things sorted.  I think we’ll actually have enough room to take everything back; thank goodness for the *4* boxes of stuff we’ve sent home already (unfortunately, I think only 3 have made it so far!).  Then we headed out for the final meal of the trip:  an Indonesian rijstaffel!  Not quite Chinese food but close enough!  We got two large bowls of rice and 16 small dishes of different foods plus a half-dozen side dishes/toppings.  We had chicken sate, beef curry, something tofu, spicy green bean things, some soupy stuff that tasted a little of coconut, an omelet (?), fried bananas, fried coconut, peanuts….. it was yummy!  We went for another wander around town to try work off some of the food before heading back to the hotel for the last night.

/san/

[Pedometer:  25, 655 or about 12.5 miles and only a few of them rainy.]

August 17 –

It’s our first full day in Amsterdam.  So I felt that it is my duty to set a few things straight.  First, Holland is still flat but it admits to being flat – and mostly below sea level.  Second, I was wrong that no one visits Holland – there are lots of visitors but none of them *drive* here!  I saw one German plate, one French plate, and one Spanish plate – all of them parked outside hotels – but there were lots of languages and accents all around us.  I’m especially intrigued by the number of Spanish and Italian speakers I hear as well as the number of southern hemisphere types:  Australian, South African, Chilean, Argentinean, etc.  Duncan is having a great time trying to translate the Spanish conversations he “overhears” ;-)!  Also, the stereotype of everyone biking around Amsterdam is actually true:  I’ve seen women in business suits and heels riding bikes around town.

After breakfast, we headed out to the Anne Frank house – totally unprepared!  We walked the whole way which was no minor stroll and got in line only to notice that the skies had clouded over and the wind picked up and that we were the only ones around shivering during what could be an hour plus wait.   We decided to fix our original mistake by returning to the hotel to get warmer clothes and rain gear and shift our visit until first thing tomorrow instead of retrying today.

So we decided to start with the cathedrals.  There’s the Neuw Kierk which was built in the 15^th century when the town outgrew the Ould Kierk which dates from the 13^th century.  Unfortunately, the Neuw Kierk is also an exhibition hall instead of a working church and with a charge of 10 Euros to get in, we decided to pass. We wandered instead to the Ould Kierk which is, unfortunately, in the Red Light district.  I hate to admit that my kids are getting familiar with the smell of pot but that’s how it goes.  We also had to wander past a few windows with working women in them which gave us another “teaching opportunity” – the ones that so many parents wish for…. 😉

The Ould Kierk was very cool and very different from so many of the other churches we’ve been in.  First as a Protestant church, there were no candles (sorry Mom!) but there were interesting burial places, stained glass widows and paintings on the wooden ceilings.  We saw where Rembrandt’s wife was buried as well.  Very interesting!

Then it was time for lunch – we headed to another restaurant recommended by our almost-redeemed guidebook for a typical Dutch treat – pancakes!  Very crepe like but not really, we had some interesting main-dish crepes:  ham, cheese and onion, chicken, chilian (spicy beef, beans, and veggies) and veggies and cheese.  Most interesting!  We gave in on dessert as well with a apple and raisin pancake, with Dutch stroop, and some mini-pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream – yum!

Then it was time to walk some of it off with… shopping!  As some folks will know, I have been on a quest for the last two years for a particular type of boots and today I found them on the Leidesplein in Amsterdam!  Yes Julie, they do exist for less than $800 a pair and I bought them today – yeah!  And we picked up a couple of other things.  I’m starting to have nightmares about filling out our customs form on Sunday!

We dropped the booty off at the hotel and picked up some tickets to the Van Gogh museum (pronounced to rhyme with Van Loch with the Scottish noise in the back of the throat) because it’s open late on Fridays.  It was very cool to visit again after 25 years as I haven’t been here since I was in college.  I’m a huge Van Gogh fan and I appreciated the exhibit which was arranged to show the development over his career as well as point out how he was affected by his contemporaries.

Then it was finally time for the evening repast.  We took the tram to Dam Square and wandered back to a place I noticed last night and boy was it worth it.  From the pea soup with sausage to start all the way to Frank’s advocaat “liqueur” at the end of the meal, it was fantastic!  We go the tram back to the hotel to avoid the Friday night weerdies and are preparing for an early morning to try to beat some of the crowd at the Anne Frank house tomorrow!

/san/

[Pedometer:  29, 062 or about 14.5 miles – and it would have been higher if we hadn’t wimped out and used trams!]

August 16 –

We are nearing the end of the adventure and we undertake our last transition today.  We breakfasted and checked out of the hotel but we weren’t ready to bid farewell to Brugge just yet.  First, we needed to conquer the Belfry – 366 steps to the top of the tower to see the 46 bells and a fantastic view for miles around.  While we were just feet away, the carillon played a snippet of “Ode to Joy” – very cool but hard on the ears.  We had a few shops to visit because they were closed yesterday.  I got a few more bracelets J and Frank got his first birthday present – a cool steel sculpture of a mechanic at work!  Not that he needs reminded that he gets to start work again on his birthday next Tuesday!

Then it really was time to move on and we headed along the road to Amsterdam.  During the 3 hours that it took to do make the 2.5 hour trip (damn ring road around Antwerp!), we noticed a few things.  First, Holland is flat.  I mean *really* flat.  I swear I could see Germany….  And Holland is windy – which is probably why they have so many of those windmill things; we saw a few from the highway which was very cool.  Second, Amsterdam is the first city where we found a real classic rock station! Third, it seems that though the Dutch like to travel, no one else travels to Holland!  We saw lots of Dutch license plates in other countries but didn’t see *any* foreign license plates after we crossed the border into the Netherlands.  Finally, Frank rates Dutch roads above Belgian roads but not as good as French and German roads.

We found the hotel, unloaded and ditched the car early.  We weren’t supposed to turn it in until 10 a.m. tomorrow but we were tired of sitting in it and were worried that something might happen to it.  Frank was incredibly pleased that he had driven 3 cars through 8 countries with no mishaps. And when two passing policemen warned us about taking care of our stuff while we were unpacking the car (“This *is* Amsterdam”), we decided not to push our luck and get the car off our hands.
Thus lightened and incredibly hungry from missing lunch, we headed out for an early dinner to a local restaurant recommended by the now suspect guidebook.  With this one, the book may have redeemed itself.  The food was excellent, the service outstanding and friendly and the overall experience wonderful. Duly fortified, we took a belated exploratory walk all the way downtown and back.  We’re staying in the southern part of the city by the museums and the Vondelpark (hoping to run tomorrow!) and it’s a bit of a hike downtown but we had some Belgian chocolate to burn off.  We made it all the way to the train station before the seedy characters, dubious scents, and the increasing dusk indicated that it was time to go back to the hotel.  Now to map out the plan of attack for tomorrow!

/san/

[Pedometer: 25, 633 or about 12.5 miles about half of which came after dinner tonight!]