Our first stop is the Willet-Hothuysen Museum. It's a "double wide" house on the canal. You had to be very wealthy to own a double wide with 5 windows per floor facing the canal. The Staff and the cooking facilities are downstairs and the owners live on the upper 3 floors.
This couple married when they were 36, because her father wasn't happy about his only daughter marrying this guy who didn't work, even though he also was well-to-do and respected. So they waited until after Daddy died and then got married.
Since Mrs. Willet-Hothuysen never had children, after her husband’s death she willed the house and all the belongings to the city of Amsterdam on the condition they maintain it as a museum so others could see how they lived.
Over the years a lot of the of the furnishings have gone into disrepair, so not much is original. The self-guided audio tour is excellent and covers all of the owners of the house and then a lot about the lady of the house and what life was like for her living there. Very interesting and thorough.
It's always interesting to me to learn and see how people lived. Walking down the canals it's nice to get a glimpse into life here.
We stopped for lunch at the edge of Rembrandt Square at Titus Parrilla Cafe. Karen had Wiener Schnitzel and Pat had Jerk Chicken; both were good. Like most European cafes, we faced out to the street while we ate. We had a view of the people, trains, and bikes as they all passed by. It was sunny occasionally, but the clouds were very dark and it was raining when we walked over.
Continuing our Herengracht Canal walk. After lunch we crossed the street into Rembrandt Square and took pictures of the many statues. They were setting up for tomorrow King’s Day so they had stuff covering the grass and portable Sani cans and urinals they were setting up all over. This set of statues is called Night Watch. They seem to making sure no one gets to Rembrandt.
I took lots of pictures of the canals and gabled buildings. When walking in Amsterdam there is a sidewalk, a street, and a red brick path for bicycles 🚴. Beware stepping onto the red brick path without looking both ways and then both ways again. Put your head on a swivel. These bikes use the Cloak of Invisibility and just before you step off they remove it.
On some streets they also throw in trains. It can get very congested or it can be a quiet stroll; depends on which corner you turn. The trees along the canal are in bloom and when the sun is out it makes for great pictures. And there are always canal boats, lots of canal tour boats, hop on hop off canal boats, historical looking boats, and beautiful wooden boats. Lots of movement.
Stopped at an antique shop that had a amazing KLM Delft display in the window. They had hundreds of the little bottles that KLM gives their first class flyers. They are Delft ware bottles shaped like the gabled houses of Amsterdam, filled with liquor. Inside they sold for $20 to $50 Euros (the ones I checked). They also had antique Delft tiles.
Stopped at the grocery store for ham, cheese, milk, croissants, ice cream, and crackers. We arrive home about 5pm and have a ham and cheese croissant for dinner and relax before walking back to Anne Frank’s house.
The "Anne Frank" house is really a collection of buildings. On the right is the gift shop and cafeteria in the new blocky un-Amsterdam looking building (building #1). Next year it will also be the entrance. Building #2 is currently the entrance, bathrooms, and the room for the Introductory Program. Building #3 is the shortest one and all we used it for was to GET to building #4 - which is really the ANNE FRANK house. The front half that you can always see from the street is actually the warehouses and offices of her father's work. The back half, where they actually did the hiding for 25 months you can't see. (Insert "hidden" joke here).
The Anne Frank House was very well presented. We chose to pay for the Introductory Program ($5e) AND the self-guided tour of the house ($9e). We were led into a room with pictures on the wall on a timeline. Above the timeline were Frank family pictures. Below the line were Germany history pictures. The young man's 30 minute program wove the history of Germany and the occupation of the Netherlands with the Frank family. He was slow but thorough and engaged the audience in answering questions.
From there we picked up our audio guide and walked through the front offices business part of Otto's building. The audio told about the guy that worked in that office and how he helped the families in hiding. Only a few people knew they were there. When we went behind the bookcase, where their hiding place was, there was no headset audio and all the people were amazingly quiet. There were pictures and plaques telling you whose room this was and a little about them and the room. We didn't get to go up in the attic, but could look up the ladder/steps leading up there. An angled mirror was set up so you could see a little farther over.
There were 8 people who spent 25 months in those 3 rooms in 1943-44. They were eventually found and all were transported to various concentration camps where all died expect the father, Otto Frank. Anne was 15 when she died. Her book has been translated into 70 languages. She was an ordinary teenager in an extraordinary situation and that makes her story fascinating to read.
We spend a couple of hours at Anne Frank's. It is by far the busiest attraction in Amsterdam. Tickets are sold online for all entries up until 3:30pm. After 3:30pm you have to stand in line to get in. There IS a line.
Finally, we are glad we are at least a couple of blocks away from the stages they have set up for tonight’s King’s Night. I don't know how long they are going to party tonight, but it's 9:30 and it’s not that crowded yet and there's only DJs spinning tunes. I wonder what time they start live music.
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