We woke up at 8:00am well rested and ready to explore. We had a traditional style breakfast, cheese and ham with a hardboiled egg and a variety of breads. Then Chris, Mr. Turkett, and I headed to the Anne Frank House at about 9:15. The line was already wrapped around the corner when we got there, but it moved quickly. The Westerkerk church was right next to us the entire time as well, so we had some beautiful scenery to look at.
The Anne Frank House was very touching. The tour had two main parts. The first was a tour of the house and what it must have looked like. Paired with quotes from her diaries, each room carried a little bit more weight with it. There was a real story here from a remarkable young girl. The second part of the tour was focused on her time at the concentration camp and what happened to her father afterwards. Although she died in the camps, her father made sure that her legacy continued and her diaries were published. The most interesting parts of the entire exhibit were her actual diaries that they had mounted behind glass. The house also contained a little program called Free2choose, where we watched clips on current issues on personal freedom and voted on our own opinions on each subject.
After that, Chris and I met up with Drew, Sam, Nick, Rob, and Brent (who came from London to visit). We headed towards the Koninklijk Paleis, the royal family palace in Dam Square. We stopped at a pancake house and had our first real pancakes on the trip. They were incredible. We headed back to the palace, but it was closed due to complications. We then headed back to the hotel and regrouped.
Next, we decided to go to the Heineken brewery. We took the trams for the first time, and they were not too difficult to figure out at all. Once we made it to the brewery, the line was very long, but they had entertainment going on with people from the factory checking in on us and other street performers. Once inside, we underwent the Heineken experience, which was just a large tour of the brewing process filled with games, movies, and even a ride that made you feel like you were a bottle going through the bottling process. We headed back on the tram.
Chris and I got off at a stop near Dam Square. Once we got off, we thought we saw a quick way to the square, so we headed in that direction. An old man on a bike was singing “Lady in Red.” I laughed in my head, but I cannot remember if I said anything in English to Chris or not. We walked quickly towards the square, but the man began to follow us, yelling “Hey!” We ignored him. Eventually he said, “I ought to cut you with my knife godammit.” We turned around at the sound of that. He cut us off with his bike and said, “This can either be hard or easy. I only want 10 euro. If you don’t give it to me, I’ll stab you and take your wallets. Give it to me and don’t ask questions.” I got my wallet out, and I suppose he saw more money in it, so he shoved his hand in and grabbed all 55 euros. He did the same for Chris. He told us to get out of there, and we walked astonished to Dam Square. I was ashamed. I felt so helpless. In retrospect we should have run, or beaten him up. He was old and fragile and on drugs. We could have had him. The shock was just too overwhelming. I wanted to find him and beat him up, break his bike or sink it in a canal, and stomp his face. I became just furious. He probably did not even have a knife. Chris and I just hoped he spent all the money on drugs, overdosed, and died. We’d be ready next time if it happened again. We gave up on Dam Square and went back to the hotel for a nap. Dr. Evans was nice enough to come check on us and talk it out.
At about 8:30 we headed out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. The interesting part of Dutch dining though is that they will never bring your check unless asked for it, and they don’t expect a tip. Both concepts really through me off, but we got over it pretty fast. Then we headed to a local bar and talked to some of the locals. The bar was crowded with people from all over the world. It was a very comfortable place and very fun too. Some of us then headed back to the hotel, which was just a block away, and went to bed.
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