Amsterdam

Still backtracking a bit ...

After Thanksgiving in Paris we drove to Amsterdam to enjoy the remainder of the holiday weekend. We were quite excited about our accommodations ... we stayed in a 100 year old houseboat situated on a beautiful canal! The Hercules Seghers didn't let us down. It was a 3-bedroom boat with all the comforts of home. One of the owners met us upon arrival and had the kitchen stocked with milk, juice, bread, wine, local snacks, pizza, cheese and such. She even had the bed set-up for Kelty and a stroller for our use. It was such wonderful welcome and truly appreciated, especially since we arrived in the evening and were all really hungry!

The Hercules Seghers

A view down the canal .. you can see the Hercules Seghers further down on the left.

Kelty absolutely loved the boat ... I think he would have been content just staying on the boat the entire trip. I can imagine staying on the boat in summer or spring would be amazing ... you can sit outside and relax. It was freezing while we were there.

"Cheers" with our shipmates!

I really had a hard time taking photos in the boat; the lighting was just all wrong. sigh. Here's a little snapshot of Kelty playing with his planes ... look at his little runway. cute.

Tina and me enjoying our morning coffee as we walked to the Anne Frank House.

The clock tower near the Anne Frank House ... I loved the bright blue and red.

Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside the Anne Frank Museum/Anne Frank House. If you'd like to see photos, here is the link to museum site here.

It was really a pretty amazing and sober experience. The annex was larger than I had expected but I can imagine how small it must have felt with 8 people living inside for 2 years. There are 3 things that remain vivid in my mind. In one of the display cases was a tattered and bright yellow star patch ... it's just one of those things that you see on TV, see in photos, or books ... but for a moment I was looking at a yellow star that a person once had to wear. Next were the documents that appeared to be from their arrest; sheets of yellow paper with handwritten information containing the name, birth date, mother/father/siblings, and where they were being transported to. Last was Annes' original, red plaid diary. It was surreal to be in such a place.

After our visit to the Anne Frank House, we took a nice little walk to an awesome vegan cafe. Along the way Kelty and Al stopped to take on the view.

You can't be in Holland and not think cheese!!

We did a lot of simply trying to "keep up with Kelty". He wanted nothing to do with the stroller this trip ... I guess those days are coming to and end.

Oh, you may be wondering ... "Amsterdam ... Red Light District ... Coffee Houses". Yes, you can pretty much walk in any Coffee House and get what you need, whether it be something to smoke or eat. You can smell it walking by. And no ... we didn't ...we can't. Now, we may have taken a VERY brisk walk through the Red Light District just to see what it's all about .... it was interesting and one brisk walk was one walk enough.

And that's a wrap on Amsterdam!