It was another wonderful day!

We got an earlier start and walked to the Dutch Resistance Museum. On the way we passed by the flower market. Blocks of stalls filled with flowers, plants, and millions of tulip bulbs. Quite a sight. I thought I might buy some bulbs but then Rick reminded me that we could order them from home so it was nice just to see them.

On the way I noticed this unique bike. There are bikes everywhere here, some of them more interesting than others. They make walking treacherous as they are so silent. Between the bikes, trams, busses, and cars it feels like you take you life in your hands just walking. The bike lanes are wide and the sidewalks narrow. You definitely know who's more important!

The Dutch Resistence Museum was intense but a fantastic museum that really expected a lot out of you. Each step of the way there were questions about whether had you lived in Amsterdam at the time, would you be among the brave souls who resisted the Nazis any way they could. The story of the Jews and how they had no idea what was happening to them as they complied with the registration process, wearing yellow stars, not being allowed in stores, restaurants, etc. was made real by the photos, films, and first person accounts.

I was moved to tears both of sadness and awe at the courage of those who saved babies, hid families, went on strike, and became spies. It was an intense and exhausting experience and one I'm glad I had. At the end, I was able to answer the question that had I lived then, I would like to think that I would be one of the women who sneaked the babies out of the orphanage. They had a system similar to the underground railway, where the babies were moved from home to home. I wish they would have had some stories of where those babies are now.

We had planned to go to the Jewish Museum after the Resistance Museum but we decided we needed a rest fron the intensity (on second thought, if just going to the museum required a rest, maybe I would not have been in the resistance but caved at the sight of my first Nazi).

We spent the next several hours on the canal cruise boat, cruising around to parts of the city we hadn't seen.

Rick's dad, Werner and his girlfriend, Susan, arrived late this afternoon. Werner wanted see an old friend who invited us to her apartment for dinner. Would you believe Lotta was one of those Jews expelled from Amsterdam and sent to a concentration camp? Werner and Lotta knew each other as teenagers in Germany where they both lived growing up.

Lotta's family moved to Amsterdam to escape Hitler as he came to power. Werner, at the same time came to Amsterdam for college. He was here 9 months when talk of Nazi occupation caused his father to come get him and both of them made plans to go to the U.S. They tried to talk Lotta, her husand, parents, and two brothers to join them but they believed that nothing would happen to them and decided to stay. A short time later they were deported to concentration camps where only Lotta and one brother survived. They found each other after the war, returned to Amsterdam, and lived together since the late 40s. Neither married again. Lotta's brother recently died and Lotta is quite frail but was a lovely host. While we had a hard time communicating, it was lovely to see Werner and her reminisce about old times in German and Dutch. While I couldn't understand much of what they were saying, you could see how much they were enjoying themselves.

It didn't feel appropriate to ask Lotta about her experience during the war but being in this ancient city and meeting Lotta made history come to life for me.

What a day!