Today was our first day full day in Amsterdam. Last night we sat down and tried to strategically map out everything we wanted to do while here. We had big plans today that involved running all over the city. Needless to say while we had a great day, things didn't necessarily go exactly as planned. We started the day out at the Anne Frank House. We were told to go there first thing because the lines can get really long. Since it is only 5 minutes down the street from our apartment, we slept in a bit and made it there by about 9:30. Even though it only opened at 9, the line was already around the block! Once we got inside, I understood exactly why. The house included a museum with many items from when Anne Frank and her family were in hiding, actual manuscripts from her diary and a full tour of the hiding place. They first take you in the front of the house where they have some exhibits on the Nazi's invading the Netherlands as well as some information about the Frank family. You then proceed to the back of the house where the actual hiding place was. It was bigger than I imagined, however when you think that 8 people lived there without seeing the sunlight for over 9 months it is amazing. The rooms are no longer furnished - when the family was finally discovered the Nazi's removed all of the furniture. Otto Frank (Anne's father), the only surviving member of the 8 who were in hiding, requested that it remain unfurnished. After going through the hiding place, they take you to another museum that contains the actual manuscripts from the diary, as well as videos of people that knew the Franks. Kristin and I both remembered reading the Diary of Anne Frank while we were in school and experiencing this makes me want to re-read it! The whole experience was very emotional and the museum was really well done.
We spent way more time at the Anne Frank house than we had originally anticipated so we were getting a later start than planned on our next activity, a canal boat cruise. Amsterdam is shaped like a horseshoe with canals acting as the outer rings as well as some running down the middle. There are tons of boat cruises and canal taxis that run throughout the city. We decided to do the "100 Highlights" tour - this was an hour long and it highlighted 100 different things about the city. It was really cool, we learned a bit more about the history of the canals and got to see some parts of the city that we had not yet explored. The canals are just one of the things that makes this city so beautiful and you appreciate it that much more from the water as you drive by all of the cute brownstones and houseboats (over 2000 in the city!).
After the cruise, we bought metro tickets and took the tram out to the Heineken Brewery. This was a totally different experience from the brewery we toured in Brussels. Where the Brussels tour was a small, local, homey tour the Heineken experience was big, glamourous and high tech. When you first arrive you are given your entrance bracelet, which is like a livestrong band, and it contained two buttons for free drinks at the end. After walking though an exhibit highlighting the Heineken family and their history in the Netherlands, you then move on to where they explain how the beer is made. Did you know that Heineken and a lot of other beers are 92% water?!? I couldn't believe that! They allowed you to touch and smell the barley and hops as well as see how it was being mixed together and "cooked." They even had samples of the wort (water + barley heated and filtered) to try (it wasn't very good)! After moving through this portion we then entered this small movie theater. There was a sign outside like you see when you ride a roller coster that warned of motion sickness so we weren't really sure what to expect. We stood on this platform and were told to hold on tight. They showed a movie that made it feel like we were being brewed, bottled and shipped. The pad we were standing on rocked back and forth as the hops and barley were being mixed. When the water was added we got squirted from the ceiling and when the barley and hops were being heated they shined bright heat lamps. It was pretty wild, kind of like a disney ride in a beer factory! After the movie was over they took us into another room where we were able to "sample ourselves." The bartenders taught us about how the head on the beer protects the flavor and how you can drink the beer in different manners and achieve different tastes. After a small tasting we moved to a section where you could see the beer actually being bottled, capped and inspected. Here you could create your own label if you choose, so at the end you would receive a Heineken bottle with your name listed where it normally says "brewed by Heineken." After that there was an interactive exhibit where you could watch different Heineken commercials, do a virtual pour from the tap and even create a Heineken music video! It was crazy! Finally, you made it to the end where you could turn in the buttons on your bracelet for 2 free Heineken beers. As you can imagine, Kristin and I spent way longer here than we had intended and by the time we left we had missed the bike tour by over an hour! It was well worth it though, I would go to the Heineken factory again in a heartbeat.
