The Dutch Experience: Amsterdam and Zaanse Schans

Our second 10 day break had finally come!

Day 1:

After finishing our final exam, my friends Debbie, Linda, Amanda, and I got onto a train headed to Amsterdam. It was a long 12 hour train, but really wasn’t too bad though. The time went by quicker than we thought because we were hanging out talking, listening to music, and I started reading a new book. But by the time we got into Amsterdam and checked into our hostel, we were already tired so went to bed pretty much when we got there. Plus it was raining… perfect sleeping weather.

Day 2:

We got up in the morning and headed towards Anne Frank’s House. On our way there we stopped by a little breakfast/pastry shop and had a quick bite to eat before heading on our way. I had a warm ham and cheese croissant :)

Walking through the streets of Amsterdam was so beautiful as well. To get to Anne Frank’s House we had to walk through Dam Square and we saw the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. 

We also had to walk over a bunch of canals. I heard there were canals in Amsterdam, but I didn’t realize how many there were! Nor did I realize how charming they were! There were an extensive amount of canals and we decided that later on in the day we’d like to take a canal tour through it all.

 And then we come across these string of buildings... anything seem special about them?

Well as I said before we were headed to Anne Frank's house and the apartment on the left is where she lived!! The other two in the picture are where Otto Frank's (her dad) offices were and part of the museum attached to the house. How we spotted the house is funny... we knew we were around the right spot where it was supposed to be. Then as I was looking ahead I saw a large line of people and we knew that must have been it. The line only took about half an hour, so not too bad. 

Going inside Anne Frank's House was unreal. I remember reading that book back in high school and it was incredible to experience what I had read about. The tour started with a welcome area and an introduction to the inhabitants of the secret annex (8 people, 4 of which were the Frank family) and the helpers (4 people). The tour then took us through the warehouses, offices, and storeroom of the two companies owned by Otto Frank. They were called Opekta (sold a gelling agent for making jam) and Pectacon (created spice mixes for meat). Mr. Frank knew this building since it was for his companies and he knew this would make a decent hiding spot. He wanted to go into hiding before the Nazis took his family and he believed this was his best option. He asked his office staff for their help and they agreed. He stepped down from his position in the company and then the Frank family went into hiding.

We then arrived at the landing with the movable bookcase... and behind the bookcase was the stairway to the secret hideaway. That was one part that really felt like I was in a dream. Only about 70 years ago did Anne and her family pass through this secret entrance with fear and uncertainty about their future. They went into hiding on July 6, 1942 and spent 2 years in hiding.

Actually the space was bigger than I expected. Yes it was livable, but considering they spent 2 years in there it must have felt so confining. And they couldn't move or talk at all during the day because the warehouse workers did not know they were in hiding. We got to walk through Otto, Edith, and Margot Frank's room, Anne Frank and Fritz Pfeffer's room, the other inhabitants room, and the small bathroom. 

As I walked through the space, I felt more and more connected with Anne. She was such an intelligent girl who just wanted to live her life. One quote made by her was "I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young and know that I'm free." In her bedroom are still the reminiscence of old photos and magazine clips of actresses and models she adored growing up.

Throughout the house were startlingly profound quotes made in her diary:

"One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we'll be people again and not just Jews!"

"I know what I want, I have a goal, I have opinions, a religion and love."

At the end of the tour we found out what happened to the inhabitants of the Secret Annex. On August 4th, 1944 the family was betrayed. Who betrayed them is still unknown. On that day they were arrested and later the 8 of them were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Only Otto Frank survived.

This got me to tears. Anne Frank died 1 month before the camp was liberated. She was so close. Her sister had just died of typhus fever and she was separated from anybody else that mattered to her. Not knowing her father was still alive, she gave up her will to live and fight the typhus fever she had herself... and she too passed away.

In the last room we got to see all her diaries. Not just one but many of them. And it spread across loose pieces of paper too. Anne wrote wherever she could. Her documents were saved by 2 of the helpers and returned to her father when the war was over. He saw that she had written she wanted to be a writer, so after much thought he decided to publish her diary.

