Amsterdam as a city

Trip Start Jul 01, 2008
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Trip End Jul 31, 2008


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Saturday, July 5, 2008

Went to the Anne Frank house two days ago. Had this huge, intense, emotional blog, and lost it all through some mess-up (whether mine or the computer's) at the internet cafe we utilized. I was heartbroken, but I'll put it in perspective: it was not as heartbreaking as Anne Frank's experience.

You can read some excellent reactions to the Frank House in my wife Elaine's blog for her school at w8english.wordpress.com

Elaine's research on the Frank experience is extensive. She knows her stuff. It was very cool to go through the museum with her and our new friend, Elizabeth Marsh, a middle school teacher in Rotterdam that came to speak with Elaine about the experience of teaching the Holocaust in the Netherlands.

The town of Amsterdam was beutiful yesterday. A gorgeous day to walk through countless historical, tree-lined, and people packed streets. We searched out a bunch of places we want to see today. In particular, the Dutch Resistance Museum. This place documents what it was like when the Nazis occupied the city and how the Dutch tried to disrupt Nazi operations. More later on this.

Took a Canal Cruise last night at sunset. What a cool thing to do. It seemed like we saw half the city riding through the narrow canals down to the harbor that separates the old town from the new stuff that is now being built up on fill in the port. It was ninety minutes and well worth the 15 euro each to do it.

What's scary now is that we are equating Euros with dollars in how we use them. Whoops. A euro is almost a dollar sixty! I'd rather not think I'm spending over 2 bucks everytime I use the tram (trolley car). But, as the spending wears on, and we are only four days into our trip, the menacing reality of how weak our dollar are is... well, it's really edging from the back of our minds to the forefront.

For instance: I went to the train station yesterday and bought two $24 tickets to eastern Netherlands so that we could get to the Westerbork Transit Camp where the Frank family was briefly interned when they were first captured. Did I say 24 DOLLARS? Yikes, that's EUROS and you can do the math! Fortunately, we are here on a fund and that is softening the blow considerably.

Another gorgeous day outside and we are on our way. More later.  
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