(no subject)
i should get down some details about Amsterdam before i forget. we went with our friend Gina and her mom, who was visiting.
we left a little before 9 and got to Amsterdam at almost one - we stopped once or twice to eat and for baby reasons. got to our hotel. (pretty nice - Holiday Inn) Got checked in and settled and set off for food and then the Anne Frank House. (I should mention that I had to explain to my husband who Anne Frank was. seriously. who doesn't know Anne Frank?!?!???) We grabbed a tram to Central Station and walked toward the Prinsengracht. Most of the way there we found a tiny grill type place on the corner - in Germany we'd call it an Imbiss. grabbed some quick food and then head to the Anne Frank House just in time for our 4:30 tour. it's self guided which was nice. you go through the front part of the building first - where the warehouse and factory and offices were. there are a couple of short videos to watch about Otto Frank's business and about the treatment of jews in Holland during the occupation. And then you reached the entrance to the annex. the bookcase is still there and it's left open. you have to climb up a steep step and duck, because the hidden doorway is lower than the top of the bookcase. you come in right in front of the stairway, but if you go to the left and go around the stairs you're in the room that Otto and Edith Frank's room that they shared with their older daughter, Margot. to the right of that room is the room that Anne Frank shared with Fritz Pfeffer. There is no furniture in the annex - it was all confiscated by the nazis after the people in hiding were betrayed. the walls in Anne's room still have the magazine photos and posters that she put up to make her hiding place seem a little more welcoming. after Anne's room was the bathroom - which they couldn't flush during the day in case the workers in the warehouse would hear. up the stairs was the kitchen/dining room that also served as the bedroom for Mr. and Mrs. Van Pels. next to that was the tiny room that was Peter Van Pels' bedroom and the stairway to the attic - you can't go into the attic, but you can look up through the trapdoor.
from the Annex you can go into the attic of the main building which has more of the museum collection including video from the various camps the Frank family and the rest of the annex were sent to. there are lists and the notecards that were filled out after the deaths of all but Otto Frank.
i was so eager to see it, but it was hard to walk through. i've read that diary so many times. no cameras were allowed in the building so i couldn't take any pictures. i have several postcards and i'm sure i'll take pictures of those eventually.
after the Anne Frank House we wandered along one of the main streets until we found a nice little italian restaurant for dinner. pretty good! then the plan was to go see the red light district. ha. haha! we got turned around so many times!!! we ended up in totally the opposite direction of where we wanted to go!! sigh. our map was terrible. and it's a little strange to be walking along a street of shops and see a store with a big sign advertising cannabis - seeds and homegrown! LOL
we eventually stumbled in the right direction and found the red light district. i tried to take some pictures, but from across the canal and at night? they really didn't turn out. and it's VERY rude to walk up to one of the windows and start snapping away. but yes, all those stereotypes of women in lingerie posing in widows with red lights? yeah, true. it's 50 Euro for a ten minute blow job. lol and of course there are live sex shows all along the district with bouncers/employees out front trying to get customers inside. one called to Eric and offered him a "family rate" after seeing me with the baby. Eric just shook his head and said "that's not RIGHT, man!" after about 15 minutes Kaitlyn was overtired and fussy so Eric decided it was time to go home.
we were EXHAUSTED. Kaitlyn didn't do too well that night - nothing familiar. she spent most (ok, pretty much all) of the night in bed with us. luckily it was a king sized bed. :-)
the next day we didn't get up til 10 (fussy baby makes for a looooooong night) and we got ready, checked out, and packed up the car around noon. headed out to find the sex museum. it was actually really easy to find, but when Eric went to pay our admission, the employee told us that we couldn't bring in Kaitlyn!!! (seriously people, wtf??) so Eric was quite annoyed by the censorship and instead we visited a couple of gift shops. with (obviously - it's Amsterdam!) decently sized porn/toy sections. at one point we looked down at one of the lighted shelves and saw a cat curled up among the dildos!!! hey, the shelf must have been warm!
we had lunch at KFC (that's actually the closest one to us! - Eric just about DROOLED when he saw it) and then headed back to get the car and head home. it was a LONG two days and we were so tired! but still very cool.
our hotel room
Auntie Gina, those are MY feet!
a view from the tram - looking over one of the canals
my attempt at a picture of one of the windows in the red light district. sigh. the white smudges are her bra and panties.
swans in the canal! (in the red light district! *lol*)
self explanatory
Eric and I in front of Amsterdam Central Station. and lots of construction.
like i said. self explanatory
but we didn't get to go in . . . :-(
see? cat among dildos!
