Day 7 - Amsterdam, full day

Today was my last day of travelling before I leave for Tanzania tomorrow. I am so excited to get on that flight (despite it being 10 hours!!). I spent the full day exploring as much of Amsterdam as I could. I started out by heading to the house of Anne Frank, where she hid for over 2 years from the Nazi's. I had to wait about 45 minutes to an hour to get in, as there was a big line up on the street. It was certainly worth the wait. It was a really interesting visit. They had excerts from her diary throughout the home, which ultimately led you to the secret annex where her and her family hid. You got to walk behind the bookcase hiding the opening in the wall, and see where they all were living. It was so sad reading some of the excerts, and watching videos about the war and the power of the Nazi's. I am really glad I waited in the cold to see this.

Afterwards, I set to explore a few different sites in town, including old churches, the palace, a shopping district contained in a series of nine streets around three canals, and the red light district (how can you not visit it in amsterdam?). The city is quite beautiful with it tall homes overlooking the canals, and the historic buildings scattered throughout the city.

I then went to the Vincent van Gogh museum, which has the largest collection of his art in the world. Some of the exhibits were really cool, including one section that showed hidden paintings underneath pictures. They said that canvasses were very expensive at the time, and artists commonly paininted over old paintings, after treating it in a certain way. I got to see van Gogh's Almond Blossom, which I absolutely love. It was so cool to see it in person. I wanted to take a picture, however I was caught in the act so was unable to do so. I did manage to take some other pics in the museum though.

It was a short visit to Amsterdam, but I learned alot about the city, and saw some really awesome things! Just enough time to do what I wanted, and now I am super excited to head off to Tanzania! My posts will likely be less, but I hope to update you all every once and a while.

Hope everyone is doing well, and I wish you all a Happy New Year. Sending my love!

At the Anne Frank house.

Busy streets filled with cool shops and lots of people!

Lunch! Apparently the best fries in town. They were pretty good!

Me in front of the Palace.

Bikes - the main form of transportion in Amsterdam. You have to always look out for the bikers, and make sure you don't get hit!

Lovely buildings and canals.

Vincent van Gogh museum.

Exploring the art!