We were all in Amsterdam in June 2022 for a few days so it still feels familiar. That trip we spent all our time outdoors because a couple of our Adventurers had just finished a bout with Covid. This trip we have some more options so we’re taking advantage.
We puttered around in the morning running some errands, returning to Noordermarkt to do some thrifting, making a grocery run and trying to adjust to the time difference. Our first real outing of the day was a whopping 420 feet away. We went to a local pub called ‘t Blaatwhooft and had some wonderful croquettes and Croque Monsieur.
From there, we hopped on our trusty bikes and traveled about 1Km into the historic centre of Amsterdam to the Anne Frank House. This museum is one of the most visited in the Netherlands and takes patrons through the Secret Annex where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis for over two years and where she wrote most of her famous Diary.
In 2022, we hadn’t planned to go to the Anne Frank House (even before our trip turned into outdoor activity only). We didn’t think the kids were quite old enough to understand/be interested in Anne’s situation and story. This trip, Suaram is the same age as Anne was when she went into hiding and is an aspiring writer herself, so we knew we had to go.
To prepare, we read most of The Diary of A Young Girl as a family before we left home. Although we would have gotten the gist during our experience today, it was really helpful to have the benefit of all of Anne’s diary entries describing the personalities of all 8 residents of the Annex and getting a feel for their life in the confined space. No pictures are allowed inside, but there are virtual tours available online. We did grab a few shots of the front of the building and Anne’s windows overlooking the garden. It was well worth the visit and the advance planning it took to get tickets at 2am (US Pacific Time) the day that they went on sale 6 weeks ago.
There was a prominent sign on the building next to the museum advertising Dutch pancakes, so the kids applied some pressure and inside we went. They were closer to what we call crepes, but there was no complaining and anyway, who could tell when they were buried in chocolate sauce.
Next we headed deeper into the Centre for an errand and had a little trouble once we arrived. Suaram and Creeperkitty found that even on a bike it can be really tough to find a parking spot on a busy Monday.
Our final stop of the night was to satisfy the kids’ request for Sushi. We found a good place less than 5 minutes from our apartment.
When we got there we saw lots of delivery riders and only 4 stools for seating, so our dinner out became take out pretty quickly.
Despite ordering more food than we thought necessary, we ate it all. We call this our pedaling appetite. Tomorrow will be another adventure-filled day in Amsterdam.
5 Adventures Together 