Day 9: Amsterdam- Anne Frank, Biking to the Beach, and "Making Party"

I had a 10 am reservation to go see the Anne Frank house and I barely made it on time because of trains that decided to take different routes that day... But I made it! And I think I got to pass about 200 people in line. They didn't look happy about it. Anyway, I got to hear a 30 minute program about Anne's life and the time her family spent in hiding. It was really interesting and nice to have a reminder of her life story before going into the actual house. The house itself was incredible. I really can't put it into words; there are so many emotions you experience as you go through the house. It was just surreal to be in the actual rooms where Anne, her family, and another family hid from the Nazis for 2 years. You could still see the magazine clippings of movie stars that Anne had glued to the wall while in hiding, and the pencil markings on the wall where Anne's father had recorded her and her sister's heights during those two years. Anne's father, Otto, was the only one of the eight people in hiding who survived, after they were eventually discovered, arrested, and sent to different concentration camps. When Otto returned to Amsterdam, he read Anne's diary and eventually decided to have it published. There was a really emotional video of Otto explaining what it was like to read the diary after learning that Anne had died, and how he felt that there was another side of Anne that he never really knew about before reading it. Overall, it was a sobering but very worthwhile experience. I'd really like to read Anne's diary again now that I've seen the house firsthand.

I couldn't take any pics inside the house, but here are a couple from the outside, including the long line I got to skip!





After the house, I went to the train station and took a little day trip to Haarlem, a smaller city about 20 minutes from Amsterdam. It was a nice change of pace, a lot quieter and relaxed. It was good to get out of crazy touristy Amsterdam for a little bit!




















I walked around for a few hours, then decided I'd like to ride a bike... Why not, right? I went to a bike rental place and tried to ask the non-English speaking woman where I should bike to. She said "Bloemendaal, yah, beach, nice, yaaaaah." Alrighty, sounded great to me. So away I went, knowing nothing about traffic laws, not to mention no idea where I was going. In Holland there are specific bike lanes pretty much everywhere you go, and bikes have their own traffic lights, so it was pretty easy to figure out. I biked through the city of Haarlem, then some beautiful national park areas, and then arrived at the beach! It was beautiful, and really busy. I had a burger and an ice cream cone for lunch, and took a nice little nap in the sand.











I woke up from my nap and biked back to Haarlem, not a bad looking ride...











I returned my bike, took the train back to Amsterdam, and hung out in my hostel's living room for awhile, where I met kids from Canada, Seattle, Belgium, North Carolina, Spain, and Florida. We all decided to go out together. Yay, my first big group outing! First we had beers and dinner at a little pub...





Then we hit the Leidse Plein area of town, full of bars. It reminded me a lot of New Orleans' Bourbon Street. We went to (I think) three bars and danced all night, Heinekens in hand. Great time!




















I was so bummed that I didn't meet these guys until my last night in Amsterdam, we had a blast together! But it was super fun while it lasted. Once we'd had enough fun "making party" (as Greg from Florida called it), we went back to the hostel and passed out while watching The Notebook. Perfect end to a perfect night :)

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