Following that powerful experience, we walked back to the main center of the city because it was time for a little food break!! Amsterdam has famous french fries with mayonnaise (which are really sweet!) so we had to try some! And apparently we went to the #1 place in town (but who knows, they could all advertise that haha) They were oh so satisfying...

It was lovely sunny weather outside and since the forecast seemed really iffy on the other days in Amsterdam, we decided to take our canal tour! We got on one of the boats at the main docking area and it was a very pleasant hour boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam.

 In this picture above, there are a bunch of little boats docked against the side of the canal. These are house boats! People live there and that's there address. They have running water and electricity in these house boats. The city was running out of housing options so there was an incentive to live on the water because less taxation. I found these little house boats to be pretty interesting and some of them were very modern looking.

I thoroughly enjoyed sight seeing on the water that way. I feel like Amsterdam can often times be thought of as a dirty city, with the Red Light District and coffee shops, but it's really a charming city. My friends and I think it reminds us of Old Town Alexandria back home. We got to see some churches and pass by other famous landmarks, but I mostly enjoyed spending time on the water :)

Since it was still a good day outside, it was an opportune time to see the I AMSTERDAM sign... but it appeared many other people had this same idea because it was packed! haha I could hardly get a picture with it!

We were happy with the pictures we managed to get and it was time for the only thing we had booked in advance... the Red Light District tour.

Our tour guide's name was Kendra and she was from Alaska believe it or not. She came to Amsterdam to pursue music and ended up being a Red Light District tour guide interestingly enough. Didn't matter to me her background because she was such a good tour guide, so enthusiastic and very knowledgeable on the subjects.

So to mention what we did on the tour, we walked around the Red Light District. We saw the sex shops, coffee shops, Red Light windows, and got a background on it all. Prostitution came about in Amsterdam because it was a port city. So as sailors came in for a night, they would want some company as our tour guide put it. I found out that the Catholic Church in Amsterdam at one time actually encouraged prostitution... and all the main windows are still right around the church. It's been in Amsterdam for around 600 years (I believe that's what the tour guide said) and officially became legal 2000.

The city legalized prostitution in order to protect the women by giving them work permits. Kind of crazy, but they are considered free lancers and under the tax department, they are in the same tax classification as our tour guide. Now however, the authorities believe the Red Light District and coffee shops have gotten out of hand with the tourists. The plan already set into motion is to have all of the red light district and coffee shops moved to one street. So our tour guide told us that as we are seeing the Red Light District now, it won't be the same if we come back 5 years later. Kind of crazy. Another crazy fact is believe it or not, now that prostitution is legal, the prostitutes get tested for diseases every 2 weeks and a study was done between the prostitutes in the Red Light District and women in the bars in Amsterdam. It was found that these two groups had the same amount of STDs, and the rates were relatively low. Also, now that prostitution is legal, it has reduced the amount of sex trafficking in Amsterdam so that is a good thing.

Just learned a lot of interesting stuff about how the industry works. It was all so foreign to me because I've never been around anything like it. Kendra told us that in Amsterdam, there motto is "do what makes you happy."So they provide a lot of outlets for this philosophy.

But talking about the Red Light windows themselves... well that was interesting. I had no idea what to expect, but it's literally rows upon rows of windows with girls standing right at the front of the window showing themselves off. I felt awkward walking around there because they were in risqué outfits. And they were grouped together. So big women, black women, transvestites (that do indeed have blue lights over their windows!), older women, younger women, etc were all grouped together. And we walked down what is called "Elite Street" with all the "best looking" women.

I didn't want to take a picture that would potentially have any women seen, but this is what the windows looked like. And when the curtains are closed it means they are servicing a customer and when they are open it means they are ready for business.

In every place I visit I learn more and more about the culture in each city. And the Red Light District is a part of the culture in Amsterdam, so I wanted to talk about it in my blog.

