Amsterdam and around

As promised, a post on what we were up to in the Netherlands. We divided our holiday into 2 days visiting Amsterdam and around and the other two exploring the remaining part of the country.

ZAANSE SCHAANS

To experience the windmills, wooden clogs and Dutch cheese this fully inhabited open air museum flanked by the river Zaan is the place to be. Wooden clog making workshops, cheese tasting and seeing how a windmill actually works are some of the highlights of this pretty little village. The best part for us was visiting the paint mill De Kat and actually watch a miller doing his work. His story can be read here.

Once we were done with the above we simply strolled down this quaint village. At times I felt this was all a dream. The Dutch houses, the canals and the bridges leading to every house, so very pretty!!

ANNE FRANK'S HOUSE

Anne Frank needs no introduction. Having known her story and read books about this little girl's life in hiding during WWII I thought I was prepared. The self guided tour with visuals of people who knew her during her life are presented. Visiting her house, reading the excerpts from her diary(which are put up on the walls of the house), listening to stories about her from the mouth of others(in the visuals), climbing up the stairs of the secret annex and just standing in those empty rooms(as was her father's Otto Frank's wish) is more than a humbling experience. At the end of it all I choked up with emotion.

To be in Amsterdam and not visit her house would be such a shame. I have heard of people who having gone there and simply not visited the house due to the seemingly never ending queues. I was fortunate to have also stumbled upon a blog which mentioned that online tickets too get fully booked weeks in advance. We bought the tickets a month ahead and this was the best decision we ever made!! 

THE REMBRANDT HOUSE MUSEUM

(The kids helped print this etching during the demo. They were then gifted this print for remembrance)

Rembrandt, the world famous Dutch painter and etcher of the 17th century lived in this house until he was forced to declare bankruptcy. To get a peek into how an artist lived in those times and an actual 17th century house, this museum is worth a visit. There are live demonstrations showing you how he etched his prints and also the way he created his paints which my kids enjoyed immensely.

(paints created by mixing fine powders from crushed colored stones and linseed oil)

CANALS and ARCHITECTURE

A canal cruise, one of the ways to see Amsterdam with kids. This city with its beautiful canals with house boats , a little more than 1500 bridges and  gabled houses is best explored by foot, but when you need to give your feet a break, then these canal boats are the next best thing.
We experienced the canals Herengracht by boat, and walked around Prinsengracht, Bloemgracht and Singel.

The beautiful canal Bloemgracht was my favorite.

The gabled houses of Amsterdam by the river Amstel.

The floating flower market by the canal Singel.

Amidst all these amazing houses and stunning flowers, much to the amusement of my family I always forgot that there was a separate lane for cyclists and bikes. The Dutch bike a lot, yes a lot!! And way too fast and I always ended up in these lanes mistaking it to be for people like me who love to walk..:D

As I sit here going through my pics and writing this post, I cannot but help and think how much I miss this beautiful city. Who knows, I may go back again. Just a thought....