A Dutch Day

View from the Anne Frank House

That clog definitely does not fit!

Today was my first full day in Amsterdam. I woke up early and looked around the neighborhood for some breakfast but nothing opened until like 9am. Instead, I took the bus to the stop near the Anne Frank house where I was planning to go that morning and found a little deli and had a cheese sandwich and a cappuccino.

I think I was one of the first visitors in the Anne Frank house today. The museum is all self guided and really well preserved. When I got to the top of the stairs that lead to the secret annex I felt really nervous to enter. Its one of those places that I've heard about my entire life and suddenly it was in front of me and I was a little freaked out. I stood in the place where Anne's desk was for a few minutes. The most memorable part was probably seeing Anne Frank's actual diary. I'm really glad historic sites like this one exist because it really makes you think about other injustices in the world and how some people are still persecuted because of their ethnicities, religions, etc.

After going to the Anne Frank house, I took the short walk over to the Red Light District just to take a quick look around. It was a really creepy experience. I actually wanted to go there to see if there was any special activity or something to commemorate World AIDS Day which is today. To my surprise, there was nothing. I asked a random shop keeper if there was anything planned in the district and he didn't understand why that would make sense. I left the Red Light District and walked around the Dam Square area and actually bought a warm pair of boots.

I then headed back to the Museum District where I am staying and took a little rest. At about 2pm I got lunch at a little Kepab stand. The owner was from Morocco and I told him about how I am going to Morocco tomorrow. He told me everything about the floods and the heavy rains that are happening there right now. Better than the freezing cold?

After lunch I decided to go to the Rijkmuseum to see the Rembrandt collection. Its a relatively small museum but has a really great collection of Dutch art. I was so amazed by how life like Rembrandt's paintings are. I also can't believe that they were painted in the mid 17th century!

I'd say I had a very productive and busy day. I'm enjoying traveling solo, but I am also looking forward to seeing my friends in Morocco starting on Friday. I'm probably going to grab a light dinner in a couple of minutes and then have an early night. The cold is exhausting!