24 years ago, in the summer following my college graduation, I enrolled in a summer course with the experimental theater department through the University of Amsterdam. It was a transformative experience, especially as it was my first time living abroad. A treasured memory was all the time I was able to spend at Vondelpark. I was excited to share this special place within this fascinating city with my family. When we arrived in Amsterdam, I struggled with how much had changed in 24 years. However, I was adamant about taking my family through this beautiful park and once there, the memories from all those years ago came flooding back. Peace
Saturday evening during the summer in Amsterdam is a fun place to find yourself, especially if you have a somewhat swanky hotel to return to when hot and footsore. We’d decided to book a room at the Doubletree Hotel perched as it is between the train station and the cruise ship terminal and adjacent to the old town of Amsterdam-a short walk everywhere, in other words. The old town area hosts the infamous redlight district which proved to be more understated than I’d thought it would be; nice when you’re traveling with kids. We’d previously explained the accepting nature of Amsterdam to our two, but our tour guide from the Freedamtour did a much better job than we did incorporating much history into the modern day version of the city. As it turned out, the bars and coffee shops were much livelier filled with seemingly every Brit the UK had spare. The aromas of good food, beer, cigarettes, and certain natural ‘herb’ products competed in the hot sun of the lively streets parallel to the tranquil canals and the cool shade of narrow intriguing alleyways. A myriad of boats cruised the miles of canals: tour boats, beer boats, bachelorette parties, and locals enjoying the sights from their own smaller craft.
As the day wore on and the temperature rose to the mid 90’s, we enjoyed the cooler air of indoor cafes and the amazing Anne Frank museum (a must see). The combination of old-world history from medieval times through the ages to the present day life of the city was wonderful to experience. When we finally staggered back to our hotel and enjoyed the free hors d’oeuvres, deserts, and drinks, the banks of Amstel River was teeming with overheated young people doing what they do best when filled with the delights of the city in high summer temperatures-namely hurling themselves off the dock into the questionable yet cool water. What a great day!
Before we left the city, we took a canal tour with the Lover tour group which was excellent; toured several open-air markets; enjoyed a neighborhood summer block party (checked off the pommes-frites with mayonnaise and a welcome Heineken beer); and visited Vondelpark, the last being one of the places Robyn remembered from a summer dance class 24 years previously. We logged many miles in this lovely city and enjoyed every one of them.
On the days before our cruise we spent some time in the very lively city of Amsterdam. In comparison to the very quiet and peaceful way of life that we became used to in Finland, this was quite a shock to us all. There was so much going on and while we sort of hate to admit it, Amsterdam was the perfect place for people watching – don’t lie, we know you do it too. Similar to a lot of cities in Europe, although most weren’t to this extent, Amsterdam’s most common architecture was from hundreds of years ago. We visited many must-to destinations, but nothing was really as important to our family as the Anne Frank museum. Hearing her story as well as visiting the very rooms her family and four others hid in during the Holocaust was very moving and powerful. We both agree that it was overwhelmingly horrible for someone our age, who had she been born in our time period could have easily have been friends with, went through unspeakable events.
