Day 3 - Anne, rain and a couple of boats

We only had one ‘thing’ on our itinerary for yesterday but it turned into a very long day.  A combination of road noise and my bladder conspired once again to have me wide awake about 6am and since our booking for Anne Frank House wasn’t till noon we decided to brave the forecast rain and head out straight after breakfast.

Amsterdam doesn’t have Christmas Markets that run all through Advent like so many other European cities but I’d discovered the do have an all-year-round shop called the Christmas Palace, so in search of my Amsterdam Chrsitmas decoration off we went.  Off the tram at the Dam stop first order was for a coffee – ‘Dam Good Coffee’ seemed an appropriate choice – and it was, as was the lemon muffin I had. Mr Google map said the Xmas shop was right next to the Bloemenmarkt – something I had initially resisted due to reports of it just being a tourist trap.  What the hell, lets have a look since we’re in the neighbourhood.  We passed the Munttoren (Munt Tower – built in 1487 as part of the city defences it became the place where coins were minted and gold reserves were kept) it now houses a Delft ceramics shop and I have started my collection of Christmas Decorations. 

 Right next door is the Bloemenmarkt and yes it had rows of stalls all selling the same stuff but it was really quite pretty and some of the non-tulip bulbs and rhizomes on sale would have made my mum drool.

The Christmas Palace was about half way along the Bloemenmarkt but I already had my deco and to be quite honest there was very little there I have not seen in dozens of other shops.  Underwhelming in reality.  

By now it was starting to drizzle so we headed for Anne Frank House figuring a coffee stop would fill in a bit of time.  The huge and imposing Westerkerk was closed to visitors because it was Sunday so we sat longer at the coffee place.

We dutifully turned up for our booked 12noon time at Anne Frank House a bit early, only to be told we were too early and with no-where covered to stand and wait, we tood and waited in the rain – along with everyone else.  At noon they let us join the entry line and we stood and waited some more in the rain.  The line shuffled forward painfully slowly and when we were about 3 people from the entrance a little man appeared with umbrellas.  Given that rain is common in Amsterdam all year round, an awning over the side of the building where the line waits really would be a useful addition.

I had no pre-conceived ideas about AFH but came away feeling nothing much at all.  It was insanely busy, the line snaked its way through the exhibition and up into the secret annex.  The annex contents were destroyed by the Germans soon after the Frank family were found and deported and on his return after the war Anne’s father (the only survivor) chose not to put anything back.  The audioguide was excellent and the limited items available (given the annex was emptied)  have been displayed in a logical and easy to follow manner but somehow it just left me feeling nothing.  We’ve been to Dachau, the Cambodian S21 and WW1 sites in Turkey and Belgium and I’ve had strong emotional reactions.  Maybe we will process it later.

The weather  was trying very hard to clear and we headed back through the ‘9 streets’ of Jordaan.  Amsterdam is an expensive city and this is the expensive part of Amsterdam.  Sunday shopping was now in full swing so in search of something for lunch we headed back towards Dam Square and found a little Italian place.

Amsterdam has the ‘Light Festival’ which we hoped was going to be something like Vivid so with a couple of hours to kill we thought we’d just hop on one of the free ferries that shuttle back and forth across the IJ (river/harbour) joining Amsterdam Central with the north side of the city.  We jut picked the first one and soon found ourselves on the way to Amstedam MDSM – an area that looks like its centre of a rapidly growing street art/alternative music area.  The ‘Botel’ and a decommissioned and graffitied submarine were worthy of photos but it had strted to rain again so we took the next ferry back. 

Well we though it was going back to Central Station but it actually went across to Westerdok and a nice lady on the ferry said it was only a 10m min walk back to Centraal.  The houseboats moored along this canal were amazing.

 We got back just after dark and shelled out our 21euro each for a 75min “Light Festival Canal Cruise.”  I know as a visitor to this wonderful city I really should not be doing the ‘ours is better than yours’ thing but the light installations really were nothing like we have during Vivid.  Don’t get me wrong, Amsterdam is stunning at night via the canals but the wanky commentary drying to explain some existential meaning behind each installation really did my head in.  Here are some pics and I’ll let you make up your own minds.

After the cruise we decided we wanted to try Indonesian for dinner and went in search of somewhere to eat.  We found ourselves back at the Bloemenmarkt at a place called Sampurna and were not disappointed – the food was fab.

My capacity to figure train timetables deserted me and we got on the wrong tram – and had a trip out into the burbs before finally getting back to the flat about 10pm.  Tired and very foot-sore.

Today is Museum day – The Museum of Bags & Purses, the Maritime Museum and the Resistance Museum … and no doubt a few other things along the way.