Amsterdam #2of2

The next time we visited Amsterdam we made sure we visited during the hours the Anne Frank Museum was open. Her father’s business had been located in the front of the house, and the uppermost floors of the back annex became the hiding place. We climbed the narrow steps and viewed with dismay the place where the family hid for all those years. The Amsterdam neighborhood where the house is located, does not give a hint of all the hatred that was suffered here.

We took a boat ride that gave us a chance to see a portion of the city, and the buildings that line the canals. The large glass-roofed boats were able to navigate the narrow canals, sharp turns, and the low bridges. Unlike Venice where canals follow the shoreline of small irregular islands, Amsterdam’s canals are man-made, in straight segments. Four main canals form a “U” around the downtown area, a dozen other canals, plus the Amstel River, connect “sections” of the “U.” There are many other canals, that make up the total of 60 miles of waterways.

Along each side of the canals there are places to park cars, often without a rail of any kind to help stop the car, and there are warning signs, with a picture of a car going into the canal. We have heard of a school that teaches people how to get out of the car when it goes into a canal, as apparently many do each year. Why not a school that teaches how to park, instead?

Houses along the canals have a beam sticking out at the peak. When people move, a rope and pulley is used to help move the furniture through a window on each floor. Much like the rope and pulley I used in the haymow, years ago.

Some new houses have the same beam, but is that just style, or is the rope and pulley still used? We were told that in the olden days the homes had narrow stair steps, so they built large windows on the first floor, for the large furniture of the adults, smaller windows on the second floor, for smaller furniture for the children, and smaller yet on the third floor, for the maid’s furniture. True in all its details or not, that’s a good story.

During a cloud-burst on the freeway near Amsterdam, it rained so hard water was standing several inches deep, right on the roadway. We tried to get to the shoulder, or to an off-ramp, but by then it had stopped raining. People in other cars and trucks also appeared frightened and concerned.