We woke up at 9 so we could catch breakfast downstairs and it was pretty good. They gave us really good bread, hard boiled egg, different jellys, this other little square of bread, a slice of some meat, a slice of cheese. It was surprisingly tasty. After breakfast we got ready and headed to Anne Frank's annex. The long was already pretty long but it moved quickly. We couldn't take any pictures so I took a few of the outside and I'll just have to do a good job of explaining the rest.
You walk into this room with a few different quotes on the wall from Anne's diary and then you basically walk the layout of the whole building where the annex was, although some rooms aren't available to go into. I then went into a room prefacing the tour and had a video playing that read more quotes from her diary and showed a ton of images. Right away I knew it would be hard to get through. I went upstairs and saw the office area where Miep and everyone worked. There was a video of Meip and she talked about how she didn't think twice when Otto Frank asked her to help them. She worked in the kitchen at first and then Otto said she would basically be the receptionist and information person. None of the rooms have the original furniture in them because Otto Frank did not want it there. He wanted it to be restored and shown but not to have all the original things there. We went through a living room and dining area and a few rooms that showed models of what the place used to look like.
There is a huge staircase that Anne and everyone would have to sneak down during the night to get out of the annex for a little bit. Then we headed up to the annex and you go into this room with the blackout curtains and it was a kitchen area and has recipes and things that actually used. There isn't much in any of the rooms except a few artifacts and explanations so it was kind of hard to imagine an entire family living in the space for so long. Then I saw the bedrooms where they all slept and they are so tiny for three people to sleep comfortably. Anne's room was eery. She shared it with Fritz Pfeffer It is also very small and she wrote in her diary of how bare it was so her dad had grabbed her postcards and pictures before they went into hiding and Miep got her glue and stuff to hang them up. There are sections of the wall that still have the original pictures on them. It really started to hit me there. She had so many pictures of Shirley Temple and famous actresses. There were also a lot of silly magazine clippings and comics too. We also saw Peter van Pels room which was in a random room under a staircase that lead to this attic that he and Anne would sneak up to at night.
In all the rooms were more quotes on the wall from Anne's diary saying how scared she was or how they couldn't do anything all day and had to be quiet at mice. It was really hard to read them especially the one that said she just wanted to yell or laugh or run around. I can't even fathom that. After you see the bedrooms You can go down to different levels and just learn more about their situation. There was one section that had all of the people hiding and their cards they got when they had to go to the concentration camps. Anne's had a video playing behind her that was so gruesome and showed the camps and bodies literally just piled up and people so emaciated and withered. It made my stomach turn. Then there was a video of Anne's friend Hannah talking about how they were separated for so long and she got wind that Anne was at the camp next to hers so she tried to send her packages. Hannah was in a different kind of camp because her family's ethnicity or heritage put them on a higher level than other Jews. It was really sad to hear her talk about Anne because when Margot and her mom died Anne didn't feel like she had anything to live for because she didn't know her dad was still alive and so she kind of gave up and died just weeks before the camps were liberated.
Then I went into rooms that started talking about her diary and getting it published and there was a video of Otto Frank where he said when he found out his children were dead he read Anne's diary and realized that she had a lot of feelings that she never brought up to anyone. He said that parents may never really know their children. It was really sad to hear him talk about Anne and it was very difficult to not start crying. I headed downstairs and saw a collection of Anne's journals and other writings and things she had done while in the annex. She went back and wrote some new things in her journal so you could see the red pen marks. Her journal is translated in about 70 languages. One of the last parts of the tour is a section dedicated to Margot who does not get a lot of credit. They had videos of her friends and school mates that were angry that she does not get much recognition probably because the diaries that she kept were never found. She was extremely intelligent and would send her Latin teacher letters and exercises so she could practice and improve. Otto said that she was much deeper than Anne was. I thought it was really nice that they had that section for her because it really highlighted her as an interesting person. She wanted to be a nurse, but died in the camps.
There was also a section with brief videos discussing injustice and things like that so for example there are groups on Facebook that deny that the Holocaust ever happened and is it okay for them to say that because freedom of speech or should that be illegal. It was interesting and definitely thought provoking so they had mini polls for each one. Then we went to the gift shop and I got a few postcards. We all met up outside and agreed that it was a great presentation and experience.
We walked around for a while and checked out the town which is adorable. It doesn't even feel real. I don't think I could ever live here, but it is the perfect weekend spot. I took a ton of pictures and then we wandered over to this place called Gray Area that apparently is a famous cannabis shop. A couple of the people in our group were very excited to be there. There were a bunch of old stoners in there and really loud music and a ton of smoke so it was not comfortable. I looked completely out of place because I had on my skinnies, my cute flower scarf that mom bought me, my blazer and a giant pink Gossip Girl style headband. It was interesting to see all the people and know that smoking is legal? It was strange. A couple people bought stuff and then we left to walk around. It was pretty cold outside so we quickly made our way to get food.
After a while we got pretty lost because we were trying to get to the Red Light District and made one wrong turn and wound up prowling all around the city. We came back home and everyone slept for like two hours. It was so nice to nap. My legs and feet are so tired. When we woke up I got a chorizo and cheese sandwich downstairs and it was delish. I decided to treat myself and got a diet coke. Everyone else wanted to try Indonesian food so we went to this restaurant down the street. There was this hokey island music playing with sad decorations and this German lady had to be 65 and was a total hardass. She didn't really greet us so Gabby went up to the counter and told her we were ready and she was like I'm busy I'll be there when I'm ready. All in all the food looked like the same stuff you can get at any chinese restaurant around home. Then we came back to the room and drank and hung out for a bit then headed to the Red Light District.
We finally found it and it was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen. All the prostitutes looked completely bored and they were texting or reading magazines. It was pretty funny to see all the groups of drunk guys freaking out at the windows. It's basically only one street with a canal in the middle so there isn't a lot to it so we went to a bar that was on a side street and it was pretty fun. It wasn't jam packed and everyone was in a good mood so it was cool. We hung out there for most of the night and then headed home around 2:30 or 3 a.m. Can you say laaaate night? I've been having fun with the group here though, living so close forces you to get to know each other. I'm ready to go back to Paris though and be back in more of a comfort zone. I can't believe how quickly time is going! Before I know it mom and dad will be here and then we will be heading home! Ayeee
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