9. Amsterdam

We are making the most of our situation and our 'surprise' visit to Europe but the ONE thing I want to do in Amsterdam is out of reach because tickets to the Anne Frank House are booked out weeks in advance. However, I do book a tour with Viator to take a walking tour of Amsterdam that includes the story of the Frank family.

It is a 90-minute bus ride from the ship in Ijmuiden to the city of Amsterdam and when we arrive, the city has awoken and the streets are quickly filling with tourists like us.

Our first activity is a canal cruise, which takes us at below sea level, through a tiny part of Amsterdam's 100 kilometres of canals. The three main canals on which we sailed were dug in the 17th century and are UNESCO World Heritage sites. For us, seeing bridges with dates that precede Captain Cook's Voyage of Discovery to Australia in 1770, is a little bit mind-blowing. There are no buildings or bridges that old at home. The tall narrow houses that proudly stand along the canals are both unique and historic and our guide points out buildings of historical significance. The houseboats alongside the edges of the canals are varied and are permanently moored. Above, I can see tiny cars parked in designated parking bays. This really is a wonderful city full of tiny surprises. It's easy to see why Amsterdam is called the Venice of the North. Amsterdam's story started at the mouth of the Amstel River, and although it started as a fishing village, it didn't take long for it to become a major port when the Netherlands became a major economic powerhouse. As we move along the canals we become curious about the types of businesses or homes lie behind the commanding facades. Before too long, we are back to where we started and it is time to explore the city by foot.

Like Copenhagen in Denmark and to a lesser extent, Oslo in Norway, bicycles are the normal mode of transport in Amsterdam and when we meet our guide who will take us for a walking tour of the streets, he tells us to walk with confidence and to keep going even when bikes approach us. Like parts of Vietnam, it is safer to keep walking at the same speed and allow the bikes to ride around us.

Our guide, Leo, is a delight. We follow him to through an alley, where it is quieter than the main street. He begins by providing some background on the Frank family, how Otto and Edith fled from Germany with their two daughters in 1933, how they settled into life in Amsterdam before it too was invaded in 1940 and how Otto had made sure there was somewhere for the family to hide after he failed to get travel visas for his family. The building where Opekta, Otto's company was established would provide refuge for the family for two years. After all his attempts to move his family to England, or to America, and even to Cuba, were dashed, he moved his family to the hidden attic in his company's building.

Scattered through the streets of Amsterdam are 'stumble stones', 10x10 cm concrete cubes topped with brass plates that are placed at the homes of Jews and others who were taken by the Nazis and interned in concentration camps. Each has the resident's name, birth year, date and place of deportation, and the place and date of death (or murder) or survival. Originally designed to rise slightly above the surrounding cobblestones, so people would stumble over them, they are level with the cobblestones for safety reasons. These are stark reminders of the horrors of the war and although those transported to concentration camps and murdered were mostly Jews, other victims include Roma, Sinti, disabled, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, and political dissidents.

We arrive at the building, now called Anne Frank House, where the family were hidden and where Anne's diary was found by family friend, Miep Gies and kept safely. This is where we hear that Otto was the only survivor and that when Miep Gies gave him the precious diary written by Anne whilst they were in hiding, he ensured that it was published and that the story of his family would endure.

The Diary of Anne Frank was one of the texts we had to read during our secondary schooling. Despite it being compelling reading, it is still a long way from our own personal life experience. As I listen to the quietly-spoken words spoken by Leo while we walk in the footsteps of Anne and her family, her story suddenly becomes alive. Unfortunately, we do not have tickets to visit the house as they need to be booked online far in advance. Our visit was unplanned, so tickets were out of the question.

Our visit to Amsterdam is coming to a close, and as we hurry towards the pick up point for our bus, we do lament that we have not had enough time to visit some of the other attractions in Amsterdam. Perhaps next time.