Amsterdam - day 3

We took the train downtown again right away in the morning, since K-Sweet had to work at the Fulbright Center later on in the afternoon and we wanted to cram as much in as we could in the morning (TWSS).  There was a lot more of the walking around and taking in of everything on the streets, but we were slowly making our way to the Anne Frank museum for the main thing to do for the day:

The modern part of the museum takes up the entire building that is directly adjacent to the actual Frank family home, so throughout your visit to the museum, you go in and out of the real rooms where the family hid, and the other more modern exhibitry parts of the adjacent space.  Walking through the hidden passage that is covered up by a replica bookshelf is pretty somber stuff, as is spending time in the living quarters of the family.  Their furniture has been removed, but there are encapsulated areas of Anne’s bedroom wall, where what seems to be the real decor that she had placed on the wall still exists – newspaper cutouts, magazine covers, etcetera.  A few friends had told me that this experience is pretty sad stuff, but completely worth it, and I’m definitely in that club.

After lunch at another Dutch pub, K-sweet had to head off to work, so I accompanied her to Fulbright and then took the tram solo to head back into the city to go to the Stedelijk Museum – Amsterdam’s contemporary and modern art museum.

On my way away from the museum, I noticed that I must have run into the time of day where everyone was coming home from school.  I can’t describe the sight very well, but over and over again moms and dads were rolling by with their kids on their bikes, and they were singing what seemed to be Christmas songs.  It was charming as hell and it made me miss my girls big time.

Shortly after this, my tram ride was interrupted by some sort of protest march for immigrant rights, and it was funny that it didn’t even seem to phase any of the other passengers on-board.  Must be somewhat common to see public marches.  (Jason, I didn’t see Paul, Olav, or Jos from Seein’ Red.  what the hell!?!?.  haha).

I wandered around town solo again, stopping to eat at a charming little Italian place (funny, huh).  After more walking, I wandered into a record store that I had looked up and chatted with the owner about hardcore and punk bands we both liked.  Good guy and awesome store.

Kelly finished up her night at 9:00, and we went back to the hotel to crash.