Rain on the Amstel River and Dinner on a Houseboat

One thing I was a bit unprepared for in Amsterdam is the weather. It's pretty chilly here at night, and even during the day today because it was drizzling. I've already dug out my corduroy jacket that I wasn't expecting to break out until the fall in Bologna, and long pants as well. But the trade-off is that since we're so far north, the sun starts going down around 9:15pm, and it doesn't get completely dark here until 10pm, which is amazing!

Today we saw the Anne Frank House, and our plan to get there early and get in quickly was carried off successfully. The museum was very moving, I'm really glad we got to see it. I particularly enjoyed all the photos and short film clips of Anne, her family, and interviews with people who knew her. The diary that they had on display was actually a temporary reproduction because of climate control issues in the museum, but it affected me nevertheless, just to see it right there.

After that we returned our bikes, which we didn't really get to ride this morning because of the rain, and then walked around, grabbed falafel for lunch, and walked around some more. We walked all through a shopping street (no bikes or cars allowed, which of course makes it a novelty in Amsterdam!) and passed the Royal Palace and several churches. Mom and I decided that since we hadn't gone to a coffeeshop, we should at least try those little green cannabis lollipops we kept seeing all over. Alas, they did nothing, but it was a fun Amsterdam experience anyway. 

We went to Linda's houseboat for dinner, which is actually bigger than our apartment in the city. (If you've been there, I'm sure you aren't surprised.) The boat actually has a concrete foundation, sort of like a barge, so it doesn't rock at all in the water. Some houseboats' floors are level with the water, but this one was a bit below the water, so you looked out the window and the water was right there. At one point, two swans came to the window and peered in on us!

We've been filling up on stroopwaffels, Dutch cookies that are thin, flat waffels filled with sticky sweet syrup in the middle. Yum. We bought a package of mini stroopwaffels to take on our four hour train ride to Paris tomorrow.