The length of the days in Amsterdam have been a subject of conversation since we arrived. Meaningful daylight is lasting past 2200 (10:00pm) and that is throwing Syd off. I recently introduced her to the first two Beatles movies (“That poor Ringo”) and in an oblique nod to this fact we have started calling the time just after 10pm “The Long Days Night.”
We were a little better off jet-lag wise today but I still scheduled all tours for the afternoon so we could sleep in a little. With our first stop at the Anne Frank Museum scheduled for 1:00pm we could wait until 12:30pm to leave the hotel. As we were finishing preparing a curious siren rang across the city. At first I thought it was a noon signal but it went on for quite a while. Since no one outside was reacting I decided it was routine and after some research turns out it was. Amsterdam still tests its air raid system once a month on the first Monday and we just happened to be there on the right date. A rather curious sound, you can hear it in this YouTube video. I will admit to a little disappointment, looking outside I felt like I was in a SciFi movie from the UK. Couldn’t a saucer land? Would an insect from Mars or a threatening Dalek been to much to ask?
The visit to the Anne Frank Museum was as moving as it should be. Overall the “Secret Annex” was bigger than I thought it would be but after the visit I realized it was only so because all the furniture was removed at Otto Frank’s request. However still having the blackout curtains up reminded us of how dark it must have been during the day for many years and actually seeing the physical building showed how they were able to hide away for so long and may have succeeded if it was not for a betrayal by an unknown person. A place you should visit at least once in your life, pre-order your tickets or you will be waiting longer to take the tour rather than the duration of the tour!
After a nice walk along some of the canals we toured the Van Gough Museum. It gave a interesting history of this tortured artist’s life, it gave me a good feel of what he went through while alive. Unlike the Rijksmuseum, no pictures are allowed so if you want to see please visit.
