Springtime in Amsterdam

Our family visited Amsterdam in early April, 2005. It was a dream of mine to see the city and visit the Anne Frank Huis. I never dreamed I would one day share that experience with my own daughter. Although she had only been with us for a few short months, she was intrigued, interested and remembers it all clearly. Although Daniel and Bill were moved by this place, for girls, for women, it just always seemed so easy to put ourselves in Anne's place. It was so for me. I read and re-read the diary so many times throughout my youth and still, even now, re-read it once every year.

West Kerk Church

The Oude Kerk ("Old Church") is Amsterdam’s oldest parish church, consecrated in 1306. Rembrandt was a frequent visitor to the church and his children were all christened here.

I just love the juxtaposition of the old and new in this photo...so like Amsterdam itself.

The city seems to thrive on its mix of old and new and, despite hordes of tourists, still manages to feel quintessentially Dutch. The old crooked houses, the cobbled streets, the tree-lined canals and the generous parks all contribute to the atmosphere. Bicycles still seem to be the most popular mode of travel. The people are friendly, open and almost everyone we met spoke tremendous English.

One of the best reasons to visit Amsterdam is for the gezelligheid, a term variously translated as friendliness, or informality.

The Rijksmuseum.... Amsterdam's answer to the Louvre! The Rijksmuseum offers a stunning feast for art lovers, with 17th-century masterpieces, silverware, Delft pottery and icons of Dutch history.

Van Gogh Museum Art lovers will be amazed to see the vast number of treasures the Van Gogh Museum, which holds many of the artist's most famous works, holds. Five hundred drawings, 200 paintings and over 700 letters make up the collection. Any visit to this museum brings the genius and vision of this tortured artist to life. From the dour lumpen-life of The Potato Eaters to the bright, childlike colors of The Yellow House in Arles and the sombre beauty of Starry Night, the Van Gogh museum has curated the strongest ever showing of the artist's works.

Anne Frank Huis More than 80,000 people a year cram into Amsterdam's most famous canal house.

Anne Frank Huis and Museum. That is West Kerk Church near by....the bells were chiming as we entered the house. The bells Anne heard daily...

Anne Frank received a diary for her 13th birthday, three weeks before she went into hiding, and the attic in which she wrote that diary is the focus of this moving, often upsetting place. By July 1942 the Germans were tightening the noose around the neck of Amsterdam's Jewish population and Anne (13) and her sister Margot (16), along with their parents, went into hiding in the family's business premises. They survived there, hidden in the attic, until betrayed to the Germans in August 1944. No one knows positively who betrayed them. The Franks were among the last Jews to be deported. Anne died in the Bergen concentration camp a few weeks before liberation. Otto, Anne's father, was the only surviving family member.

The bookcase which hid the steep staircase up to the living quarters.

Thank you for sharing a little trip memory with me today....

Have a sweet weekend dear friends! I can not tell you what

your kindnesses have meant to me!

Hugs,

Susie Q