Amsterdam, part 3: Waterland bike trip, Van Gogh and Anne Frank

Bike ferry, heading north out of Amsterdam.

We spent a day of biking to go see some of the countryside outside of Amsterdam.  Pure pleasure!  It started with a ride on the very busy bike ferry.

We think bikes and ferries are a great way to travel!

On our way!

Classic Dutch windmill

In Holland, you can go anywhere on a bike.

Farmland view.

A little bike (or car) ferry.

Nik enjoys the ride.

A break from biking for lunch.

We arrived in the little town of Broek-in-Waterland, which we decided should be our turnaround point.  First we explored the town and its very pretty church.

Sully getting goofy on his bike.

Broek-in-Waterland

Broek-in-Waterland's church that dates back to the 1400s.

Heading back, into the wind, we needed to stop for a chocolate break.

In total we biked about 22 miles on our single-speed heavy bikes!  The ride was all pretty flat, but we were wiped out!

The next day was a rainy one, so we were glad we'd had dry weather for our ride the day before.  We headed to the very popular Van Gogh museum.  With tickets purchased ahead from the tourist office by the train station, we had a 15-minute line to wait in instead of an hour-long line!  The museum was great, covering the (only) 10 years that Van Gogh painted.  Such an interesting and extremely talented person with a tragic end due to mental illness.  Some of the paintings I liked the most were from his year in a mental asylum toward the end of his life.  In his last 70 days of life, he produced 75 paintings!  He died at the age of 37 from a self-inflicted gun shot wound.  He was not a success until after he died; this was thanks to the efforts of his sister-in-law, Johanna.

After the museum we went to find a famous bench:



This bench, from a scene in the movie based on the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green:

Gus and Hazel share a moment on the Bench.

Lovely, even in the rain.

For a man who hates cheese, not the best spot to get trapped in giant wooden shoes!

Seen in the flower market.  Not just tulip bulbs for sale here!

A wet but happy crew.

It was time to return our bikes and prepare to leave Amsterdam.  First, Nik and Madeleine got to visit the Anne Frank house.  The boys were not interested, and I had been there years ago, so we returned to the apartment to dry out.  Nik and Madeleine enjoyed it very much, and since the visit, we have finished reading Diary of a Young Girl.  Wow, so moving.  If you haven't read it, you should!

The Anne Frank House

Anne's neighborhood, with the Westerkerk (Western Church) clock tower in the background.  In her diary she mentions the sound of the bells chiming the hour, a source of comfort until the bells were removed by the Nazis.

Sadly, our week in Amsterdam was over.  Nik had to return to Oregon to work, and the kids and I headed on to Prague by train to spend the 3 weeks that Nik is gone, doing school work and some exploring too.

Goodbye, lovely Amsterdam!