As I said in my last post, Carnaval week just past us by, and I finished it off in Amsterdam on Rotary trip! 50 students (only 9 of them guys haha), 4 Rotarians, and just a good old time up in the place they like to call "The Venice of the North".
We started off the trip by stopping in the small town of Delft. It was an adorable little place, and our main reason for stopping was to visit the Vermeer Museum. He was an amazing artist, and the museum really explained not just his art, but his life and his style of painting. We also had a little time to look around Delft ourselves, and we discovered some neat little things, and also sampled some Dutch cheese :) YUMMY!!
One of Vermeer's most famous paintings, "The girl with the pearl earring"
Caroline, Amy, Catherine and I
Catherine and I with the nice cheese lady :)
That night also got to Amsterdam and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe :) After that we also walk through the Red Light District :O no pictures of that though!
Lenny Kravitz' guitar
Jose, Juan Jose, Catherine, Amy, me and Caroline
The next day we started off by exploring a Jewish Synagoge. It is one of the largest around and we (especially the women) were only allowed to enter it because it was closed for the winter (they have both winter and summer synagoges). We then visited the Jewish museum, which explained a lot about Jewish culture and history. After that we had some free time, where we really got to explore the city, including the famous flower markets!
Inside and outside the synagoge
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| This exhibit was to explain the origin of this name which is considered very Jewish. At the end, visitors where encourage to write down the meaning and history of there own names and pin them on the wall |
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| Amy and Caroline listen to an explanation of Jewish mariage |
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| an old Torah, Jewish version of the Bible |
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| The flower market entrance |
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Our next visit was something that I never actually thought I would get to see. We actually entered the Anne Frank house. There were no pictures allowed inside, but I don't think I will ever forget that house. There is no furniture, as Anne's father Otto (the only one of the family to survive the Holocaust), requested that it remain the way it was after the Nazis raided it. However, on the walls you can still see the posters that Anne put up, the small map that Otto used to track the Allies progress across Europe, and the pencil marking which indicated how tall Anne and her sister Margot grew over their two years and one month inside the "Secret Annex". It was something that I could barely believe. Throughout the house there were videos showing the history of the Franks and the people who hid with them, Fritz Pheffer and the van Pels family. It also included the stories of the four people who hid them, Miep Gies, Victor Kugler, Bep Voskuijl and Jo Kleiman. I know I will never forget.
That night we also visited the Van Gogh Museum, but once again no pictures :( Still, it was amazing to see the works of such an amazing and renowned artist
We started off our last day by visiting the Rijks Museum, which is home to some very famous pieces and some extremely cool models. It was here that we saw works by artists such as Rembrandt and once again, Vermeer. Last on the schedule was a beautiful tour along the canals :) No better way to see the city!
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| Model of a 17th century ship, actually built in that time |
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| A statue of Cupid |
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| Rembrandt's "The Night Watch", my favorite :) |
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| The "Dancing Houses" |
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| The smallest house in Amsterdam. It measures only 1 meter, 10 inches wide |
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| Another, slightly bigger ;) model of an old ship |
So, all in all, this was definitely a trip to remember: the places, the people, THE CHEESE!! haha!! Amsterdam is a beautiful place, and I hope I get a chance to go back! Amsterdam 2012! If we could write a book!! haha!
Much love!
Devyn
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