Amsterdam, Holland

*DAY 1*...or was it 2?

We arrived in Amsterdam after a good 20 hours of traveling. We rode the train from the Airport to Central Station & walked in the cold, drizzly rain to our Hotel. Insisted we take a nap but we had to be careful we didn't end up sleeping the rest of the day.  After a nap, we went out half awake in our pajamas and toured the streets of Amsterdam. 

~I loved the canal lined streets.~

Do I look tired or what?

Tim saw the word Croissants

I saw the word Rene

...already I was being reminded of my kids.

The pic above of Tim is right where that man set himself on fire just a week or so after we were there.

So in a couple words I'd describe Amsterdam :
Canal-lined Streets, Red Light District, Wooden Shoes 
& BIKES! ( they were everywhere-look at top right picture)

~We got some souveniers, took a few pics & tried to stay away from all the "filth" of the city!

*DAY 2*

We slept in & hurried over to Anne Frank's house. Tim said it was a 10 minute walk-...it was more like 40 minutes...but whatever. I'm just 7 1/2 months pregnant that's all...and we were late to our intro of the house, but we made it & they kindly let us in with our tickets.
~Below are pictures of her dark room, that you have to remember only had very minimal light in the daytime. I thought it was so cute how her & sister Margot would rip out magazine pictures & put them on their walls just like regular pre-teen/teenage girls. Their parents tried to let them be as normal as possible. They would get the magazines as they got their food from outside friends who helped keep their secret.

*Here's the picture of the famous Bookcase. Because of the emotion I was experiencing & because there was NO PICTURE TAKING ALLOWED there,  I took no pictures & had to steal some other ones from online.

I thought I was prepared for the experience, having the knowledge I did about the history of it all, BUT it was more than I thought it would be. Not that the house was anything substantial, but the feeling that was in there was almost sacred.

What was so moving is that this was just an ordinary girl going through an extraordinary experience. As I had just complained the whole way there about my feet & back hurting, I became overwhelmed with emotion as I realized that Anne would've done anything to freely walk those streets. I was once again reminded how very blessed & spoiled we all are.