South African Adventures of the Hughes Family: A Quick Trip to Amsterdam

"You can't have a history teacher Mom and not go see the Anne Frank House" is what I told my grumbling kids as we drove towards Amsterdam after a full day of school and work. Getting tickets to the Anne Frank House is pretty tricky these days. The slot I managed to get was for 8 pm, even months in advance!

We listened to the audio book on the way, as Charlie and Katie have not read it in school. Hearing it again after so long and as a mother of a teenage girl the same age really made it hit home.
Photos aren't allowed inside..so here are a few from the street.

We told him he couldn't smile...it wasn't a happy place!

This is the church next door that she could hear the bells from.

I did sneak one blurry photo of Charlie about to go behind the bookcase and up the stairs to the secret annex.

Since Greg and I visited the Anne Frank house almost 20 years ago it has all been redone and now much more of her writing is on display. It is incredible how diligent of a writer she was and that she had even started to rewrite her journals so they could maybe be published after the war.

One thing that really struck me (as everyone is reflecting on the 75th Anniversary of the DDay landings) was the tiny map on the wall that her Dad used to track the Allies progress into Europe. He had different colored straight pins marking the locations of troops. Those in the secret annex rejoiced at the DDay landings, but sadly the Allies didn't get to Holland in time to save them. They were found in hiding that August and sent to the camps.

Otto Frank's map, courtesy of Museum website.

Seeing teenage Anne's photos on her bedroom walls and her journals is really a powerful experience that I wish everyone in the world could have a chance to see, in the hopes of preventing this from ever happening again.

“Thanks to Father, who had brought my whole collection of picture postcards and movie stars here beforehand, I have been able to treat the walls with a pot of glue and a brush and so turn the entire room into one big picture.”

Courtesy of Anne Frank Museum website...https://www.annefrank.org/en/museum/inside-museum/

We stayed the night and got to explore some cool things the next day, first the Rijksmuseum. (think of it is as the Dutch Smithsonian)

Rembrandts only life sized portraits of this couple..

We were early to the museum and got to see the special Rembrandt exhibit. There was one picture that Greg brought me back to take a good look at..it really was spectacular, his turban looked like you could reach out and touch it and it would have been soft silk!

I believe it is called Man in Oriental Clothing, this is a photo from the museum website. But I can honestly say the picture doesn't do it justice!

This was my favorite thing in the whole museum...dropping silk parachute flowers...I wish it had been set to music..but then I might never have left this alcove!

They had a great photography exhibit, that even had family photos..I loved this one!

Hands down the coolest clock I have ever seen, it had a bunch of ships at the top that would rock in time with the seconds. You can barely make them out in my picture...

One of the many, many cheese shops!

I had to leave the museum of priceless treasures to go take Charlie to this tourist trap, the Ripleys Believe it or Not
Which he absolutely LOVED!

Miffy the Dutch bunny that you see everywhere.

We got to go into the Diamond Cutting Museum/Shop, the guy showed us around and let Charlie hold & study all kinds of beautiful, crazy expensive rings. He let him use that magnifying glass you hold up to your eye to study the diamond!