Anne Frank House

Mentally braving the 35 degree morning weather, I began another day with a morning run.  It is noteworthy in that the run took place in Vondel Park. Although the trees are currently barren, even in their naked state their height and age provided a beautiful running environment.  Morning commuters whizzed by on bikes and it was nice to find myself jogging alongside local runners.  Being able to see my breath in the morning cold is still indicative of a good workout.

I had bagels (from local Bagels & Beans), coffee, and brief writing for breakfast. Of course, not being used to the European portions, I was hungry again in a few hours.  Fresh raw Hering satisfied my hunger.  Between bread, onion, and pickles the cold fish was delicious.  Tex didn’t care for it, but I made sure I didn’t leave any to the seagulls prowling overhead.

I forgot to mention that on Thursday we intended to go to the Anne Frank House.  Yeah, that didn’t happen.  Therefore we made it our goal of the day to complete that absolutely necessary attraction. Truthfully, I have always had a vendetta of sorts against the Diary of Anne Frank.  In school we were assigned to read the book at, in my opinion, an inappropriately young age.  I disliked it upon first read and have only slowly come to realize that the power is in its context. Standing in the room where the Frank family went into hiding I was filled with emotion for many reasons: The way the diary was written, the circumstances, and the power that a simple act has had on generations of people.   The flash of the past was sobering and the visit fulfilled the moment of silence for the trip.   We absorbed the lessons and then stepped back into our own circumstances. (The house is pictured above)

We spent the afternoon taking pictures and going in and out of stores. I made contact with some Dutch friends of mine earlier in the day and our plan was to meet them later on.  Because Friday night is more closely tied to our Saturday experience I will write about my reunion with Marielle and Jenny in the next post.