Wandering Amsterdam

Since Tanja has forbidden us from taking up space on public transport during rush hour, we pushed our "early" start today to shortly after 9am with high hopes of beating the rush at the Anne Frank House. Hah! Fat chance. Online tickets are booked through August so we enjoyed the beautiful sunshine while standing in line for an hour, which actually wasn't as horrible as it sounds. If you've ever been to the Anne Frank House you know what an emotional and thought provoking experience it is. Jackie, Caroline and Claire really seemed to get a lot of out of the tour and materials and Claire feels very prepared for her upcoming book report and presentation about young Miss Frank.

Amsterdam

After some sandwiches it was off to the Van Gogh museum. However, along the way we happened to find a very tasty ice cream shop which really seemed to need some patrons. So, we obliged, which slowed our walk down a little but we still made it to Vinnie's place with plenty of time to walk chronologically through his work. Jackie and Caroline were a bit bored with the art but Claire very much enjoyed it and seemed to know quite a bit about him and his work already. It is humbling to be taught by a 9 year old.

A little tired and thirsty, we stumbled out of the Van Gogh museum and wandered over to Vondelpark for a nap and to recharge weary adult bodies. The girls used our naptime to conduct a photo shoot of their own in the park.

Lady who kept waving to us (top left window)

Amsterdam

It's horrid, we know. But they insisted on this picture.

We walked just north of the park through some neighborhoods where the really nice bikes are chained up--the ones without rust and with all the add-ons and accoutrements one could need or want. It was in this area that Paul told us to head for dinner--a restaurant called De Italiaan. Cramped, teeny tiny little place with a brick oven but very tasty food. Several pizzas, spinach raviolis, 3 beers and two hours later we decided to head back to catch the train back to Haarlem, via the "scenic" route. Yep, we took a wrong turn after a while and headed into the red light district then quickly turned around when we realized where we were. So, we ducked into a coffee shop and had some brownies for dessert. We felt great the entire way back to the train! (For all our friends who are teachers or law enforcement officials--JUST KIDDING.)

Park near Paul and Tanja's

Park near Paul and Tanja's