The End

You may be wondering why no post? What’s happened? Well we have changed our plans and are flying home Saturday afternoon.

Delia seems to have caught a virus and we feel it’s best to come home. But we had a wonderful trip and the visits to Frankfurt and Amsterdam have been amazing and unforgettable. 

Boat Ride

Today we took a boat tour thru the Amsterdam canals. Great way to see the city. 

Oh my goodness! 

I was just told this next to last post had no photos. Well, I guess it’s just about when I started not feeling well. So here are the photos. 

It was a great ride! Amsterdam is a lovely, clean, friendly and historic city. 

Leiden

Today we decided to take a trip outside of Amsterdam. Leiden was our choice. Recommended by Rick Steves, our go-to travel advisor. A quaint university town with windmills and churches. We visited both. 

De Valk Windmill (1743)

A very large rotating windmill museum in the middle of town. We climbed up to the tippy top. This windmill is much taller than Jamestown’s because it had to be above the houses that surrounded it. The miller and his family lived on the first floor of the windmill. 

Here’s a video!!

(You may have go to the web version to view the video — click on the top of the email)

Leiden is also known as the birthplace of Rembrandt van Rijn. However, he left in his late teens for Amsterdam. 

A statue of Rembrandt as a young man painting his self portrait as an old man. 

The Pieterskerk 

This is a late-Gothic church in Leiden dedicated to Saint Peter. It is known today as the church of the Pilgrim Fathers. It was built in 1121 and was a Catholic church and then a Dutch Reformed church. 

So, we don’t just visit synagogues and cemeteries. This church, although, not in use now, is very impressive. Many families are buried in the floor of this church, including the Van Rijns, although not their son Rembrandt. They are just not sure exactly where. 

We had lunch at a small cafe in the church. Just right for two tired pilgrims. 

More Anne Frank

As I was writing this blog, Ralph told me about the following article in the NYT 

“Researchers Uncover Two Hidden Pages in Anne Frank’s Diary” https://nyti.ms/2GhNTHO

We were just across from the Anne Frank House after dinner tonight watching a school group leave the building. 

De Hortus

It hasn’t all been history. Monday afternoon we visited the de Hortus. It is a horticultural park near the Esnoga, founded as a medicinal herb garden in 1638. Just like the Palmengarten in Frankfurt, it contains a palm house. Amsterdam’s palm house was built in 1912. 

Esnoga & Anne Frank

Two days in Amsterdam, visiting two more sites related to World War II. It seems hard to get away from it in Amsterdam. 

First, the Esnoga, or the Portuguese Synagogue. 

Touro Synagogue is its twin, only 100 years younger, lighter, smaller, and in Newport. 

The Esnoga, built 1675, survived it all. It’s still standing and still an active synagogue. 

The Anne Frank House. 

In the 1930s, some Jews left Frankfurt for America; others went to Amsterdam. Anne and her family left Frankfurt in 1933. The same year that Frieda sailed for America. 

I must have read The Diary when I was 11 or 12, late 1950’s. Today, walking through the front store (called The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam) and climbing into The Annex, where the Franks lived for two years, Anne’s words came back to me. 

Amsterdam

Very different from Frankfurt! 

Canals, bicycles, interesting old buildings, and lots of young people ....

Our Last Day in Frankfurt

Just when you think you can’t top the days we’ve had, here’s another amazing day. 

We started at the Judengasse Museum. It’s difficult to describe this museum — it is on the first floor of a new municipal building. The building was built on the remains of the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt. This ghetto dates back to 1460. I’m afraid this is one of several old Jewish ghettos in Europe that we have explored. Here, the remains have been unearthed and reconstructed. For more info, click on the link above. 

After viewing the displays and walking in the reconstructed areas, we visited the next part of this museum, which left the greatest impression on me. 

Pictures first and then some explanation. 

The first two photos are of the unearthed foundations of the Judengassen. Outside the museum (which contains these foundations) stands the remains of the first (or oldest) Jewish Cemetery in Frankfurt. Surrounding the Alter Jüdischer Friedhof (or Old Jewish Cemetery) not be confused with the other Old Cemetery we visited Tuesday which only dated back into the 19th century is a wall. This is a memorial wall with stones remembering all the Jews of Frankfurt who were murdered by the Nazis. (It’s okay to say this, although here in Frankfurt, most discussions say National Socialist Party.)

After this emotional visit, we had lunch. On Heidi’s and Rick Steve’s suggestion we went to the Sachsenhausen  This is an old area of Frankfurt south of the river Main. Not to be confused with the Nazi concentration camp of the same name but in a different area of Germany. It is known for restaurants with outside communal tables and Apple Wine. We sat at the restaurant suggested by both above mentioned guides and we ate our last schnitzel of the week. Ralph saw a sign on the restaurant next to us and said “Do you see the sign with the boy with long fingernails?” I thought he had too much Apple Wine. 

This was a book, Struwwel Peter  that Frieda read to Ralph when he was a young boy. He hadn’t thought of this in 70 years! Frieda spoke again to Ralph on this visit to “her Town”. Remember, she spoke to me when we saw the Philanthropin.