Our 8am breakfast arrived at 8:20, oh well it’s raining anyway. We left for the Anne Frank Museum at 8:40am. Our intention was to get a tram there, but we were told by a British woman at the tram stop that it was only a 20min walk, so that’s what we did, even after questioning the decision ourselves due to the rain!!

Anyway, we got there soon enough and dry to boot. On the way we ran into 4 people off the cruise and they said the museum was closed due to someone important visiting it, and that it wouldn’t open until around lunch.  We decided to go and find out for ourselves, it was only 5 mins away anyway. When we asked about it, we were told the President of Chile was visiting it and it should all be open by 10am. So we waited and they took the barriers down about 9:45 and we were a few from the front of the queue. The museum opened at 10am and we were in by 10:10am.

The museum is very well laid out and done very well. I was surprised at how big the rooms were, but I guess if there are 8 of you confined to a small space for two years, even big looking rooms get very small, very quickly!!!!   The museum brings home the tragedy of WWII and the plight of the Jews through a very personal story, something that does, whether you like it not, get very distorted when taken on the magnitude in which it all actually happened.  It’s a place everyone who gets the chance should visit, and a story everyone should read and never forget.  (I was pleased we finally made it here, it was the one thing I really wanted to do here)

From the house we went to the Westerkerk, the bells of which painted a picture of the outside world, she couldn’t have, for Anne. When we arrived the church was closed, but the tower was open, so we climbed the tower. It is the tallest tower in Amsterdam, and the views from the walk way are impressive, and would have been even better except for the rain! The church and tower were built 1489, the tower stands at a height of 85m. The church has great significance for the Dutch, it is the scene of the weddings for all the royal family. The tower also has a Carillion, (A set of tuned bells in a tower, played from a keyboard) which is played every Tuesday at noon. Unfortunately that is the plan, but the carillionist doesn’t always turn up, and today was one of those days. We did however see the bells when we climbed the tower.

After we got down from the tower the church was open. It is a very plain church, no frills. But it has a certain reverence to it. High vaulted ceilings and a floor completely made up of tombstones. Rembrandt was buried here for some time. As usual, we lit candles while we were there.  We waited until 12:20, but with the carillion not playing we set off into town to the Oude Kirk.

The Oude Kerk is in the middle of the “Red Light” district, so it’s always an interesting walk there. The Oude Kerk hosts the World Press Photo Journalism Contest prize winners exhibition every year at this time. (For those who are interested and would like a look at the photos, try this link http://www.worldpressphoto.org/ , it will take you to an online version of the exhibition.  The exhibition was amazing, so many great photos, but it was a real reality check for us, so many of the prize winning photos depicted the very worst of man’s inhumanity to man, this was particularly poignant  after visiting the Anne Frank House!  (have a look at the winning photos they go back to 1955)

The Oude Kerk itself, is no longer used as a church, but hosts various exhibitions throughout the year. It still retains all the features of a church. The high frescoed ceilings, tombstone floor, and religious fittings.   It’s an interesting place to visit just for its own merit.

After that we walked down to the Flower Markets on the Singel Canal. The stalls were a mix of brilliant blooms and buckets of bulbs. An interesting and very colourful strip.

We then walked back to the hotel and did some research for tomorrow. We plan to go to The Hague and Delft, but more of that tomorrow.

For dinner we went to a small Italian restaurant just up the street from us. It was a very enjoyable meal. We had a window table looking out over a canal to Rembrandt Square and all the street traffic that goes with the area. Our waiter was absolutely charming in a fun “flirty” Italian way.

As I am typing this the clouds have broken up and the sun has come out. It’s 8:30pm and it will not get dark here for another 2 to 3 hours.  Its great to see blue sky and we are both looking forward to our train trip out to The Hague and Delft tomorrow.

Take care everyone, we hope the sun is shining on you all. Keep smiling, lots of love from us.xox