When we finished our tour, it was raining so we went back to our hostel. We were able to meet up with 4 of the guys from Riva also staying at the hostel and we all went out together. It was a fun night hanging out with all of us and a good first full day in Amsterdam.

Day 3:

We woke up and looked outside to see: pouring rain! Meh! But we were determined to make the most of our day and picked indoor activities to do!

Our first stop was the Van Gogh Museum... and yeah that must also have been 95% of people in Amsterdam's idea of what to on a rainy day because the wait was so long. And this wait was in the pouring, freezing rain. I had an umbrella thank God, but I was still very cold.

But once inside, it was very interesting. I've mentioned before art types that I don't like as much, but I did enjoy his style of painting. We got to see a lot of his works, but the whole top floor was closed because of roof leakage (since it was a monsoon outside). That was disappointing because it was a lot of Van Gogh's later works (but I found out later The Starry Night is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City so at least I wasn't missing out on that piece).

We ended our time in Van Gogh in the museum cafe with a nice, warm tomato soup and sausage wrap before going back in the cold outside.

Venturing back outside, we immediately wanted to be back inside because of the rainy weather! We did have another inside option and that was the Heineken Experience (a factory, museum, interactive features, and bar all in one place!)

We got there with just a quick trolley ride and this time no long wait outside!! We were all so happy about that. We got right in and could begin our "experience". The first area is all about photo shoots! haha They had a bunch of frames to take pictures in and of course, as four girls, we wanted to participate in that. 

The next area we walked into was about the history of the Heineken family and how their company got started up.  Heineken International is a Dutch brewing company founded by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in 1864 in Amsterdam. It has gone through 4 generations of family ownership and now Heineken owns over 125 breweries in more than 70 countries and employs approximately 66,000 people.

The next area was a little museum of Heineken relics and awards through the years. Had all the old symbols and bottle types previously used. 

From there we got a little speech from a worker about the different ingredients in the beer. There is water, barley, hops (which give the beer bitter taste), and Heineken "A" yeast (a secret recipe). When the worker was done we walked into what a factory would look like. (This building was a former brewery so we didn't see the beer actually being brewed. But throughout this area, at each station there was an explanation about what happened in each part of the process.)

We walked through this area and then were led into the Brew You Ride. The ride was set up so it was pretending all the visitors were getting brewed; it was really funny. We stood on a platform that could move in front of a movie screen and there were other interactive elements, such as water spraying. So it was as if we were moving along the conveyer belt and getting mixed in the vats. I enjoyed it and it made me laugh a lot as the platform we stood on moved. 

Literally, I got to see so much. It was definitely worth the money! We got to see some Heineken horses :) I got to practice being a bartender! We saw the long versions of Heineken commercials, past and present. There was a club type setting, so we saw how the beer bottles served there were different than normal (look in the picture how these special bottles look in the normal light and then light up when they're in the black light). And so much more!

At the end of the experience we got to have 2 complimentary beers and hang out in the bar area downstairs. So it was a fun way to end the tour and chill for a little bit.

We came back to our hostel area and headed to Burger Bar for dinner... that was some much needed comfort food! Such an awesome burger!

We went back to our hostel and I passed out for the night. I was so tired and the free beer we got from our tour made me even sleepier haha.

Day 4:

Zaanse Schans!!

What's that you ask? That is the cute, little Holland town outside of Amsterdam we decided to visit on this day! Just a quick train ride away, we got there mid morning!

The first thing we did was to go into one of the best pastry shops!! I was so hungry, I got two! haha a really good cheese onion concoction on a role and a sweet cinnamon and raisin one :)

After breakfast, we headed to the part of town where there were... windmills!! They were all along the main river and they were actually so adorable. I guess I imagine windmills to be these big, mechanical wind turbines, but these were the old fashioned, little windmills along the river side, brightly painted and wooden.

As we walked around, we actually got to go inside one of them!

