Amsterdam (with children)

July 19 - 21, 2003

So you've just spent 5 hours getting to Amsterdam (drive to station, train to Brussels, train to Amsterdam, tram to hotel), now what do you do? Run out and get a tattoo for your 9-year-old, of course (well, not a real tattoo - just a henna tattoo - comes off in 20 days!) Thank goodness this was the wildest thing any of us did in this city of "sin" (which, by the way, we really loved!)

Our top priority for Amsterdam was to see the Anne Frank house. So, after an Italian dinner, we headed for the place where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years. It was quite an interesting and moving place to visit. The kids are standing here with a statue of Anna Frank. I had read that you should visit her house in the evening to avoid long lines, and it really worked!

Of course, with children, you often find yourself going from the profound to the profane. Upon leaving the Anne Frank House, we found one of Amsterdam's many public urinals, which the boys had to check out (their verdict - "filthy"). Ellen, the budding feminist, found all of this very unfair! (By the way, the signage you see to the right of the urinal is for the Homomonument, which is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of gay people killed by the Nazis. Unfortunately, it was being refurbished, so it had a fence around it and wasn't in good shape. But we were glad to get to visit this important and potentially beautiful monument.)

On Sunday we met Lisa, Randy, Jesse and Ethan at the Van Gogh Museum, which was very nice and a real pleasure. Ellen especially enjoyed the audio tour. We had read a lot about Van Gogh beforehand, so we were well-prepared. After taking in our fill of Van Gogh, we took a canal boat tour and saw a lot of this beautiful city. The architecture in Amsterdam is so striking and made Kevin and I appreciate why most Europeans scoff at the architecture in Brussels. Oh well. To the left is a photo of Ellen and Will on the canal boat in front of the Maritime Museum.

After the canal boat ride, I stayed with the kids in the hotel for a rest, while Kevin, Lisa and Randy went sightseeing, (they roamed the red light district, in search of some fun - they didn't find it.) Kevin's analysis was that drugs seem to sell better than sex. Or at least, expensive sex with the unattractive ladies of the night standing in the windows! Ugh! While marijuana is smoked pretty freely in Amsterdam, the kids were completely unfazed by the whole thing. I think they are still more offended by cigarette smoke than anything else.

Before dinner, Will and Ellen were kind enough to peddle a boat up the canal, so that I could see a few more sights. (Of course, I had to peddle back, but that's to be expected!) We worked up an appetite and had crepes for dinner, then walked through a park.

On Monday we walked through the flower market (Ellen on the left) and came across one of the family businesses (we wish!) After walking through a junk market, we visited the Jewish History Museum, which was wonderful.

During our lunch in the museum cafe, Randy and Lisa were interviewed by a PowerPuff t-shirted reporter from the Dutch Jewish Newspaper about whether they were afraid to travel in France. We're thinking she's got an angle on the story.

Our train back to Brussels was significantly delayed and rerouted because of a fire on another train. So, Ellen spent several hours studying Hebrew, and Will and Jesse got to play together for hours. Amsterdam was a lot of fun and we look forward to another visit someday.

To go back to our visit with Randy, Lisa, Jesse and Ethan, click here. To see our trip with them to London, click here. To go back to our homepage, click here.