Holland

Amsterdam … and a visit with Anne Frank and Van Gogh

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The Anne Frank Museum and the Van Gogh Museum were hands down … at the top of my Amsterdam bucket list when I was planning the trip! Even more important, as time is so fleeting when you travel, was to purchase our tickets online before leaving home. I hate to stand in long lines and the Anne Frank House in particular is notorious for VERY LONG LINES!

First, the Anne Frank Museum is located in the Joordan area of Amsterdam about a twenty-minute stroll from the Central Station. Before you leave home, make a commitment to the day and time you will be there. Museum tickets are 9.50 euros per adult. Decide if you want to participate in the 30 minute introduction lecture (add 5 euros to cost of an adult ticket) before you hit the “purchase” button. Even if you have read Anne’s entire diary the day before your visit, you will learn so much you didn’t know! Personally, I’ve read her diary twice and never knew the museum is actually located in the factory Anne’s father owned. Among other things, Mr. Frank was the inventor of pectin, an ingredient that canners will recognize that is so crucial to the whole canning process. Mr. Frank carefully planned the hiding place located in his factory. It was worked on little-by-little in one of the upper stories of the factory/warehouse as the war was raging around Holland.

As is the case in most museums, you can’t take photographs. Oh, and beware there are steep stairs. Walking through the “bookcase entrance” into the hidden rooms that was their hiding place is but a small part of the museum. The message of the museum … never forget.

The museum’s bookshop has Anne’s diary in many languages. Allow 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Van Gogh Musuem mural "The Bedroom"

As for the Van Gogh Museum, you can also purchase tickets via email for 15 euros per adult ticket. Your eticket lets you enter via the fast lane entrance. Again, no photographs are allowed. There is a huge poster-style mural on one of the floors of The Bedroom. You can snap a candid picture of that if you like! I totally didn’t recall that Van Gogh was such a tortured soul. The museum really shows the progression of his art through his career. Van Gogh produced lots of art, although I believe his brother was the only one to actually purchase one of his paintings during his lifetime. Some of my favorite Van Gogh art included Sunflowers, Almond Blossom, Irises, The Potato Eaters and several Van Gogh self-portraits. Also, don’t go looking for The Starry Night. It is at the MOMA in New York City. You can’t have everything.

The museum has a lovely and well-stocked cafĂ© and … as with every art museum I have ever visited … a fantastic gift shop!

Mimi and her Van Gogh lunch boxes

Which brings me to the story of Mimi’s lunchbox. Several years ago our oldest daughter traveled to Amsterdam on business. Of course, Katie visited the Van Gogh Museum and brought back a Van Gogh Sunflowers lunch box for Mimi, her sister. For several years, Mimi has carried that lunch box back and forth every day to her day center. Several years’ use has seen a few dents and little rust on the inside. During our trip this year, I was able to replace Mimi’s lunch box with a new Van Gogh … this time Poppies and Butterflies!

Holland’s Haarlem

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I wanted to write several more posts about Holland before I wander on to other subjects. We visited Haarlem on the same day as Delft and the Kinderdijk. In retrospect, maybe we should have traveled to two places instead of three. I have a few regrets. I was reading Corrie ten Boom’s book “The Hiding Place” on the plane. Her family home/watch shop was right there in Haarlem. Corrie and her family hid Jews during World War II. Corrie also worked for the Dutch Resistance and survived a concentration camp. Several members of her family did not. But alas, we got to Haarlem too late to tour it. And the Grote Kerk, or Great Church, was also closed. The 15th century church filled the town square. On two of its sides were tiny little shops built onto the outside of the church. Most unusual but it totally worked! But we had a great dinner at a tapas restaurant celebrating hubby’s and Kate’s birthdays. We sat outside sharing eight little delightful tapas plates while the day turned to evening. After that … one last stop for gelato. It was another magical day.

Five things I learned while in Amsterdam

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We recently returned from our fourth trip to Europe. Did you know that early September is generally a great month weather-wise to visit Europe? We started traveling to Europe in 2008. We’ve been to Italy twice and then Paris for our 40th anniversary in 2012. Every two years we head for parts unknown … at least to us! We can’t let our “world traveler” kids have all the fun.

This year we went to Holland, with a little side trip to Bruges, Belgium. My mom was born in Holland and I really wanted to experience the country. Holland did not disappoint … amazing cheeses, museums, canals, bikes and interesting architecture! Our son, Ricky, and lovely daughter-in-law, Kate, also joined us for the Holland part of our trip.

Amsterdam was totally not what I expected. The guide books never really prepare you for when your boots actually hit the ground. The airport is nuts. But people are friendly and most speak English! I now know how it feels to, as the famous playwright Tennessee Williams wrote, “… to rely on the kindness of strangers!”

Although Kate and Ricky landed 15 minutes later than we did … different flights, different terminals … we never could seem to tag up with them at the airport. It didn’t help that our cell phone programmed for international travel failed us. As Plan B was always to meet at the apartment I had rented in the Joordan area of Amsterdam, no big tragedy.

So here is my list of five things we learned while in Amsterdam:

We never met a piece of cheese we didn’t like! The weight of hubby’s carry-on backpack when we left for home can attest to that.

We learned that the wide bike paths found everywhere in Amsterdam are for bikes and you could get run over if not extremely careful!

A tulip museum, like a cheese museum, is not really a museum. It’s a shop that sells tulip bulbs.

Public transportation is your friend! Learn how to use it! Purchase a day pass (or multi-day pass) good for trams and buses. Very reasonably priced. Swipe your card when you get on … and off public transportation! It’s a two-step process. I have no idea why.

Purchase your tickets for the Anne Frank House and busy art museums before you leave on your trip! There is no way I would have stood in the long line outside the Anne Frank House. And let’s face it … if you go to Amsterdam you must pay the house a visit!

Next time I’ll share how to be flexible on your European vacation … especially when things go wrong!