sunset on the way home
we left a little before 9 and got to Amsterdam at almost one - we stopped once or twice to eat and for baby reasons. got to our hotel. (pretty nice - Holiday Inn) Got checked in and settled and set off for food and then the Anne Frank House. (I should mention that I had to explain to my husband who Anne Frank was. seriously. who doesn't know Anne Frank?!?!???) We grabbed a tram to Central Station and walked toward the Prinsengracht. Most of the way there we found a tiny grill type place on the corner - in Germany we'd call it an Imbiss. grabbed some quick food and then head to the Anne Frank House just in time for our 4:30 tour. it's self guided which was nice. you go through the front part of the building first - where the warehouse and factory and offices were. there are a couple of short videos to watch about Otto Frank's business and about the treatment of jews in Holland during the occupation. And then you reached the entrance to the annex. the bookcase is still there and it's left open. you have to climb up a steep step and duck, because the hidden doorway is lower than the top of the bookcase. you come in right in front of the stairway, but if you go to the left and go around the stairs you're in the room that Otto and Edith Frank's room that they shared with their older daughter, Margot. to the right of that room is the room that Anne Frank shared with Fritz Pfeffer. There is no furniture in the annex - it was all confiscated by the nazis after the people in hiding were betrayed. the walls in Anne's room still have the magazine photos and posters that she put up to make her hiding place seem a little more welcoming. after Anne's room was the bathroom - which they couldn't flush during the day in case the workers in the warehouse would hear. up the stairs was the kitchen/dining room that also served as the bedroom for Mr. and Mrs. Van Pels. next to that was the tiny room that was Peter Van Pels' bedroom and the stairway to the attic - you can't go into the attic, but you can look up through the trapdoor.
from the Annex you can go into the attic of the main building which has more of the museum collection including video from the various camps the Frank family and the rest of the annex were sent to. there are lists and the notecards that were filled out after the deaths of all but Otto Frank.
i was so eager to see it, but it was hard to walk through. i've read that diary so many times. no cameras were allowed in the building so i couldn't take any pictures. i have several postcards and i'm sure i'll take pictures of those eventually.
after the Anne Frank House we wandered along one of the main streets until we found a nice little italian restaurant for dinner. pretty good! then the plan was to go see the red light district. ha. haha! we got turned around so many times!!! we ended up in totally the opposite direction of where we wanted to go!! sigh. our map was terrible. and it's a little strange to be walking along a street of shops and see a store with a big sign advertising cannabis - seeds and homegrown! LOL
we eventually stumbled in the right direction and found the red light district. i tried to take some pictures, but from across the canal and at night? they really didn't turn out. and it's VERY rude to walk up to one of the windows and start snapping away. but yes, all those stereotypes of women in lingerie posing in widows with red lights? yeah, true. it's 50 Euro for a ten minute blow job. lol and of course there are live sex shows all along the district with bouncers/employees out front trying to get customers inside. one called to Eric and offered him a "family rate" after seeing me with the baby. Eric just shook his head and said "that's not RIGHT, man!" after about 15 minutes Kaitlyn was overtired and fussy so Eric decided it was time to go home.
we were EXHAUSTED. Kaitlyn didn't do too well that night - nothing familiar. she spent most (ok, pretty much all) of the night in bed with us. luckily it was a king sized bed. :-)
the next day we didn't get up til 10 (fussy baby makes for a looooooong night) and we got ready, checked out, and packed up the car around noon. headed out to find the sex museum. it was actually really easy to find, but when Eric went to pay our admission, the employee told us that we couldn't bring in Kaitlyn!!! (seriously people, wtf??) so Eric was quite annoyed by the censorship and instead we visited a couple of gift shops. with (obviously - it's Amsterdam!) decently sized porn/toy sections. at one point we looked down at one of the lighted shelves and saw a cat curled up among the dildos!!! hey, the shelf must have been warm!
we had lunch at KFC (that's actually the closest one to us! - Eric just about DROOLED when he saw it) and then headed back to get the car and head home. it was a LONG two days and we were so tired! but still very cool.
our hotel room
Auntie Gina, those are MY feet!
a view from the tram - looking over one of the canals
my attempt at a picture of one of the windows in the red light district. sigh. the white smudges are her bra and panties.
swans in the canal! (in the red light district! *lol*)
self explanatory
Eric and I in front of Amsterdam Central Station. and lots of construction.
like i said. self explanatory
but we didn't get to go in . . . :-(
see? cat among dildos!
sunset on the way home