Sorry for teh delay in my entries... i have been findings it very hard to get to a working computer...

But in regards to amsterdam...i think this was probably my least favorite city. It was dirty and smelled like pot everywhere. I guess thats the reason people go but it just wasnt for me. I did like that everyopne rode bikes everywhere but it was ridiculous to see the locks you had to use to prevent theft... when we rented the bikes we had to have a short lesson on how to use these industrial locks. it was insane! We did go to the Anne Frank House which was very heavy but touching. It was incredible to walk through the very place she sat while the Germans were coming through plucking people from the streets for "no reason." As you walked through the house there were entries from her journal printed on the walls and each time you read it you could hear a little girl saying those words. It was so powerful. Then to walk through the actual bookcase and into the actual place of hiding (as opposed to the her dads office) was just heartbreaking. To think that ANYONE had to go through what they and many others did was just obscene. While i have continuously studied these and other acts of racism (not necessarily the genocide though) it never ceases to amaze me anytime i come upon anything monumental like this was. It was a real experience that i cant really describe. Though it was a bit of a downer it was COMPLETELY worth everything it took to see it. Then after that we headed straight to Antwerpen Belguim... see you there... =)