Amsterdam Day 2

There's something quite wonderful about Amsterdam.

On the way in here from London there were loads of Dutch people on the flight and they must've all gone on some kind of trip together, I dunno. But they were hugging and smiling as they said goodbye to each other later after getting their bags.

We got ours and my mum's old boss, Otbert, came to pick us up at the airport. He's a cool guy, I'm glad they've kept in touch all these years. He took us to his house in Amstelveen, and we caught up with his wife, Linda, a beautiful Chinese woman, and their daughter, Karen, who is 9 and seems to need to be constantly engaged, which is why she's usually playing with her Nintendo DS. Otbert's daughter from a previous marriage, Anna, is there as well. She's 18, and sometimes reminds me of myself, but she's probably a lot more hardcore.

We're staying at the Hotel Pulitzer, which is on a street on one of the canals and I cannot remember how to spell the name of the street because it has a weird gutteral sound in the pronunciation of it. It sounds like 'prinsekraaaaht'. Anyway, it's such a nice hotel and on the way to the restaurant there is an art gallery. I will have to post pictures on FB...

We went to Anne Frank's house! They did it up so well. I wish that I could've taken pictures because it's so well done! Bits of the house are kept as they were when Anne Frank lived in it and bits of it have been restored in this modern, Bauhaus-inspired way. Anyway, Linda took us and she knew the story because it was actually the first English book Otbert had given her when they were courting, and he had given her the kids version because at the time she hadn't known a word of English! She speaks it fluently now of course, and her Dutch is getting better too. She only learned it when they moved here 5 years ago. She's quite a remarkable lady. It was cool that she took us too also because it was the first time she was going since moving there as well!

I really like it here. But I probably couldn't live here because I would get absolutely nothing done. Haha. It's got such a good vibe though. I feel comfortable here. It reminds me a little of the feeling I got when I went to Hamburg. I got lost in that city because I stepped off our tour bus and had to wander around finding my way back to the hotel and took loads of b&w pictures on the way. I like to take black & whites on holiday.... I guess because it makes it feel like the holiday was cemented in time. Or that it makes it feel like more of a classic memory. I'm probably just romanticising.


Anne Frank museum website
Hotel Pulitzer Amsterdam