To get from Paris to Amsterdam was quite a headache! We thought we could take a high speed 3 hour train straight to Amsterdam, but when we went to the ticket counter we were informed that they had no seats left for our passes and we would have to pay 200 euros to get on the train! So instead, we had to take a 12 hour train ride to get there! It was a longggggg day. We finally arrived around 5 or 6pm and after checking into our hotel, strolled around the city a bit. The canals were all lit up at night, it was quite peaceful and very pretty. Surprisingly most of the side streets along the canals in Amsterdam were quiet and peaceful. Not exactly what most people imagine Amsterdam to be. The following day we went to the Van Gogh museum. Some of his paintings were amazing, and it was interesting learning about how he cut his ear off and then committed suicide shortly after.
After the museum, we took a stroll through one of the parks and then walked around the city some more. We walked through a flower market, selling millions of flower bulbs!
We walked by several "coffee shops" which sell marijuana and other hallucinogenic drugs. We even saw a "magic mushroom" shop, with all sorts of crazy substances I've never heard of!
"Coffee Shop"
Alien mushroom man!
We wandered our way to the Red Light District where we went in the Sex Museum to learn about the history of sex in all the different cultures around the world. Then we got a few drinks at one of the local bars, and after that wandered around the Red Light District to check out all the "Red Light" windows.
Sex Museum:
Red Lights!
Cannabis Beer anyone?
The following day, we strolled around the city some more, getting lost in the canals. The fall colors were beautiful along the water. There were several houseboats in the canals as well that were really cool.
Houseboat:
After checking out a local clothing market, we headed back towards our hotel to go to the Anne Frank House. We got there right at 5:40, but unfortunately I read the ticket wrong and it was 7:40! So we strolled around some more and then went back 2 hours later. The Anne Frank house is the original house where her and her family stayed in hiding during the war. The house looks just like any of the other houses along the canal. Inside, the bottom level showed where the shop used to be with the offices of the workers and the people assisting them in hiding. As you went up a set of stairs there was the original bookcase that blocked the next staircase leading up to the secret annex. Once up in the annex you were standing in Anne's parents bedroom and just next to that was her bedroom. The walls of her room were still decorated with newspaper and magazine clippings that she had glued to the wall. It was very surreal being in the room where she wrote her diary and spent her last days with her family. Just past Anne's room was a shared bathroom and then another staircase leading up to the rooms of the Van Pels family. There was a larger room that was used as a bedroom, shared living room and kitchen by everyone and then there was a smaller room where Peter Van Pels slept. In his room was the ladder leading up to the attic where Anne would frequently go to get away. The final parts of the museum housed pieces of Anne's original diary and videos from friends, helpers, and her father Otto Frank who set up the museum after the war. It was heartbreaking listening to him talk about Anne.
Overall, Amsterdam was a very relaxing and beautiful city. Besides the Red Light area, most of the streets were peaceful and picturesque. Tomorrow we are off to London, which I'm sure will be a lot different than Amsterdam!
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