April 13, 2012- Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam

After a long day in Münster I thought I would fall right asleep. WRONG! At 2:00 am I was still anxiously awaiting our trip to Amsterdam in which we would be leaving for in three short hours. I finally got some sleep and before I knew it, it was 5:00 am and we were heading for a trip to one of the cities I've always dreamed of going. I couldn't believe that I would soon be standing in the same room where Anne Frank lived in hiding during WWII. We hopped in the car and headed for Amsterdam!

It took us about three hours to get there, which seemed much shorted because we went on the Autobahn! For those of you who don't know what that is, it is like an interstate with no speed limit. *Go on the Autobahn! CHECK! Off the Bucket list!* I think we were going approximately 100 mph most of the time and sometimes faster so I could get the experience! I really enjoyed that! :) When telling them our speed limit was 70 mph on the interstate, they laughed very hard! I thought that was fast until this! When we arrived in Amsterdam we parked and walked to the ferry. This is a picture of the ferry we rode:

The ferry took us to the train station which was a beautiful building as you see here:

Amsterdam is built on water which I did not know. Every street is separated with a little canal. It is GORGEOUS!
After boarding off the ferry, we began the walk to the Anne Frank House. As we were walking I tried to hold back tears. The emotions I was feeling cannot even be put into words. This experience...cannot be put into words. I didn't want to cry because I was sad, but because this was the place I had only dreamed of going since I was ten years old and at last it was only a couple miles away. I didn't know what I would do when I saw the house! Here are a few pictures from the walk:

Finally, there it was, the Anne Frank House. There was also a line that wrapped around the entire building and down the street. It was unbelievable! So Christina, one of my colleagues, stood in line and we went have breakfast and coffee here:

Those are called Poffertjes and of course you see the coffee. Lecker (yummy)!!

After breakfast we walked back to Anne Frank's House and Christina was only a few feet from the entrance! I was unable to get a good photograph from the front due to construction and photography is not allowed in the house. I ended up buying thirty, yes thirty, post cards at the end! They look the exact same as what I saw inside. I hope you enjoy these as much as possible, but they certainly don't do it justice.
The house during the war and the house today (below)

When I first walked into the house I had goosebumps. We walked into the first part of the museum and on the wall shared, "One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we'll be people again and not just jews!" written by Anne Frank in her diary on April 11, 1944. Then, we entered another room that had a video of Hitler speaking to the German soldiers. This is when I couldn't hold back tears any longer! I was weeping! However, after that room I held back my tears and didn't cry again! Which was very good for me!
Here are pictures from inside the house (the post cards). You will see some photos with furniture. There is no furniture in the house today. The furniture was placed there only for photography and for the making of the film, "The Diary of Anne Frank". When the Russian army finally arrived in 1945 to liberate the prisoners in Auschwitz concentration camp, in Poland, Otto Frank (Anne Frank's father) was one of only about 7,650 people still alive. It is estimated that almost 1.5 million people were murdered there. 1.5 million. Think of how many people that is. Hurts my heart so very badly. After the war, Otto Frank later returned to the Netherlands to his home on Prinsengracht. The Germans had taken almost everything from their home including furniture. Therefore, when they decided to make the house into a museum to share the story, he wanted no furniture in the house, as this is how it was left.

At the end of the museum we went to the gift shop where I bought one of everything they sold, some duplicates! I couldn't help myself! These are going to be wonderful for my classroom if I ever teach about the Holocaust! Here is a picture of all my new books, movies, post cards, and other things:

Anne Frank was only one of the many wonderful places we saw in Amsterdam. We went on a boat tour through the canal, ate wonderful food, and did a lot of shopping! We also went to a market outside that was excellent! There, I bought a lot of souvenirs for my friends and family! Here are some more photos of Amsterdam:

This experience continues to get better and better. I am so blessed and thankful for this opportunity! Every morning I wake up I thank the good Lord for all my exciting and wonderful adventures! My host family is SO great and I am so thankful they were able to come to Amsterdam with me! Amsterdam was truly the best day of my life.

Till' Next time! :)