BRING TISSUES

The alarm was 2 hours from “get ‘em outta nonny-nonny land” and HE was wide awake.  So much for the restful night sleep he was expecting to overcome jetlag.

SHE on the other hand slept right through the annoying wake up sound HE uses on his phone.  Which was a good thing, she needed as much rest as possible to beat the bug she had.  Surprisingly, she woke in better shape than expected and was ready in no time for a quick stop at the hotel café before the short walk to the tram stop.

Today’s agenda: Meet TE10 at Anne Frank House.  We we’re instructed to bring tissues by those who had made this trip before.

A quick tram ride to A’dam Centraal Statiion, a short trot across Staionsplein to Tram #17 and who should we run into but the Templeshifs and Barb & Norm [hereafter BN] other members of TR10 may or may not show up later.

Just to get the list of players out of the way, TE10 consists of:

Barb & Norm = B&N

Janice & Dave = J&D

Diane & Harris = D&H

Donna & Lenny = D&L aka Templeshifs

And us.

{Last names have been omitted to protect their innocent relatives from embarrassment}

Note: No need to arrive at Anne Frank House well in advance of your scheduled appointment, you'll still have to wait ‘till "your time" [which you need to book online 2 months out or you'll have to wait until 3pm to stand in a looooonnnggg line to buy tickets].

So,

   “Where’s the closest spot for coffee?”

   “Right up the street to that café there

     Sir, under that black sign.”

And we were off for a quick nosh before reporting back to the queue, where we found J&D+D&H who were being told the same thing,

  “Sorry sir, you'll have to wait until

   your scheduled time, yes there is

   coffee up the street.”.

Once inside, the entry vestibule, you are handed Audio guides keyed to specific information about each room you visited throughout the maze of rooms where the Frank Family hid during the Nazi occupation of Holland during WWII.

Rather than detailing the entire experience,

Use these links for more details on Anne Frank House which has several links including this brief Anne Frank Video which explains better than I can, the heart-rending story we were able to see and here in person.  

Yeah, there weren’t many dry eyes in the crowded rooms as we passed from floor to floor in the tiny cramped space that the Frank’s lived for 2 years before being outted by neighbors.

Gathering outside, TE10 tried to decide on what’s next, and of course without a previously discussed plan, it evolved into a non-consensus. 

B&N-D&H-J&D finally decided to heed out toward some museums while D&L + us elected to just walk around, find some good brownies or muffins or whatevah for some High Tymes later, and then maybe a place for lunch.

First stop after securing some Highly touted SpaceCake, was to find a scarf for Dragon Chic.  Being quite foggy during the Packing Ballet, she forgot to lay out a couple of scarfs and with this chilly weather, one was sorely needed to protect her still scratchy throat.

Spotting a small Department store, they ducked in with DL protesting all the way, but Chucky was determined to find a scarf “PERIOD”.

Waaaaayyyyy back in the far corner we finally stumbled on the scarf selection which was pretty simple and after several attempts she finally decides on a “sorta neutral” one only to decide not to. 

Enter MR. LEONARD, couturier to the fine ladies of our entourage and dresser of the fashion conscious, who proceeds to give her “Such a Sales Pitch” while fashioning a stylish fold of the scarf around DL’s neck that she had no choice but to accept it and move on.

Then it was on to stroll and shop and shop and stroll… OK, they walked in and out of this shop, then that one, and..

   “Oh look, Que Cute… let’s stop here.”

And so on.

Next, where to eat, and boy was that an exercise in futility,

  “Ok, whats on the menu here… ughhh”

And

  “How about this…Unh-uh… OK how

    about over there… Uh No.”

And So on… until they finally decided on a little Spanish spot that was serving Breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as Tapas and all right now, or so they thought.  turns out that Tapas was after 5PM so they decided on some dis and dat, a couple of omelets, which were HUGE, and a some local beer.

There was more Strolling etc until they found a spot to sit for cocktails next to Dam Square and wait for the rest of TE10 to show up to meet with our Guide for the Red Light District Tour.

We’ll cover that little trek in the next post, this got a little long.

Ciao 4 Now

Uncle Chuck & The Fashionably Scarfed,

Dragon Lady