Amsterdam in the Springtime

April 15-18, 2014

What we learned about Amsterdam that others should know in just four words: Book ahead. Avoid taxis.

It's finally spring here and that means it's time for flowers! The blooms around London are great and bring a smile to my face every day, but what we've really been waiting for is the tulips in the Netherlands so that we could finally go to Amsterdam.

Like Dublin and Paris, this was a quickie trip - just three nights. We loved our hotel, the Grand Hotel Downtown. As usual, we were smitten with our king-sized bed, but the location of this hotel was also perfect for us: close enough to walk to everything we wanted to see, but far enough that we weren't awoken by street noise at all hours of the night/morning.

We even picked up a bottle of wine to match our room art!

Our first full day, Wednesday, had the best forecast of the trip so we booked a trip out to Keukenhof Gardens. (using some of the Viator gift certificates we got as wedding gifts - THANK YOU!) Keukenhof, known as the Garden of Europe, is like Disneyland for tulips. Similar to the ranuncula fields we often visit in Carlsbad each spring (though on a much grander scale), Keukenhof is only open from mid-March to mid-May and is a madhouse of tourists in between. According to our guide, the Netherlands produces 90% of the tulip bulbs that are sold around the world - and that in country that is only 2/3 the size of West Virginia. It takes just over an hour to get there from Amsterdam; once inside it's all music and kiosk treats and extortionist restaurant prices. We also learned that it was explorers and colonists from this area and the one next to it who are responsible for the common confusion around whether to call the country Holland or the Netherlands. These two coastal provinces, North and South Holland, were home to most Dutch seafarers, so when they were asked where they'd come from they gave the names of their provinces instead of their country, Netherlands. The country has 10 more provinces and together they are The Netherlands; "Holland" only refers to two of the coastal provinces!

And now that's enough history - on to the pictures!

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We got back to Amsterdam around 5 pm and had several hours of daylight left. The city is relatively small and easy to navigate, so we enjoyed wandering along and between the canals towards craft beer, snacks, and shopping for the afternoon.

On Wednesday evening we followed a recommendation to RED for dinner. Steakhouses are abundant in Amsterdam, including many of the Argentinian and Brazilian variety; we had been told that Red serves steak and lobster and to "always get both!" Our friend wasn't kidding: Red serves steak and lobster. As in, the menu is mostly a wine list and three entree options: steak, lobster, or combo. Joe ordered steak, I ordered lobster, and we shared the small green salad and serving of chips with garlic mayo that came with our meal. Don't be turned off by the limited menu, though: this was the best meal we had in Amsterdam. In fact, it was the best steak either of us had ever eaten. My lobster had a garlic/butter/pesto sauce on it that made it difficult not to devour the entire lobster in minutes. (Unfortunately the pictures are dark and grainy and not worth sharing, so you'll just have to go and eat for yourselves. Also, make a reservation ahead of time. We didn't and we were almost turned away.)

Thursday we wanted pancakes for breakfast, a popular choice in Amsterdam. We found Pancakes! Amsterdam and were amused by the enthusiasm in the name (not just Pancakes but Pancakes!) and planned our breakfast there on our way to Westerkerk and the Anne Frank House. Joe is a fan of consistency for breakfast, so we actually ate at Pancakes! Amsterdam two days in a row. If it were possible to make a reservation, we'd recommend it as we spent about 20 minutes in line both days, but just plan time for the line and know that it's worth it.

Above: savory pancake with spinach, garlic, pine nuts, and goat cheese. Below: sweet pancake with apples, cinnamon, and nuts. The second day I traded the sweet pancake for one with chocolate, raspberry jam and whipped cream.

One of my must-visit attractions this year was the Anne Frank house, the secret annex where Anne and seven others hid from the Nazis for more than 2 years. I knew that this would be an emotional experience for me, but I was surprised by which moments hit the hardest. It's been quite a while since I've read the Diary of Anne Frank, possibly since I was her age myself. This time, I related with her on different levels: she was born in the same year as my dad, 1929; I see her in myself; I see her in my students.

