Amsterdam, Amsterdam, oh we all loved Amsterdam. We got in at 7 am, and by the time we hit Central Station we were the only ones there except all of the locals getting to work. We got lots of stares and attention in Amsterdam, and the only thing I can figure is we are just that good looking. Actually, there were hardly any kids around, except for very small children and other tourist families, so I am sure that had the most to do with it.

We explored the canals, old buildings, and walkways for a while. Narci thought that every cellar or basement door we passed was a bomb shelter. Even after talking it through, he said that is where he would go in a tornado or if a bomb was going to hit, so it was still a bomb shelter to him. During our morning walk, I accidentally walked us straight into the red light district. Luckily the kids were distracted enough by the boats and bikes that were whizzing by they didn't notice.

We got to a metro station and hopped on over to the Flower Market. It was beautiful, tons of tulips, roses, and all sorts of flowers in full bloom. There were lots of other shops and we went into a cheese shop for Kylie, our cheese lover. They had every type of Gouda cheese imaginable, including a green flavor that was pretty good. We all had the same favorite cheese, so we bought some and hit the road. Amazingly, the cheese will last up to a month without refrigeration in its wax shell. Who knew?

The kids were tempted by every bakery we passed, and there were many. We lucked out and found a residential grocery store in that area and bought sandwich supplies, fruit, carrots, water, donuts, and chocolate. We got enough to last us for three meals, at 14 euros. Can't beat that!

I had been raving about the Van Gogh museum since our last trip, so we headed to the museum district. There was an awesome playground, and the kids played and played. There was a metal skate park and the kids ran and slid on that too. Of course the boys found fast friends with some boys from the UK there on holiday. They really enjoyed hearing about cricket, rounders, and rugby from the boys that looked about our boys same ages, but were 9 and 13. I wish I would have taken a picture of them. Kylie was sleeping on my lap, so I couldn't get up.

We ended up deciding to go to the Rijksmuseum, the National Museum of Holland instead of the Van Gogh. It was really amazing. All of the art was Dutch, and it was interesting for us to realize that most art before the 20th century focuses on religion, or war, with some lifestyle art thrown in. Their art was organized by date created, which was really neat to see not only the trends but the evolution of the Dutch culture. The boys gravitated to the weaponry, and especially the naval weaponry that existed pre-1700's. The intricacy of the ships really amazed Narci who asked hundreds of questions about each piece. Kylie didn't sleep a wink on the plane, so she was pretty exhausted all day, every time we sat, she slept.

It was the most beautiful sunny day, and we enjoyed some gelato on our way over to the Anne Frank museum. Honestly, I think the gelato was the only thing that we could do to keep Kylie awake enough to walk. She was literally standing up sleeping. The gelato and cold air off the water finally woke her up.

Narci's teacher had taught the kids about Anne Frank and both he and Malikai insisted it was a must see when they realized it was there in Amsterdam.
The museum takes you through a tour of where they were hidden, segments of Anne's journal, and tells the story of how the warehouse below was filled with staff who had no clue that 8 Jews were being hidden above. There were 4 employees that knew and helped them. All of the kids were amazed by the story and the realness it brought by being right there. As you go up the stairs and realized where they lived, the kids also realized that Anne and her sister could not make a sound day after day for well over two years. As a mom of a noisy bunch, I have no clue how they did it for so long.

It was sad to realize that there was only one survivor of the 8, Anne's father, who was able to release her book to be published. In an interview later he said that he had no idea how his daughter was feeling and that "as a parent you realize how little you know, really know, your own children". Very moving experience overall. Kylie was nervous about having nightmares about it, she just couldn't get over the fact that people were gassed, especially just for their religion. The images from Auschwich (sp) were burned in your mind.

We were all so exhausted from the day, and not much sleep on the plane. As soon as the plane to Istanbul hit the tarmac, the kids were out. None of us woke up until about 10 minutes before we landed.