I have always enjoyed visiting Holland. I like the friendly, helpful and cheerful attitude of the people.
This time though, it was slightly different., I wanted to experience Holland as a blogger and a local (if both can be combined, why not!). When I visit cities, getting to know what the locals enjoy and do is my priority.
I visited the city of Amsterdam (who doesn’t)! Traveled by car and as usual, the city is electric – busy pedestrians, cyclists, scooters,trams, trains, cars moving people from one place to another. It reminded me of an old city dealing with modern day needs. I muttered something along the lines…. ‘this city was not originally built to accommodate our modern demands’. Having said that, Amsterdam and Denmark are the only cities in Europe able to cater for the rights of cyclists and other forms of transportation. I am tempted to say, there are more bicycles in Amsterdam than there are cars and perhaps people! 🙂
Struggled to find a place to park as one would imagine in a beautiful old city, parking can be stressful on a Friday afternoon. We finally found a place hidden between a tree and another car. We strolled along this old city with many people trying to get a ticket into the historic Anne Frank Museum http://www.annefrank.org/ .
I had a list of places to visit in Amsterdam and Anne Frank Museum was first on my list. I had read the story of Anne Frank as a young girl and recently watched ‘The Fault in the Stars’ and pledged to visit the museum on my next trip to Holland.
There was a very long queue of people waiting to enter this historic place- as one would imagine.
Luckily, I booked online a few weeks before to avoid the long queue in the cold February winter- advise, buy your tickets online weeks before as they run out of slots very quickly.
I paid for an Introductory talk on the life of Anne Frank which lasted 30 minutes.
It was very insightful as I learnt more about her life; that of her family and the Jewish People during this dreadful time.
As I sat there listening, it occurred to be that my readers would like to see some pictures and here some quotes, so I made a note of a few:
The betrayal
The session was calm, both children listening attentively to the story of this little girl and the ordeal of a Jewish people during the Second World War. I must confess there were times when I couldn’t hold back the tears rolling down my cheek.
As I listened, I began to develop some inner strength i.e. the courage to begin writing again. I admired Anne Frank in her ability to write even during times of great despair and hopelessness. For her, writing was a way to escape her current state of affairs…
Like Anne Frank, my desire is for the world to share in my writings. Her ability to write during these dreadful times in her life, meant, we have a history and a past to learn from, to hopefully shape a better future.
So, we were not allowed to take pictures in the Museum itself but here are some during the Introductory talk…
Obviously, after 3 hours touring the home of Anne Frank, we were very hungry and decided to head to a convenient nearby Pancake House just a few buildings away from the Museum http://www.pancakes.amsterdam/. As usual, I opted for a rather ‘healthy’ Pancake. A trip to Holland without a ‘Dutch Pancake’ can’t be complete- sure, you agree! 🙂
Stay turned for Holland ’17- Part 2!
10 Comments
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I love Amsterdam! I’m thrilled to read more. Are you visiting Belgium too?
Hi Sarah! Thanks for checking out my blog! I loovve Amsterdam! Can’t get enough! Haha I’m visiting again in August! Yes, I’m going to Belgium next month! Do you live there? 😄
Yes I live in Leuven! Where are you visiting?
Good morning Sarah, I’m visiting Brussels but might go to brugge for a day! Visiting my brother who lives with his family in Brussels . How is Luven?! 🙂 x
Leuven is great! Its not so far from Brussels. I’m still exploring Leuven. As I moved here in january. Its a young city with mainly students. So very lively.
That’s nice! Maybe I could visit during my time in Brussels. Will let you know when I’m visiting! 😊. Enjoy your evening and have a lovely weekend! x
ah would be so nice! we could explore tgether then blog about it!
Thanks great Sarah! Yes, would be very nice. I’ll keep you in the loop when I visit! Enjoy your Sunday and catch up soon! x
Are you studying at Leuven Sarah? If so, what are you studying? 🤗