In Amsterdam we spent the majority of our time wandering the quaint streets in the Jordaan district, admiring all the bicyclists and wishing we could pedal around the city (if I ever retrieve the photos on the digi cam we have some great pics of very interesting bikes). We ate lunch at an Indonesian fast food restaurant, which was excellent and had deserts at the Puccini Bomboni Chocolate house.
We visited local markets selling cheese, dried fruits, flowers, and household junk.
We stood in line for an hour to visit the Anne Frank House. The week before the trip we spent our evenings re-reading the diary, which inspired my journal writing as a child in addition to my interest in world affairs and human rights. As an adult I am filled with awe at the insights and depth of character held by a 13 year old girl. Walking through the Secret Annexe, for me, was a much anticipated and overwhelming, life experience.
4 comments:
Once again...I am jealous! The Anne Frank house must have been amazing. Ever since second grade I have had an interest in WWII and the amazing people and stories that came from that awful experience. Thus the reason I chose Human Rights as my capstone topic and did my senior paper on "genocide". I weird as this sounds, I actually kind of enjoyed writing that 30 page paper. I was forced to read so many interesting and inspiring books that related to world affairs.
I hope you are ok after taking that fall down the stairs. I and really hope you get a new camera soon. I love the pictures you take.
It seems so strange that the book could have such a far reaching impact like that, but really it was the same for me. I did my graduate work on genocide. You should really re-read the book, you will see things in a whole new light and be amazed at how much it really has shaped so much of your intellectual interests. I served my mission near Bergen-Belsen, the concentration camp where she and Margot died, and was able to visit. It was horrifying, but somehow, visiting the secret annexe was even harder for me. I had to fight back the tears. I guess in many ways Anne became a friend to us while we read. We could relate to her, and therefore really feel the weight of her experience. I am so happy to know it had the same effect on someone else...no wonder we always got along well in Poli Sci classes!
Amsterdam looks beautiful. As to Anne Frank, I never read the book nor did I study much about the Holocaust. Probably should have but I think I found it too depressing a subject.
It has been so many years since I read DoAF but still remember the strong emotions I felt when I read it. When we were back east taking the walking tour of Boston, there is a Holocaust memorial in the middle with glass pilars and a number etched for each victim (millions of numbers). There are also different peoples' accounts (some Germans, some Jews) of their experiences - horrifying and moving all at the same time. I was really disturbed to hear about the Holocaust survivor who was a Professor at Virginia who was killed in the attack - he saved other students by blocking the door with his body.
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