Happy King’s Day, Amsterdam!

Those of you who know Ron know that he is a man of few words. Generally. But, for some reason on this trip, Ron has adopted the persona of a local TV news station weatherman. Every day – heck, numerous times every day – he recites the weather to me. The high temps, the lows, hour-by-hour rain predictions. I get the maximum wind gusts for now and then the gusts predicted in a couple of hours. All told, this weather report can last TEN MINUTES, in what must be the longest uninterrupted speeches of our 19 years together.

I don’t have a picture of Ron doing the weather but I did manage to catch this priceless and heartbroken look on his face – he was admiring all of these donuts but, in an act of extreme maturity, he decided he wasn’t going to buy one – but boy does he look kind of deranged by the decision.

We set out to see the Anne Frank house this morning, walking out of our hotel room, prepared for anything on King’s Day. But it’s surprisingly quiet out there. Here is Ron on the Dam Square – which, according to photos I’ve seen, is filled with tens of thousands of people later today. But for now, it’s basically Ron. He’s too far away to hear, but he’s probably trying to tell me that it’s sunny out, but about 37 degrees:

As we returned to the hotel after our Anne Frank visit, the same square was busier, but still just fine. We wait – the millions are surely heading our way.

Similarly, although we have been told that there are over 100,000 people on the canals on boats, we see only this one single boat:

The Amsterdam city government would not have placed these out-in-the-open urinals everywhere without feeling they were truly needed:

I’ve skipped over the reason for our early morning walk, though. We had 9am timed entry tickets to the Anne Frank House. These tickets sell out every day – and you can really only buy them 30 days before your visit. Online only – no in person sales.

Because we are both so Type A, we were the very first people in line to enter the museum. And because we didn’t go to the bathroom, check a bag, use a locker etc., we were the ONLY people in the hiding place. Just Ron and I – alone in those rooms full of hope and then, ultimately, heartbreak. There’s no pictures allowed but look:

Here’s the entrance to the hiding place with the stairs visible:

Here’s the kitchen area:

All of the rooms in the Anne Frank House are empty. Anne’s father, Otto Frank, the only family member who survived, wanted the rooms left empty. Here’s a bedroom, though, briefly furnished for a photo shoot:

It’s something to walk through there. The audio guide – we almost never listen to audio guides as they give WAY TOO MUCH information – is perfect. As we walked, we heard small quotes from Anne’s diary, and key facts about the progression of the war. The museum is perhaps the best possible example of telling a small story – and completely commanding my attention – while really showing me something far greater.

Anne’s brutal honesty and the courage and unfailing honor of Miep Gies (who kept the Franks alive and fed) are everywhere. The audio guide quoted Anne at some point: Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.

And coming to the end of this trip, I don’t know if I really believe that’s true. I’m more swayed by this quote from Anne: What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again and perhaps that is the best I can do with all of the information I have gathered in Germany.

We’re headed back out into the fray and then I’ll be back to close this trip out.

Ok, here you go. The same square where Ron was alone this morning. Here it is 7 hours later:

King’s Day is insane here! It’s a once-only experience – I shall make sure I schedule around it in the future. But it was fun to see! I think the peak hours might be around 8pm. These shots are from about 3pm. We’ve come back to the hotel to hide out so this might be all you get. Here you go:

All right. That’s it for me. I’ve had a blast and learned a lot. Favorite city on this tour of Germany? Well, Paris, I guess. Second? Nuremberg, for walkability, livability, huge pedestrian core, and wealth of historical sites.

Instead of signing off for six months, as is my norm, I’ll be back with you in just 4 weeks! Ron’s going home to work on his weather-reporting skills and I’ll be enlisting the travel services of my daughter as we head out to Bulgaria and Romania!