“What I Did On My Summer Vacation” – Don Conners. Just kidding. That would be a horrible blog. But I will tell you anyways. I golfed badly. Sometimes, after trying harder, I golfed even worse. I complained about the heat and humidity and desperately wished fall was here. Oh yeah, I almost forgot . . . I went to Amsterdam!!!! Ok, it wasn’t just me, it was the whole family – but you probably guessed that. And you can probably guess what you are about to read about 😉.

How did we end up in Amsterdam? It’s Lara’s fault. She is the one who got my two youngest daughters interested in F1. And they in turn got the rest of us interested. And it just so happens that this year was the last year that the Dutch Grand Prix at Zaandvort would be part of the F1 season. And since we wanted to go see an F1 race together, well, you get the picture. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, we arrived several days early in order to take in the sights and sounds (and flavors!) of Amsterdam.

As interested as I know you all are in what I ate for dinner every night or each piece of art I looked at in the Rijksmuseum (some truly beautiful pieces but I giggled the most at “The Castration of Uranus”, because, well, maturity and whatnot), I think it is best for everyone if I just hit a couple of highpoints/themes.

First and foremost, Amsterdammers have small feet. Yup, I cover the important stuff. Why do I say Amsterdammers have small feet? Because every staircase we went up was at an incredibly steep angle and I could only fit half of my foot on each step. Yes, I have slightly larger feet, but the only explanation for the steep and small steps is that Amsterdammers must have tiny feet that make it easier for them to climb these staircases. I’m still not convinced some of those staircases didn’t start off as ladders and they filled in the rest later.

Second and clearly not foremost since I didn’t put it “fore”, it is apparently illegal to walk over one of the bridges of the many canals that dominate Amsterdam’s landscape without taking a picture. One of my daughter’s explained this to me as we stopped for the 542^nd time to take another picture of a canal and surrounding buildings. Wanting to be a law-abiding citizen (or tourist I guess), I too decided to start taking pictures.

Lastly, Amsterdammers are bad marketers. I don’t think I know any Amsterdammers, but if I do, hopefully they don’t beat me up for saying that. But I think I have two good reasons for saying it. Reason one – Amsterdam’s most famous food (I googled this to be sure) is the Stroopwafel. And to be honest, Stroopwafel on paper sounds like a winner. Two thin layers of baked waffle joined by a thin layer of caramel-like syrup. Mmmm mmm good. On paper. In real life, despite trying from several “reputable” establishments, we found them to be a little dry for our tastes. Just a bit of a disappointment given the build-up. What was not a disappointment, however, was the Bitterballen!!! Crispy, deep-fried savory gravy and meat ragu balls. If you ask my uneducated, uncultured opinion, Amsterdammers need to start marketing Bitterballen as their number one food and give Stroopwafel some time to think about what it really wants to be. Reason number two I think they are bad marketers involves the F1 race at Zandvoort, which technically isn’t Amsterdam, but for my purpose, is close enough. On both days we were attending the race activities, we were fortunate to have decent weather. What goes well with sporting events and nice weather? How about some adult beverages, thank you very much. How much do five adult beverages cost over there (four beers and a glass of wine)? How does €25 euros sound? I’m not certain you can get one drink for that much at an American sporting event, much less five!! Someone needs to be telling more people about this!

As much as we enjoyed the canals, F1 race and Bitterballen, the most impactful part of the trip (at least for me) was our visit to The Anne Frank House. Like many of you, I have read (at least parts) of her diary and was familiar with her and her family’s story. But to be able to walk through the annex that both Anne’s family and another family shared for 761 days was both humbling and heartbreaking, all at once. To witness the tiny confines they had to endure and the rules they had to follow for 761 days. No going outside for 761 days. No running water (from the sink or toilet) during the day for 761 days. No looking out the window during the day for 761 days. And yet, on July 15^th, 1944, 20 days before the Gestapo discovered their hiding place and sent her to her death, she had the courage to write: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart”. If she could write like that at the age of 15, I wish the world could have seen what she could do as a grown woman.

All in all, we had an amazing time in Amsterdam. It is a beautiful city that feels both cozy and dynamic all at once. The architecture of the buildings surrounding the canals is incredible as are the number of cultural opportunities. Not that anyone comes to me asking for travel advice, but if you are I would certainly recommend Amsterdam as a destination.

I don’t have a wine recommendation for you this week. If I’m honest, it would feel a bit disrespectful. My only suggestion is to spend a little time researching/remembering Anne’s story. And for all of us to do our best to be the people Anne thought and hoped we could be.