August 17, 2001
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What a *beautiful* city Amsterdam is!! I just love all the canals and the canal houses. It is amazing to me not to see one house or apartment building or office building downtown like we would see back home.
I have also found the people here really, really nice. Luckily you can get by with English everywhere, which is good because my knowledge of Dutch is pretty much non-existent. |
ITINERARY
Thursday, August 16
Anne Frank House – this was a really good visit. I had just finished re-reading the diary, as well as a book of interviews with people who knew Anne in the concentration camps, so it was all fresh in my mind. When I walked through that little door behind the bookshelf, I very nearly started to cry. I had to stop and pull myself together. It was very moving and definitely worth the visit.
Friday, August 17
Rijksmuseum – the only section of the museum I got to see was the Dutch paintings, but those alone took almost 3 hours to go through! The audio guide was really helpful and interesting, and I really enjoyed the whole thing. This was my first “famous painting sighting” of the trip, as I got to see Rembrandt’s “Nightwatch”.
Van Gogh Museum – I would have enjoyed this museum a lot more if it had been less busy. I couldn’t really get close to the paintings at all. There was a really good study room, though, with information on all the works in the museum, and copies of his letters to his brother, whose collection forms the base of the museum. I actually spent most of my time in the museum in there!
Our Lady in the Attic – this is a beautiful little church that occupies the top three floors of an otherwise very ordinary canal house. Following the break with Spain, Catholics in Amsterdam were not allowed to worship in public, so churches like this were built in peoples’ homes. This is the only one that’s still around, and it’s really amazing to see!
ACCOMODATION
| The Flying Pig Hostel
If you’re going to Amsterdam for the reason most young people go to Amsterdam, this is the place for you. 🙂 That’s not the reason I was going, though, so I don’t think I really fit in. It is clean though, with a bathroom for each room, and helpful staff. I don’t know if I’d go back, but it was a pleasant enough stay. Check out the Flying Pig website! |
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