After our "Heineken experience" we moved onward to the Van Gogh museum. Kristin and I both like his "starry night" painting, so we thought it would be nice to see this piece "live" and some of his other works. Only a few minutes walk from the Heineken brewery, we found the museum district of Amsterdam. There was a large square/park in the middle of several museums. We took a quick break to get some ice cream (with chocolate sauce) at the stand right outside of the Van Gogh museum and then headed in! The museum had a modern vibe to it with a band playing in the lobby and modern lighting.....we wandered around and saw a couple famous paintings by Van Gogh. We learned that he killed himself (like most painters did in that time) at the young age of 35. He had spent some time in a mental institution and went through some tough periods of illness, but if he only knew that he would be this famous someday - maybe he would have stuck around a little longer! To our dismay, the "starry night" painting was not in the permanent collection at this museum! In fact, it is on exhibit in the museum in NYC! I guess we will have to go see it when we get back in the states. We did find our way through a short exhibit on Picasso's works and then decided it was time to take the tram back home and relax for a little bit before heading out for the evening. We didn't have a good all-inclusive tram map, so we tried to navigate using our big map and the street names of the different stops. We got off on the wrong stop and go turned around once, but we eventually found our way home! It is always an adventure when we are trying to navigate through Amsterdam! Definitely easy to get a little lost and turned around here! Back at our magnificent apartment on the Prinsenstraat canal, we took a little break, looked up some info on tours/excursions for tomorrow and tried to figure out how we would get to the airport on Sunday. We made a plan and ventured out to "Oud Holland Cafe"for dinner. Kristin found this restaurant in our "Holland Pass" book. It had authentic Dutch cuisine and we were able to get a 10% discount with our Holland Pass, so we decided to try it! It was a cute restaurant with a very typical Dutch atmosphere. We both had the chicken cordon bleu with a variety of sides including potatoes, salad, carrots and beets. And of course we had some Heineken beer! We enjoyed our dinner and it was nice to sit and relax after our very busy day! After dinner, we decided to go on a Red Light District walking tour with Randy Roy's Red Light District tours. We got the info in the "Europe on a ShoeString" book that I borrowed from Kirstin. We met the tour guide in front of Victoria Hotel (accross from Central Station) and turns out, we were the only ones that showed up for the 10 pm tour! Lucky us, a private tour! Kim, our tour guide was American so her English was perfect! She was originally from Wisconsin but moved to Amsterdam because she married a Dutch guy and has now been living in Amsterdam for nearly 25 years! Kim told us a lot about the area. She showed us the Stock Exchange, the Old Church, and the main strip of bars/restaurants in Amsterdam (Warmoestraat). Then we turned the corner and entered the Red Light District. It was really crowded tonight, lots of people were out and about and drinking in the bars.....and of course, "the girls in the windows" were working as well. Kim told us that there is currently 380 active windows in Red Light District. There are several different sections - the African quarter, the expensive secret canal, and a transvestite section as well! We walked through all of these and again, it was very overwhelming! It was exciting, shocking, scary, sexy, cool and crazy all at the same time! Kim told us that the most girls make between EUR 500 - 1,000 per week! They usually spend 15 minutes with their customers and charge EUR 35 to 50! If the guys want to stay and chat, they should go to the brothels, also legal in Amsterdam, where they can usually pay more to spend more time. Kim pointed out an Asian brothel....which, ironically enough, is located right next to a Christian youth hostel! She also took us into one of the costume shops and we wandered around a little more. It was really cool to have a personalized tour and Kim shared a lot of cool and interesting facts about Amsterdam with us! We got lucky on this one and had a really great time! Kim bought us one free drink, so we sat with her and her two friends for a few minutes and then decided to do some "research" about the whole "girls in the window" business. We sat in a corner bar right across the canal from the girls in the window. We watched as the men passed by and look in the windows....some would stop for a couple of minutes to flirt with the girls and some actually looked like they were thinking about going in, but then turned around. Within 1 hour, one of the girls got 3 clients! She was having a very good night! We had fun and we think that the tour and our "research" has helped us understand a little bit more about the sex culture in Amsterdam. It is definitely crazy and foreign to us, but maybe we have a better appreciation for it now!!
Today was a very long and busy day for us. We are excited to sleep in a little bit tomorrow and see a few sites before our 4 pm bike tour. It is our last day in Amsterdam (and on our European tour), so we definitely want to make the most of it!
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