It was pretty neat to see all the mechanisms inside. The cranks, levers, turning wheels, strings, and everything else involved was interesting to see. Also it was so loud inside, I had no clue how workers were able to work in those kind of conditions (in fact, it was said that some of them did significantly lose their hearing after time working in the windmill). We got to go on the wooden platform outside the top of the windmill! Right where the windmill blades were! Now these were wooden and had cloth coverings, but there was an area that was blocked off with a skull... basically warning if you walked here the windmill blades would strike you. Kinda crazy how up close I got to it all, so that was an unique experience!


Afterwards we went into another part of this small town to a little cheese making facility! And the best part of it all... the free samples!! Oh my goodness I must have tried at least 10 different delicious cheeses, plus different types of mustard and jams!

The last really unique thing we did was visit the clog museum! haha that was a really fun place to see, with a bunch of different types of clogs. We saw clogs for everyday wear, special ceremonial clogs, engagement clogs, intricate carved clogs, painted clogs, and on and on.

And we also got another photo op for ourselves! :)

We enjoyed just walking around for a little bit longer. Although it was freezing outside, it was so peaceful there and we were all enjoying our time. It was such a picturesque Dutch town.

On the way back, I couldn't help myself but to go back to that same pastry shop! This time I had what was called a Hazelino... wow. Just wow. It was tremendous. A hard chocolate hazelnut outside, filled with cream and more chocolate/hazelnut type cake on the bottom. And it was aesthetically pleasing!!

When we were in Amsterdam once again, we had the afternoon to ourselves. This is kind of a weird thing, but Amsterdam has its famous Sex Museum so we decided why not see what that was all about.

Well not too much I can post in my blog about that haha but I suppose it was interesting? I don't know, most of it was pretty weird stuff. But there was a small section on Marilyn Monroe, funny birthday cake decorations, and old fashion iron chastity belts that I found to be amusing.

Afterwards I got an amazing veggie falafel that I was able to keep refilling with fresh vegetables. It was so nice to eat something healthy for a change! It's hard to find healthy options sometimes on these trips unless we want to pay to go to a fancy restaurant.

And then we got some relaxing time. I remember I took a nice long shower that day and just chilled after. It was soon time for Debbie and Linda to leave for their next destination and for Amanda and I to meet up with Jenny and Kristina. It turned out to be really easy to meet up with them since not only were they staying in the same hostel, but also in the same room as us!

So that night we ended up all going out together, plus about 5 of the guys from our Riva group that were also in Amsterdam! Another fun night for sure :)

I couldn't forget to mention that afterwards I had probably one of the best waffles ever... literally was sooo good. I had a waffle covered in ice cream with chocolate sauce.

Day 5:

Today it was just Amanda and I since Kristina and Jenny wanted to go to sights we had already seen. Amanda and I saw in our hostel lobby there was a "free" walking tour (it was all based on the tips you gave to the tour guide at the end) that would take up a good portion of our day so we decided why not!

I was surprised how many places this 3 hour tour covered: The Old Church, The Red Light District, The Jewish Quarter, Royal Palace, The Jordaan District, The Anne Frank House, The Dutch East India Company, The Begijnhof Convent, Masterpieces of Dutch Art, and The Widest Bridge and Narrowest House. It was really nice because we got a lot of information on the history of how Amsterdam came to be and got to see a lot of the city we hadn't seen previously.

After the tour, it was mostly just a relaxing, chill time. I got some really good pizza with lots of veggies on top and then we both did a little shopping. We made sure to leave plenty of time to get back to our hostel to charge our phones and to get to our train that evening.

We met up with Jenny and Kristina at the hostel and then headed to the train station for our overnight train to Prague!

Amsterdam is a wonderful city with plenty to do and see! I feel like we got to see a great majority of it and I learned so much about the city. What was also lovely was getting to step outside the city and spend time in a peaceful little Holland town. I had a fun time and was really looking forward to my next couple places on this 10 day trip...