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| Amsterdam,
Netherlands |
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Rating:
 (5.00) (1 Votes)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
April 05, 2004
Pros: A warm welcome
Cons: None
Family and Friends
I am about half way through my school semester and classes have
stopped for three weeks holiday for Easter. After spending the weekend
in Zell Am Ze, a gorgeous mountain village 4 hours from Vienna,
I flew to Amsterdam for five great days. I spent this 8 days trip
with Rachel, a girl I met from Calgary. Because I had to be back
in Vienna for passover and have not yet purchased a eurail pass,
flying discount airlines was the cheapest and easiest way to see
Amsterdam and London. A friend Rachel met from Holland arranged
for us to stay with his sister who has a great flat in Amsterdam.
While I was a little hesitant about staying there with someone both
had not met, she was amazing and was incredibly friendly. We took
a shuttle bus to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia and only
an hour from Vienna. The airport there is the main hub for a cheap
airline called Sky Europe that flies to the Netherlands. While the
airport there and likely in most of the eastern europe was archaic
and chaotic, we got off the ground without delay and for only 40
euros (70 CDN) We arrived in Amsterdam at around 8 and grabbed a
quick train to the Central station and then a tram to Mareka's appartment
(the sister of Rachel's dutch friend) She welcomed us with open
arms, our own house keys and a great room for us to share in her
attic. She ordered us pizza and we chatted for a while before heading
to bed for the night. The next day we headed into the city of the
tram and began to explore the canal system, the red light district
and in the afternoon went to The Anne Frank House. The Anne Frank
house was amazingly well preserved and so interesting to actually
see after reading and hearing about the secret annex for so many
years. I bought some postcards and a book I hand never seen before
- the biography about Otto Frank. I found it so interesting that
while the diary is so famous and well read, we actually know so
little about Otto, the only survivor of the Frank family. I have
read almost 2/3 of the book and it is amazing. It talks about life
in Amsterdam before and during the two years the family spent in
the annex. The scariest part is that Amsterdam has not changed much.
Jews were deported from the same central station that is used today,
the streets, parks and homes still stand where they did 60 years
ago. The whole experience has been an eye opener and I am going
to try and find a similar survivor story from a Vienese Jew.
After walking around the whole day we returned to the apartment
and rested for a while. It was so beautiful out and we thought it
would be a waste to be inside. Mareka's apartment is right on the
city's largest and most central park. Rachel and I decided to go
for a run and were happily surprised by the number of people just
sitting and enjoying the afternoon. That night we decided we were
going to join the masses and rent bicycles to see the city. The
bikes proved to be a great idea and we enjoyed riding around like
locals all day. Rachel got into a bike crash with another tourist
but was not injured. I almost crashed at the same time but only
because I was laughing so hard at her accident. The dutch people
are so friendly and they all speak nearly perfect English. They
also smoke far less (tobacco) than the Vienese which is a nice break.
After living in Vienna for nearly three months I still don't think
I can live here on a full time basis. Strangely enough, after only
two days I felt quite at home in Amsterdam. That afternoon I went
to see the Van Gough museum while Rachel continued to bike ride.
The next day we went with Mareka to the beach near the Hague to
have lunch and see a museum called Maduradom. It is a miniture replica
of all the famous sites in Holland - cute but mostly for children.
We then went back to the city and I read the Otto Frank book in
the park. It was a great afternoon and I got some sun. We left the
next day for London. This part of the trip will be updated in a
seperate entry.
Tonight is the first night of passover and I will be going to the
head chabad rabbi's home to celebrate with his family and likely
many other guests. I have spent a shabbat with them once before
and it is very religious and really nice. Sometimes I am lost with
the language and their traditions but they make every effort to
include me. I will later post pictures of miscellaneous events that
have been ongoing since I last posted in a seperate log tommorow.
I wish everyone an enjoyable passover and I miss you all. Be well. |
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