Day Thirteen - Tulips and Anne Frank

Today we went to Keukenhof. It's a huge flower garden only open in the spring, about a half hour outside of the city. Take the train to the airport and you can purchase tickets and take a bus to the garden. It's a whimsical place to spend a few hours. The gardens are orchestrated really well, interesting color combinations so you don't feel like you're seeing the same thing over and over again.

If you go to Keukenhof, you'll see a lot of scenes that look like this:

And this:

And this:

There's a windmill you can climb up that gives a spectacular view of the surrounding tulip fields:

If you're in Amsterdam in the spring, I recommend it. Go early. The place was fairly crowded by the time we left in the early afternoon.

Back in Amsterdam, we ate lunch at The Pancake Bakery. Hubs was especially excited about this one because he loves all things pancakes. I feared these Dutch pancakes would be like crepes, not my favorite, but they weren't. They were delicious, light yet hearty, a slightly eggier American pancake. I had a savory mushroom and cheese one. If they had these in the U.S., it would be one of my favorite brunch dishes.

Hubs had a banana rum with whipped cream on top.

2 pancakes + 1 large water = 30 Euros

Bellies full, it was time to go wait in line at the Anne Frank Museum. I read Anne Frank's diary in the 8th grade just like everyone else. I'm sure at some point I learned that Anne Frank lived in Amsterdam, but I'd forgotten that fact until I started researching Amsterdam. At first, I had no interest in going. I just thought it would be sad. But then I thought I might regret not visiting since we were right there, so we went. And I'm really glad we did.

From the outside, the house looks like all the other beautiful houses in Amsterdam. And the house sits right on one of the canals in the heart of Amsterdam, prime real estate. I wasn't expecting that.

Once inside, the museum takes you through the house, the office. The minute I stepped in, I thought I was going to cry. I don't know why, I guess just the immensity. The Holocaust has always seemed so far away, two generations past, across the ocean. And here it was.

Then you go upstairs to where the family was hidden. There is no furniture. It makes the rooms feel larger than they would have seemed. The windows were covered as they would have been. No fresh air. It's hard to imagine living like that, knowing the beautiful canal and streets right outside and not being able to see them.

Anne Frank's bedroom was the most sobering. Some of her decorations still adorn the wall, mostly American celebrities, just like any teenage girl. So sad.

The museum is laid out so well. It's extremely informative, very interesting. Even if you don't think you care about Anne Frank, the museum is worth it for the world history lesson alone. Anne's father, Otto, helped design the museum, and you can tell. The displays are all so tastefully done.

After Anne Frank, we were depressed and tired. On the way back to the tram we passed Pucinni Bomboni and decided a truffle might make us feel better.

The Sweet Pepper was The. Best. Truffle. Ever. You could taste the sweet and savory of the pepper and with the chocolate...perfection. We also had a Tamarind one that was very good. I don't know how much they cost, whatever it was, it was worth it.

We went back to the hotel and ended up eating at Foodeez, a Thai restaurant around the corner. I had pad thai, which was very eggy, almost like a Thai carbonara. I liked it.

Hubs had a cashew pork dish that was even better.

2 entrees + 2 beers = 26 Euros

We went back to the hotel and lounged around, enjoying our plush hotel room for the evening. Inglorious Basterds is a great movie to watch after visiting the Anne Frank house.