In the Land of the Tall People

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For those of you who didn’t read the news reports, the Dutch have passed the Americans as being the tallest people in the world. Walking the streets of Amsterdam the last few days, we have no reason to believe that the report was inaccurate. These folks are tall!

Other Dutch stereotypes that are accurate: (1) they all ride bicycles. (I guess that’s part of why they look so tall.) Some stereotypes are true, and the Dutch on bikes is one of them. The kids have taken to ringing the bells on parked bikes as we walk along, which has tripled the time it takes us to get from Point A to Point B. Good thing we’re not in a rush these days! (2) they all speak English. We’ve had to explain to the kids that we won’t always have the luxury of speaking English as we progress on the trip. Even the 12 year old girl in the grocery store behind us today spoke beautiful English as she explained where she had found the salad dressing. What a skill. . . . Grayson continues to remark, though, at how weird it is not to be able to read the signs. (Wait ‘til he gets to Egypt!) (3) anything goes in Amsterdam. We have smelled that certain smell (that the kids first experienced at a Who concert last fall) on a regular basis. The kids also wondered why a lady was walking around her apartment in her underwear without pulling the shades. Obviously, she was getting ready to go out, and had forgotten to pull the shades. (You’ve got to think on your feet, when traveling with kids. . . .)

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The apartment we rented is terrific: spacious, with a great view over a canal, and a very pleasant walk from the center of town. The typical Amsterdam steps up to the third floor make you feel like you’re climbing a ladder, but it’s all part of the experience. There’s a tiny kitchen, which came stocked with a variety of groceries. The kids have enjoyed the European-style toilet with the “viewing platform”, the rip cord to flush, and various other unusual aspects of the European experience. Fortunately, we’ve had no real jet lag issues – in fact, 12 hours of sleep, two nights in a row, with only modest mid-night troubles.

Saturday, we took the tram down to the Museum District, and started the day with the Van Gogh Museum. Abby decided she preferred things to be a bit more realistic than Vinncent’s style, but we all enjoyed the chronological order to the artwork, noting Van Gogh’s progression into madness. After a lunch break, we tackled the Rijksmuseum next door, and in particular the section with Rembrandt and the other Dutch Masters. Needless to say, The Night Watch was a huge hit with all of us. Later in the day, we did the requisite canal cruise, enjoying the scenes from a different perspective. The weather has been terrific, and it seemed like everybody in Amsterdam was out on a boat on a Saturday night, enjoying the evening with friends and drinks.

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Today, we started slow, and made the Anne Frank House our first stop. The kids’ pre-departure reading assignment had been The Diary of Anne Frank, so they were very much up to speed with the story and background. It continues to be an incredibly moving place to visit, and even more so as a parent. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for Otto Frank to read his daughter’s journal after the war. It speaks well of the world today, though, that Anne’s house is such a popular tourist destination – even early on a Sunday morning, we waited 45 minutes to get in, and tourist information people told us that it is considered one of the “big three” stops in town, along with the Van Gogh and Rijks museums.

This afternoon, on the recommendation of our landlord, we took the train out of town to Zaanse Shans, which was a somewhat hokey 17^th century town featuring wind mills, goats, cheese-making, wooden clog-making, etc. It was nice to get out of the city, and the kids enjoyed the chance to run around a bit. Keeping to our commitment to pursue a penurious lifestyle, we stopped at a supermarket on the way home, and fixed dinner in our apartment. Next stop: Paris.