Amsterdam and The Anne Frank's House

I was in Amsterdam for one and a half day and boy I got out so much despite the short time I was there.  The saying is right, quality is always better than quantity. Amsterdam was a part of the guided tour destination and this meant I was on a strict schedule to see the best of the city.  On my first night there, I visited the Red Light district where I saw canals and bridges and the bikes that the city is known for. I saw the prostitutes who were waiting for men to come and pay for their service and though this was my first time seeing prostitutes up close, I find these women fascinating. I am not saying I approve of prostitution, I was in awe of how brave these women can be, to give up their body in a public place in order to make ends meet and to make a living out of it; seeing them only makes me wonder what brought them there to do what they do and how did they make a decision to work in such profession.  As for the bikes, I have never seen so many bikes in my life; literally, there were parking spaces just for bikes and there were hundreds and maybe thousands of bikes in a parking lot area.

On the second day, we were given half a day in Amsterdam before we had to be on our way to our next destination in Europe and even though the Anne Frank's House was on the top of my to-do list, I was hesitant to go there because of the time restriction. Fortunately, three other tour friends decided to visit the house so I decided to follow their lead. We waited for two hours in line for the ticket and when we finally got in the ticket booth, we were very much ready to see what this house is famous for.  The house was simple just like any other houses in Europe and in America: there were the living room, the bedrooms, the kitchen, the attic, etc.  Though the house was small compared to many modern houses in America, the history and the people who once lived here made this place an iconic place to visit.  The bookcase that leads to the hidden part of the house was still there and from the look of it, it was fragile from the decades it has to stand.  We were unable to go to the attic but there was a mirror that reflected how the attic looks like and the windows that was talked about extensively in the diary were still there and intact.

I was stepping in the foot steps of a young girl named Anne Frank who had dreams and who was growing to be a young woman.  She was just like any other young girl and the only difference is she lived in a time where wars and discrimination toward her people were happening.  She just wanted to live a normal life and though a part of her knew she might not get out of the predicament her family was in, she had hope and her diary has been an inspiration for people all over the world for the past decades. I saw her actual diary and though it was prohibited for visitors to take pictures, I snapped a picture of the diary to remind myself of how real the journal, the experience, and this little girl are.  The Anne Frank's house was not only place I checked off from my to-do list, it is symbol of hope and life.   It is a place where one walk in and walk out knowing that there was a young girl whom no one knew about at her time but who is now a big inspiration for many young people and the world to this very day.