May 13, 2024
On the morning of our second day in Amsterdam, we awoke and felt refreshed after a reasonably good night’s sleep. The bed was extremely comfortable but the feather pillows were not. Fortunately, Bill discovered a pillow menu hidden in the hotel information. On our way to breakfast, we stopped at the front desk and requested memory foam pillows.
We had a wonderful, leisurely breakfast at the restaurant Jansz inside the hotel. The breakfast (included in our room rate) consisted of a buffet of cold and hot selections including coffee, juices, fruit, yogurt, pastries, cereal, meats, cheeses, eggs, potatoes, etc. If I remember correctly you could also order from the menu. Needless to say, we never left breakfast hungry.
Anne Frank House
Today, we checked off the second item on our bucket list of things to do while in Amsterdam – tour the Anne Frank House. (We hit our first bucket list item, the Van Gogh Museum, on our first day.) Tickets for the Anne Frank House must be purchased in advance and are only available online.
Every Tuesday at 10am CET (4am EDT) all tickets become available for a visit six weeks later. You can opt for a museum visit or a museum visit with an introductory program.
annefrank.org
You guessed it. Bill and I had gotten up around 3:30 a.m. on the morning of April 2, the day that tickets for our time frame became available. We wanted to be sure we were ready to hit the purchase button at 4:01. Luckily, we were able to secure 4 tickets for an 11:30 a.m. museum visit with introductory program on our desired day – May 13.
So, after our breakfast and a brief stop at the room (where we found our new pillows – yea!) to collect whatever we wanted to carry with us, the four of us walked from the hotel to the nearby Anne Frank Museum. Since we arrived a few minutes early, we spent a few minutes exploring the square next to the museum.
At the appointed time, we were ushered into a room in the museum where we were seated. Soon a 6′ 11″ young man (our “educator”) ducked through the doorway. (They grow them tall here!) Over the course of 30 minutes he related the important events that formed the world in which Anne Frank lived and died.
Below is an abbreviated list of some of those events. Click the embedded links for more information. For an even more detailed timeline click here.
- 1914 – The Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian (Habsburg) throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo. This started WWI.
- 1919 – Germany is forced to sign an armistice agreement in which they agreed to pull troops out of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg and turn over their arsenal of weapons. They also had to give up the contested territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The Treaty of Versailles further stipulated that Germany had to paying reparations that eventually amounted to $37 billion (nearly $492 billion in today’s dollars).
- 1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle).
- 1929
- 1933 – Hitler and the Nazis come to power in Germany.
- 1934 – Anne Frank emigrates to Amsterdam.
- 1936 – German troops occupy the Rhineland.
- 1938 – The Kristallnacht proves Jews have no future in Germany.
- 1939 – The start of WWII. Germany invades Poland.
- 1940 – Germany bombs Rotterdam. The Netherlands surrender.
- 1941 – Deportations of Dutch Jews commence.
- 1942
- Dutch Jews are required to wear the yellow badge.
- Anne receives a diary for her 13th birthday.
- The Frank family go into hiding in The Secret Annex on July 6.
- Hermann, Auguste, and Peter Van Pels join the Frank family in hiding on July 13.
- Deportations to Auschwitz begin on July 15.
- Fritz Pfeffer moves into the Secret Annex on November 16.
- 1944
- Allied troops land in France on June 6.
- The people in hiding are discovered and arrested on August 4.
- The people from The Secret Annex are transported to Auschwitz on September 3.
- Anne, Margot, and Auguste are taken to Bergen-Belsen on November 1.
- 1945
- 1947 – Anne’s diary is published.
- 1960 – The hiding place becomes a museum, the Anne Frank House.
The presentation was extremely well done and very moving which is why I’ve included the rather lengthy list above. It reiterated to me how we must be ever be vigilant and never allow another Hitler or Nazi-type party to come to power.
Following the presentation we were given time to examine the displays and ask questions of our educator.
(Markers for holocaust victims placed outside where they lived.)
We were then escorted from the museum (the main house) to the annex where the families hid on the top floors. Here we found the revolving bookcase that hid the entrance to the secret annex. (For an interactive depiction of the layout, click on the image below.) We were given time to explore the annex at our leisure but were not permitted to take photos.
To the right of the entrance was the single bathroom with a sink and toilet. They could not run water during the day lest they be discovered by the workers below. Each of the eight residents had a time slot for use. Anne’s time slot was 9-9:30 p.m. each day.
On the same level as the bathroom was the room Anne shared with Fritz Pfeffer (a man as old as her father). Their biggest conflict was over the little writing desk as Fritz thought Anne’s work was as not as important as his study of Spanish, Dutch, and English. To brighten the room, Anne decorated the walls with pictures of landscapes, movie stars, and photos of royalty.
Next to Fritz and Anne’s room was Otto, Edith, and Margot Frank’s room. Used as a bedroom at night, this room was converted into a living room during the day.
