Amsterdam Apocalypse 2015

Apparently the worst storm in the last century happened to hit Amsterdam the very weekend we we're there. We bring alllllll the crazy weather. But that definitely didn't stop us from having a great time! We began our weekend by finding a hotel then a yummy pizza place that had the BEST waiter! We then walked verrrry far to have our first (and only) taste of the red light district. It was definitely an experience. After that we walked back to the hostel and slept in until about 9 the next morning.

This was when the storm came. 

We had finished breakfast and were just walking around when it started raining. We decided to take find a place to take shelter. The shelter must meet our specific criteria: warm, dry, and full of culture. We had several viable options since we were very close to the museum district, but to us the choice was obvious: Heineken factory. We ducked into the building just as the torrential downpour began. It was amazing! Not only did we get the incredible history we also learned how Heineken was made, toured the stables and got a few samples! It was a great time and very educational......after that we schlepped through part of the storm to get lunch at a small cafe. Then we decided to try our luck at the Anne Frank House.having heard nightmarish stories about the three hour wait to get in, we were prepared for the worst. Little did we know the line was the least of our worries. We trekked through the city, passing hundreds of umbrella corpses and three fallen trees as well as entire road barracked off by police. 

That is a tree. On a car.

When we finally reached our destination we were soaking wet and not happy campers. But the line was short and we were able to get into the museum fairly quickly. We could finally defrost our freezing limps. The museum was an incredible experience. It was wonderfully designed and curated where it was somber and insightful without being depressing and morbid. I learned so much I didn't know about the Frank family and the hardships they went through. I thought it was great that Otto Frank had input  into the museum and decided to keep it unfurnished and bare, representing his life after the war. Probably one of the most thought provoking parts was the end where they said that yes, Anne was important, but her story was just one of the thousands of untold stories from children who lived through that horrible time. 

After we finished we walked across the bridge and wandered through the Amsterdam Tulip Museum and sampled our way through the Amsterdam Cheese Museum before finding a traditional Dutch restaurant for dinner. I had delicious meatballs and mashed potatoes as we watched the police try to clean up the trees on the streets. All of the trams were shut down but right before we finished dinner, one of the tram lines broke and sparked and flashed, scaring nearby pedestrians and even most of the people in the restaurant. 

The next day we slept in again before checking out of the hostel and walking around the museum district a little more. We met Miffy, the children's book character as well as tried stroopwafels and Dutch Apple pie. It was so good! We took a cab to the train station and found our train without problem. Due to the weather (we think), the train had technical difficulties and ended up being late and we missed our connection so we stayed on the train to Köln before realizing all the trains there were also running late. We ended up making it home to Bonn once again.