More Trip Talk

Well Hello There My Little Belgian Chocolates,

I slept like a baby last night, and I will go to bed soon after downing some Nyquil. I will be sure to have coffee tomorrow to battle the jetlag.

I got my hair cut and dyed again today. My stylist gave me some hot bedroom hair. RAWR !

Anyway, more talking about my trip.............................

I met a couple of people that I plan on keeping in contact with. One in Paris, one in Amsterdam, and one from the plane to Amsterdam. While I was waiting at the Paris Airport to go to Amsterdam, I met a nice woman and her husband. Her husband was causing quite the scene and complaining about how the airport staff was incompetent and how he wanted to go back to the states. It was embarrassing and there I was behind them with my American passport in hand, and I hoped that I wouldn't receive bad treatment after that.

When we were on the shuttle to the plane, she turned to me and introduced herself and found out that our mothers are both from the same town in Austria and that we both have American fathers. It was quite a coincidence and she gave me her card and told me to write back.

Its always amazing who you can meet and talk to while you are traveling, even if you don't stay in communication.

While I was at the hostel we met a variety of different people. For the most part people were to themselves, and I am sure I was too, but it was always nice when someone came up to me and wanted to talk about their travels.

Before I sign off, I wanted to talk about the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, as it was one of the first things that I visited in Amsterdam.

In middle school I started reading The Diary of Anne Frank and loved it. As a young girl, I felt that I could identify with her. Since then I had always wanted to visit her hiding place. I finally did it last week. While I liked it, I was still a little disappointed.

While reading her diary, she would describe the view of the chestnut tree outside. I wanted to see the view of the street and of the tree in the area behind the house, and that wasn't possible because the museum covered up all of the windows and it was impossible to see the outside world, the same view Anne Frank had years ago while she was in hiding. But they did have artifacts there such as letters, Annes diaries, and other things that belonged to the Franks. I am guessing they had to keep the light out so that the items on display woudn't get ruined form the sun.

Also, the rooms have no furniture, as that is what Otto Frank wanted when the museum opened. This is because after the Franks were arrested, everything was cleared out by the Nazis, so he wanted to leave the rooms empty.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the museum, but it felt more like an art gallery than a hiding place. Everything was remodeled and painted over a million times. Remodeling is necessary, but as you keep remodeling and are tearing down parts of the old, you are taking that spirit of the place with you.

At the end of the museum, there was a gathering place where you could vote on issues. The TV screen presented several things happening in the recent news, and we had to vote on whether the right decision was made. For example,  in one of the issues, head scarves were banned in a public school and then we as the audience had to vote and decide if the best decision was made. It definitely got people coming together and talking about issues.

So that is all for now.

Besitos my loves !