The following day we were up bright and early to get in line to visit the Anne Frank House. It was very humbling to walk through the famous hidden doorway behind the bookcase and make our way through the rooms where the Frank family spent their last few months in relative ‘freedom’. The rooms were empty as her father, the only survivor from the concentration camps, chose not to re-furnish them after the Nazi’s cleared them out, but all her magazine cuttings and pictures were mounted on the wall of what used to be her bedroom, and we could only imagine her cutting them out and putting them up on the wall. It was also eye-opening to see just how small the rooms were, and I couldn’t even imagine being stuck inside those cramped conditions with so many other people day in and day out with no hope of going outside. There is a heart-breaking photograph of her father standing in the empty attic staring out the window and you can just see the memories passing through his mind.
We emerged from the house into another beautiful sunny day, and took the opportunity to wander over to the Van Gogh Museum, where we attempted to immerse ourselves in some culture. This didn’t last long, however, until we decided it was time to do what we do best…visit a beer factory. So off it was to the Heinekin Museum! We got our tickets & our wristbands and made our way through the factory, learning how to make beer on the way. The best part, of course, was the taste testing, followed by the free samples in the bar.
We then staggered home before heading back out to find a restaurant. After wandering randomly without being able to make up our minds on a suitable place to eat, we were eventually so hungry that we stopped at the next restaurant we saw. The food was ok but the service was pretty average, and we waited quite a long time for our dinner considering there was only one other group of 6 people in the restaurant. I won’t be heading back there in a hurry. We made our way back through the crowds of drunken boys on stag do’s and confused looking older tourists, calling it an early night after a long day.
