We have
breakfast on our "cruise ship" in a light-filled room with large windows and a
great view of the water. They've posted a sign asking that patrons not take food from the breakfast room to use as their lunch. (we've done this in other places we've stayed and evidently we're not the only ones).
Right afterwards we are on the ferry to Amsterdam. We
have timed-tickets for the Anne Frank House. We decide to walk and it takes a
bit longer than anticipated but nevertheless we arrive early. Early is fine
with the ticket takers so we get a head start on our day.
The
building we enter is Otto Frank’s place of business. The Frank family and 4
others hid in the upper floors. They could not go outside and they had to remain silent
during the day while workers were in the building downstairs.
In
Anne’s room that she shared with Fritz Pfeffer the walls are covered with
picture postcards and posters of her movie idols. Her father had the foresight
to have her bring them from home. It helped her adjust to the isolation.
The
rooms are tiny and the space does double duty for living and sleeping and
eating. It’s hard to imagine 8 people patiently and silently spending their
days here.
We walk
through the revolving cupboard that hides access to the secret annex. We see
the wall map where Otto Frank kept track of the Allied advance. Pencil marks on
the wall show the girls’ growth.
The
museum has created a room simply to preserve and display Anne’s diary. It’s a small red-checkered book. When it was
filled she wrote in notebooks. Alternate sheets from her diaries are displayed
on a rotating basis.
She
wanted to become a writer and wrote more than just her diary. Also displayed
are her Beautiful Sentences book where she copied quotes that she liked and her
book of short stories.
There is
another room where a video plays on a loop featuring people who knew Anne and
her family.
Their
hiding place is exposed in 1944 after the group had been sequestered for two years . Anne dies
two years later in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. It remains unclear how
they were discovered. Only Anne’s father, Otto Frank survives and he is
instrumental in the preservation of the building.
We
stroll back to the ferry landing crossing canals and enjoying the Amsterdam
ambiance.
Once back to the car it’s wheels up to Bruges.
We
enter the historic city center through a rounded brick double turret shaped
gate. We find the lovely old Peellaert
Hotel with off-site but protected parking. The hotel is within walking distance
of everything. So we drop our bags and start to explore. We get as far as the
plaza fronting City Hall and enjoy lunch at a restaurant on the square.
Next
door the huge Market Square is the center of the action with ornate buildings
on all sides. The imposing sky-high
medieval Bruges Belfry, takes up one
quadrant, (one more belfry we won’t climb). Shops and restaurants abound. Horse
drawn carriages await passengers on the cobbled courtyard. We find a tea shop
and another selling waffles on a stick. We make purchases at each to tuck in
our suitcases.
More
canals here, much less traveled and more serene. We enjoy another cruise.
Bruges is quaint and captivating, earning its nickname “the Venice of the
North”. We have a view from the water of the Church of Our Lady, whose brick spire is the world's
second highest brick tower/building.
Dessert
is a Belgian waffle piled high with strawberries and whipped cream passed through an open counter. We eat on a park bench.
