Europe: Day 3, May 3rd, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Beginning on day 3 Jed started sending emails home to family members telling about our days.  I will mostly use his text from the emails to describe our days.

 Day 3 of 22
We traveled to a cheese and wooden shoe factory and were able to sample many delicious cheeses.  We were also given a demonstration on how they made wooden shoes.  It was amazing!!

It was time to leave the delicious cheese and the wooden shoe factory and head to Amsterdam.  We stopped at a picturesque windmill along the way and took pictures.

 We spent the rest of the day in Amsterdam.  We were able to take a boat tour of the city.  It was amazing what they have done to reclaim the land from the sea.   We drove on a 19 mile long dike built to make a bay from the North Sea into a lake. They then dike off smaller areas and pump the water out and then fill the area with dirt. We stayed the last two nights in the city of Lelystad.  40 years ago the area was all under water. Today it is a thriving city.  To hear them describe the process of reclaiming the land is amazing.  Amsterdam is a city of canals, much like Venice, Italy.  They are used as a major transportation system. Land is at a premium here.  They disprove the old adage that says they're not making more land.

 We visited the Anne Frank house.  As you may know Anne, her sister, parents and another family hid from the Nazis for two years in a secret part of a building.  During this time Anne kept a journal of her experiences and feelings. Other people helped them by bringing them food and necessities. They were betrayed by someone.  No one knows who. They were separated and sent to concentration camps where all died except for Otto Frank, Anne's father.  Anne died a month before  her camp was liberated. Her father came into possession of her journal and eventually had it published.  I have not read the book, Diary of a Young Girl, or the Diary of Anne Frank.  Mom has, and plans to read it again.  I plan to read it also.  I love history and found the visit to their secret apartment quite moving.

Pictures From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The (reconstructed) bookcase that covered the 

entrance to the Achterhuis

                                                              The Attic Secret Annex

                                          
Also learned that Holland and the Netherlands are not synonymous. I thought Holland was the country.  Actually, it is an area in the country of the Netherlands.

This picture is of us is at the base of a huge monument/tower to Mr. Lely, who had the vision to claim the land from the sea where the city of Leystad (stad means city) now sits.