From Bruges we hopped on the train for a quick train ride up to Amsterdam. Before leaving on this trip around the world there were things we anticipated would be difficult and things we thought would be easy. One thing that we assumed would be challenging was the actual traveling (via train, car, airplane, bus, ferry etc.) between all the places. Surprisingly, our kids love our travel days! Our days are so busy in cities that our travel days are time for them to rest, play on their ipods, read, play cards, or just do nothing. In fact, it wasn’t unusual to hear phrases like, “Is it already over!” And “I wish we could be on the train a little longer.”
So far, our favorite mode of transportation has to be the train. We bought a Eurail pass for each of us that lasted two months. This provided us with unlimited train travel through most the countries we were visiting. There are many great things about trains. The number one thing is that you do not have to go through cumbersome and time consuming security like at the airport. We could get to the train station 5 minutes before our train left and be just fine. Some other great things about riding on the train are: when you are on the train you can walk around freely, the seats are bigger than on planes, you can go buy food when you are hungry, they have streaming wifi, and they aren’t as crowded so we can often spread out.
Both the Rijks Museum and The Van Gogh Museum had special audio tours specifically for children. These were entertaining and informative even for me! Parker and Jeromy opted for the regular audio tours, but they were very happy with those as well. We were able to spend an hour and a half in each of those museums without any complaining about being bored from any of the kids. When they completed the audio guides and told the museum gift shop, they even got a prize!
In anticipation of our trip to Amsterdam, we listened to the Audio version of “Diary of A Young Girl” as we drove around Germany. We also watched a movie adaptation of the book. This made our trip to Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam much more meaningful for all of us. What makes Anne Frank’s diary such a powerful thing to read is that it shows you how an average, fairly self absorbed, teenage girl lived in hiding. It made it personal and more real because she was so real.
I love this quote from John Green from the book “The Fault in Our Stars” because, although it is a tragedy what happened to Anne Frank, there are so many more that suffered the same and much worse during the tragedy of the Holocaust that we need to remember too. In this quote he is talking about a book that is in the Anne Frank Museum of people who died during the holocaust. He says,
“The book was turned to the page with Anne Frank’s name, but what got me about it was the fact that right beneath her name there were four Aron Franks. FOUR. Four Aron Franks without museums, without historical markers, without anyone to mourn them. I silently resolved to remember and pray for the four Aron Franks as long as I was around.”
It was a very powerful experience. I don’t have any pictures because none were allowed in the museum.
While we were in Amsterdam we also had one night we were able to go out on a date night with just Jeromy and I. We went to a great dinner and wandered the city, just the two of us. I love my kids, but being together 24/7 can be wearing. It’s one of the blessings of having a child old enough to babysit! A much needed night out by ourselves every once and awhile.
This is how the boys spent the whole night! Happy to not be traipsing around a museum or city looking at architecture. They spent the night focusing on their Minecraft and watching “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Ratatouille” in anticipation of our trip to Paris the next day.
Looks fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
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