On the next level we entered Hermann and Auguste Van Pels room. This was where those in hiding cooked, ate meals, played a Stock Exchange game that Peter had received for his 16th birthday while in hiding, and listened to the radio. At night, it was converted into a bedroom.
Next to the Van Pels room and above the bathroom was Peter’s cramped room. The room was barely big enough for a bed and small table as the stairs to the attic were in this room.
The attic was where those in hiding stored their food and hung their laundry. It was also a place for Anne to be alone or talk to Peter. The windows of the attic were the only ones that were not blacked out. Here Anne would look at the tree and grass behind the annex.
There was no furniture in the Secret Annex at Otto’s request to symbolize the void left behind by the millions who were deported and never returned. Some of the decorations were still on the walls of Anne’s room and the height markings of Anne and Margot’s growth were still visible in Otto and Edith’s room.
After our tour, we spent some time viewing the displays in the museum itself where Anne’s original diary as well as other short stories and manuscripts were on display.
Taken from annefrank.org
Leaving the museum, we walked around to the front of the house to take a photo.
Another area in Amsterdam that we wanted to visit was the Bloemenmarkt Flower Market, so off we went. On our way, we crossed the bridges spanning the Keizersgracht and Herengracht canals until we arrived at the Singel canal.
We found Amsterdam to be a very walkable city, however, when they tell you to watch out for bicycles they are serious. Bicycles are EVERYWHERE. There are designated bicycle lanes in some places but they are not well marked and often look like part of the sidewalk. And, bicycles seemed to have the right-of-way everywhere. Our heads were on a swivel as we walked!
Bloemenmarkt Flower Market
If you are in Amsterdam, a trip to the Bloemenmarkt, the city’s flower market, is a must. It is unique in Europe and it is here that tourists and shopkeepers buy their flowers. It is a must-see during a visit to the city, and you certainly can’t miss it. The Bloemenmarkt is located along the Singel canal, between Muntplein and Koiningsplein. Flowers and plants are displayed on barges that from the outside look like real shops, colourful and fragrant. The barges are lined up one after the other as if forming a ‘normal’ shopping street with one shop after the other, they are supported by poles and are overflowing with tulips, daffodils and bulbs of all kinds. The Amsterdam flower market dates back to 1862, when merchants used barges to transport flowers from the suburbs to the city centre and displayed the beauty of their colourful and rare flowers along the Singel canal. This tradition has remained unchanged over time, and even today you can relive the atmosphere of that period and be fascinated and attracted by it.
bloemenmarkt
Not only did they seem to have a bulb for every flower and plant imaginable but also food and souvenirs. Check out the stroopwafels (a thin, round waffle made from two layers of sweet baked dough held together by syrup filling) and cheeses. Betty even found a pair of clogs that she liked.
We opted to have a late lunch at a cafe near the flower market. Unfortunately it didn’t live up to our expectations. Oh well.
After our somewhat disappointing lunch, we returned to the hotel to relax for a while before our evening activity. At some point during the day Betty and Linda told us that they had requested a top sheet be added to each of their beds under the duvet. (Using a duvet with a duvet cover and no top sheet seems to be standard practice in Europe now. They apparently wash the duvet cover when they change the fitted sheet and pillowcases.) Bill and I stopped at the front desk to make a similar request for our bed. It wasn’t long before a member of the hotel staff knocked on our door and fulfilled our request. With a top sheet and comfy pillows we should be set! So what else do we have planned for this day?
Evening Canal Boat Cruise with cheese and wine
You absolutely cannot come to Amsterdam without taking a canal boat cruise. We elected to do an evening cruise complete with wine and cheese. Why evening? Because all the bridges over the canals are lighted. Why wine and cheese? Why not?
There were lots of canal tour companies to choose from. I chose Pure Boats based on the reviews, the fact that they use hand-crafted electric boats, limit the size of the groups, and their tours are narrated by the boat captain as opposed to a recording. We had made reservations for their 1.5 hour Spectacular Evening Canal Cruise.
The starting point for the 9:30 p.m. cruise was a short walk from the hotel. Why so late? You have to wait for the sun to set if you want to enjoy a night cruise. When we arrived, the staff was loading the cheese plates and drinks. It wasn’t long until we boarded, met our captain and fellow passengers, received all the necessary safety instructions, and had a glass of our chosen beverage in hand (poured and delivered by the captain). For the next hour and a half we enjoyed a leisurely cruise through illuminated bridges, alongside illuminated houses and houseboats. The captain explained that the evening cruise was a great time to look into the windows of the houses we passed. (It’s a long-standing Calvinist tradition that closing the curtains indicates that the occupants have something to hide.) The captain was informative, entertaining, and a great wine/beer server. He even drove that boat most of the time (he did allow passengers to drive if they wanted to). Needless to say, we had a great time!
Wow! We’ve had a busy day. It’s time to head back to the hotel. See you tomorrow.
