The Secret Annexe

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is probably on every high school required reading list and has been read by millions around the world.  It has been translated in over 70 languages.  About two blocks from our apartment, along the canal at 263 Prinsengracht, is the Anne Frank House where she and her family hid from the Nazis from July 6, 1942 until the house was raided on August 6, 1944.  The family hid in a secret annex at the back of the building, accessible only through a landing hidden by a movable bookcase.  Touring the house provided, at times, a stark reminder of the impact the hiding had not only on the Frank family, but on those trusted individuals of her father's business who were helping to hide them.  Anne was planning on writing a book she titled The Secret Annexe, but she died of typhus in the concentration camp at Bergn-Belsen only a few weeks before the camp was liberated by Allied forces.

Seeing the house gave each of us a new appreciation for her diaries, which each of us plan to re-read once we get home.

I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young, and know that I'm free.
--Anne Frank, 24 December 1943

So true.  We rejoice in our freedom.

Touring Canals by Bus

The central portion of Amsterdam is ringed by four main canals, with numerous offshoots and smaller canal that crisscross the city.  While I've never been to Venice and cannot begin to make a comparison, the canals certainly help define this city.  Amsterdam's canals are dotted with numerous small boats that residents dock near their homes -- then there are the houseboats that line some of the canals where people literally live on the water.

The Canal Bus company offers a hop-on/hop-off tour of Amsterdam via three different routes through the canals of the city.  Of course, you're not actually on a bus, but a flat-bottomed boat designed to pass through low narrow openings under most of the City's 1,250 bridges.  This is a great way to see Amsterdam, as you pass by many of the City's major sites.  We really enjoyed the perspective of seeing the City from water level as well as the convenience of getting to some of the places we wanted to see.

I think this picture captures the essence of canal life in Amsterdam.  Homes line the narrow streets along the canal with boats docked along the side.  This scene repeats itself throughout the city, which only adds to its appeal and charm.

Floriade

Every 10 years, the Netherlands hosts Floriade, a world horticultural expo.  After seeing the beauty of nature at Keukenhof Gardens, we traveled by train 2 hours to the City of Venlo where Floriade is being held.  Venlo is in the southeastern portion of the Netherlands along its border with Germany.  It's difficult to capture exactly the essence of Floriade, but the best way I know to describe it is to say it is like the World's Fair, except with a horticultural theme.  Check out Floriade's website.

Standing in front of the Netherlands' exhibit --
showcasing the latest in sustainability
(and perhaps architecture?)

There were numerous educational exhibits describing the latest advances in horticulture and agriculture, as well as exhibits of different countries displaying gardens representative of their culture.  And of course, the park was also superbly manicured with lots of flowers throughout -- there was even a large greenhouse showcasing the world's tropical plant life.  The neat thing about Floriade is that the park is purpose-built for the expo and will be used as a business park once the expo is over, utilizing the latest sustainability techniques.  It just opened on April 5 so we visited during the first week.  While the flowers were yet to be in full bloom, it was great from a crowd perspective as it wasn't filled with wall to wall tour buses.  I suspect by summer time, it will be wall to wall people.

Easter at Keukenhof

We awoke to a glorious sunny Easter morning.  What better way than to spend part of our day seeing God's glory in nature.   Keukenhof Gardens was set up in 1949 to serve as a showcase for bulb growers and currently has several million bulbs planted over about 80 acres of spectacularly manicured grounds.  The name Keukenhof Gardens literally means "kitchen garden" and its location near Lisse is the former estate of a 15th century Dutch Countess who grew vegetables and herbs on the property.

We took the train from Amsterdam to Leiden, and from Leiden took a bus to Keukenhof.  Billed as the largest flower garden in the world, it's only open for about 2 months each year -- during the Spring when everything is in bloom.   Although it appears we were about 2 weeks before the peak for tulips, it was still an amazing display of color and variety -- tulips, hyacinth, and daffodils of all shapes and sizes.  They also had exhibition halls featuring displays of orchids and roses.

Keukenhof is in the heart of the Netherlands' bulb growing region, and during our journey we could see many fields in bloom.  Later in the day, our sun disappeared and the temperature dropped, but it was still a magnificent experience.  I may have to take extra allergy pills, but it will be worth it.

Yes they're made of wood, but please call them clogs.

Pop trying is hand at making clogs

One of the things we Americans identify with the Netherlands are wooden shoes.  However, the Dutch don't refer to them as wooden shoes.  They call them clogs.  During our first day here while exploring our neighborhood and getting our bearings, we cam across a gentlemen demonstrating the craft of making clogs.  With Pop's background in woodworking, we were quickly into a conversation about how these shoes are made.  He showed Pop the different tools used and told us that clogs are typically made out of willow trees.  Now that he's seen how it's done, don't be surprised if home-made clogs make it into stockings this Christmas.

We Finally Made It

For better or worse, airline travel isn't what it used to be.  The frequent complaints of the day -- crammed planes, baggage fees, long security lines, etc. -- are all too prevalent in today's travel world.  We're flying US Airways for this trip and our flight from Philadelphia ended up being delayed.  We had actually boarded, left the gate, and were taxiing for take-off when the Captain came on the loudspeaker and indicated we needed to return to the terminal to investigate a maintenance issue.  Long story short, one of the fuel pumps was not working properly.  We ended up getting a replacement aircraft and had to disembark, go to another gate, and wait for our original plane to be unloaded and reloaded on the new plane.  The staff at US Airways was very professional and kept us informed with frequent updates and did a great job of getting us on our way.  Even though we left three hours late, we made up some of the time en route and arrived about 1:45 later than expected.  The rest of the trip over was uneventful.  Admittedly, I'm one to complain about airline travel, especially when it seems you're never on time or there's some other hassle that interferes with a pleasant trip.  However, this is not one of those times.  Here's a big tip of the hat and kudos to US Airways for a job well-done.  Thanks for the extra effort to get us here safely.

And We're Off

We've successfully made it to Philadelphia for our connecting flight to Amsterdam.  A big thank you to the PHL Airport Authority for having free wi-fi in the terminal.  It will greatly help us with the 3 1/2 hour layover.  More airports should follow their lead.  Traveling with the in-laws is always an adventure.  No matter how much we prepare and tell them about the TSA rules, inevitably one or the other either sets off the alarm (Check!) or gets pulled aside for extra screening (Double Check!).  This time both the checked bag was opened for inspection as well as the carry on.  This happens on every trip, so I'm not sure it would be the same experience if it didn't happen -- it always livens the conversation.

The other veritable truth with the in-laws, especially when traveling to new places, is the reversion (devolution, maybe?) to child-like giddiness.  It's already started and we haven't even left the country yet.  The most memorable of these instances was when we traveled to Australia back in 2006 and Mom got to ride a camel in the Outback.  For some reason known only to her, and of which we are completely unaware, she harbored a life-long dream of riding a camel.  She was first off the bus waving her money in the air and running to be first in line.  Definitely one of the funniest and most memorable experiences of that trip, although I'm not sure the picture truly captures the moment.  I'm not sure where that moment will be on this trip, but I know it will come.