Update from the Low Country (episode 4)
On Tuesday, we made a quick trip to Amsterdam, which really didn’t leave us nearly enough time to do it justice. Amsterdam has many outstanding museums, which will each be able to take a day of your time. The Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum are some standouts among them.
Our visit to the Anne Frank Huis was memorable, as the exhibit is extremely well done and pulls you into the world of the 8 people hiding in very little space, while having to make sure that no noise was made while the office area below them was being used.
In front of the Anne Frank Huis, we found something that I had not seen before: a one-person car-like vehicle, which according to its side:
o you can drive without a license
o you can park on the sidewalk
o saves you having to pay parking fees
One thought that did come to mind is that it might also float in the canals, and not suffer the lot of so many other items that sink into the mud of the canals. Every year an enormous amount of items are removed from the canals, which includes a large number of bicycles, some cars, tree limbs and the occasional boat, as can be seen in this image:
Amsterdam has a lot of old architecture in it mixed in with the occasional piece of new architecture, such as a parking garage:
And even some of the old architecture is given some rejuvenation with the occasional off-beat mural:
One of the things that differs between the Netherlands and the United States is the shopping experience; even though supermarkets are now common in the Netherlands, there still are plenty of smaller stores around with exceptional quality and warm, human interaction as part of shopping:
When in the Netherlands, I suggest frequenting the smaller shops, as you will love the friendly treatment that you get!
