I really wanted to be able to take the opportunity to post frequently while on my trip to the Netherlands and Italy however, between running all the time, doing homework and often slow internet services, I have not been so successful. I tried to journal, when I could, so to be able to share the experience at a later time.
Oct. 5th, 2018 - Friday
Day Two began packing up my stuff from the first hotel and checking in at the second hotel Bob booked, at the airport. I then preceded to take the train to downtown Amsterdam again. Today I wanted to tour some shops, walk some more roads, and just take in the day beauty of this historic town. I decided that I had to have some Dutch pancakes and did so! Yummy!!
I moved on to browsing however, I am so excited for my tour at Anne Franks home and museum at 1pm today.
I currently sit a block from Anne Frank’s house waiting for my tour to begin. Even just standing outside the home, my heart sank as I remember the words of a young 14 year old Jewish girl who was in isolation for 2 years with her family because of being Jewish. I look across the street and wonder what her thoughts were, during those moments she snuck up to the annex and looked at the buildings, I am currently free to look at.
Walking on the cobblestone outside her home, I try to picture her and her sister walking on the same bricks, playing as young kids should do, only to have their innocence ripped away in a single moment.
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Hello family and friends!
I am going to share a few photos of my first day in Amsterdam and hope to talk about customs (that I have viewed) in another post. I arrived yesterday and I have had the opportunity to walk through town and take a tour on the canal. I was amazed on what I learned from the tour. New appreciation to be sure. Stay tuned....
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The Central Station is amazing!
My first look at Amsterdam (out side of the airport yesterday). To get into the Amsterdam, I took a train (20 minutes) and started wandering the streets on foot. I was amazed by the historical buildings. Since it was the middle of the week, the town was not overcrowded and I even managed not to get run over. (By bike or car) There are very little cars here however, you need to watch where you are walking because pedestrians are not necessarily watched for here.
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| Another view of the Central Station from across the canal |
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Canals upon Canals
There are so many canals in this town; it is breath taking. With the buildings sitting right up to them, it draws you in. Many of the buildings lean in different directions however, they are deemed safe. Apparently they have been built on pillars, that sit upon clay and sand, which is the reason they shift over time. They come in and add support and call it good. Some hotels even adjust their furniture to the leaning building rather than doing any major overhaul to line up the building.
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The Six Dancing Ladies
The 6 buildings that are leaning are named this because of their amazing leaning ability. They all lean a little different (forward, backward, right or left), however it is hard to see that in the photo.
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