"One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we'll be people again and not just Jews! We can never be just Dutch, or just English, or whatever, we will always be Jews as well. But then, we'll want to be." - April 11, 1944

The two images above are from the entrance. (In another example of "Book ahead," I waited in line for an hour and a half before finally entering the museum.) The entrance is on the ground floor of what used to be Otto Frank's business warehouse. The secret annex was on the third and fourth floors behind a trick bookcase (shown below). The museum has also taken over the space next door for an exhibition and bookshop.

All of the furniture from the annex's two floors was sold off after the families were arrested and sent to Auschwitz. Afterward, when Otto Frank came back as the only survivor, he found Anne's diary and decided to proceed with her goal of publishing her account of their survival. The diary was published for the first time in Dutch in 1947. Later, the secret annex was saved from demolition and turned into a museum in 1960. Otto Frank helped historians recreate the space as it was for pictures, but asked that the actual museum remain unfurnished. Still, there are a few traces left of the original inhabitants. The most poignant of these were the pencil markings on the wall between Anne's room and her parents' where Otto had recorded Anne and her sister Margot's heights and growth during their 25 months in hiding. The other, which made it hard to breathe because Anne was so evident, was the magazine clippings of movie stars that Anne had pasted onto the walls of her room. Not only do these images put you back in time (see Ginger Rogers above), but it's hard to ignore the fact that it was a thirteen year old girl who lived in this room and who pasted these magazine pages herself.

This picture of Otto Frank inside the empty annex was also overwhelming.

After you leave the annex there is an exhibition of other information, including what happened to each of the people who were hiding and those who helped them, some video interviews with Otto Frank and Miep Gies, and first editions of the diary translated into many langauges. (This offers a helpful description of each of the relevant people.) There, on display, is Anne's original diary and the additional notebooks she wrote in once she filled the first book. Some of these documents are normally housed in a different museum on the Holocaust, so it was lucky to see them all together at the Anne Frank museum when I visited.

Outside of the Museum, in the area around Westerkerk (West Church) next door, is this demure statue of Anne Frank.

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Basically all of Amsterdam's main attractions close at 5 or 6 pm. The flower market, museums, churches, and even a lot of the shopping areas are shuttered and a tourist is left with few options. We headed back to our hotel for a snack of pear juice and Dutch cheese (delicious!) because we weren't ready for dinner. If you plan ahead, this would be a good time of day for a canal cruise.

Joe's view while waiting for me to be done at the Anne Frank museum

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Our last day, Friday, we headed back to Pancakes! Amsterdam and then on to Westerkerk to climb it's lively open-work spire. Unfortunately, "book ahead" bit again: the spire can only be climbed as part of a tour and the next available one was at 3 pm. 

Westerkerk on Thursday when the sun was shining

As it was cold and windy, we decided against this; the tower would have been nice because of our thing for high places, but with the clouds it would not have provided such amazing views anyway. Instead we headed across town to the Van Gogh museum and (book ahead again!) stood in line for an hour to get inside.

It was here at the museum dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh that Joe and I learned that this prolific and influential artist was only active for 10 years - from age 27 to his death at 37. (I had also recently learned that Vincent had a twin, Theo!) The museum includes works not only by the titular artist but also by his mentors, contemporaries, and successors. In addition to a chronological study of Van Gogh's development as an artist, there are exhibits on specific elements of his work, include the tools he used and his trademark use of color. 

My favorite piece, probably based on the research I just finished on selfies for my Contexts paper. I like the way that the brush strokes, which seem completely expected in his beard, continue in a similar fashion everywhere else.

Joe's favorite piece

like seeing Anne Frank's handwriting in her actual diary, the displays of Van Gogh's
palettes and paints were perhaps more interesting to me than the actual work

Our last stops before the airport included Puccini Bomboni, where I bought chocolates with interesting fillings like plum and nutmeg as well as some baking ingredients, and Beer Temple, where Joe enjoyed one more craft brew before leaving the Netherlands.

Even though our visit was short it was satisfying. We felt like we got to see what we wanted to see while still relaxing and feeling like it was a vacation. Not only that, but this little excursion checked off FOUR boxes on our London and Beyond list!