amsterdam

Pablo arrived on Thursday morn and Friday afternoon we set off for Holland. Amsterdam is such a progressive city while still being so ridiculously quaint and charming. I adored it.

We spent the weekend wandering in and around the canals, visiting palaces, churches, monuments, the flower market, the Heineken brewery and a couple museums- all while patting ourselves on the back for mastering the public transportation system. Okay, so we didn’t actually master it, but we did really well and if you knew this threesome's history with public transportation you’d realize what a huge bonus this was for the weekend.

We were there for the World Cup Final and Sunday the city was glowing orange with football fans. We chose to get out of the city center itself and avoid the real mania. There was just something about a crowded field full of drunk, probably high (I mean, this is Amsterdam) and crazed football fans that just didn’t appeal to us. We watched the game at a pretty tame pub closer to our hotel. Aside from someone throwing a huge firecracker into our near vicinity that resulted in at least a 20% hearing loss, I thought the fans took the loss pretty well.

Going to Amsterdam also allowed me to fulfill two of my practically lifelong desires; to see the house where Anne Frank and her family hid in the secret annex and to go to the Van Gogh museum.

Walking through the annex and into Anne's bedroom where her actual posters and cutouts are still on the wall was an emotional and somber experience to say the least. But, it was also hopeful to be there, to see all the work her father did to bring her story to light and the work the foundation that bears her name still does to continue fighting racism and bigotry worldwide.

I fell in love with impressionism and in particular with Van Gogh’s work as soon as I was exposed as a young girl. Although so much of his work is hideously commercialized and you can buy anything from a purse to a shower curtain with his irises or sunflowers on it I’ve never stopped loving him.

The museum houses around 200 of his works and offers an incredible view into his life through his correspondence with his brother, Theo. I got to see my two favorite paintings and even a few I had never seen before. I was in heaven!

It really was just a great weekend...











and having my two favorite people in the whole world to share it with only made it that much better.