Amsterdam

"The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."
 Anne Frank

Exciting times.  Today we fly to Amsterdam to catch daughter K2 run the Marathon on Sunday.  Have a guest room booked on a houseboat on the Amstel.

We arrive there late afternoon, so stay at the airport to eat before heading in to the city to find our boat.  Trains and trams are easy to navigate and soon we're welcomed on board by H, who lives in the middle and rents out rooms at either end.  Our bit is the fo'c's'le -that's the pointy front end bit.

Brief settle in and get our bearings, then head off along the canals to find Anne Frank house.  We're often distracted by nosing in at the houses along the canals, characterised by big windows, no curtains and an incredible view of life as it's lived.  I feel an instant part of it, it's so close I can easily imagine I'm inside and can touch the furniture in these houses.  We arrive at about 8pm, it's dark of course but there's still a queue to get in!  About 40 minutes later we're through the entrance and transported to occupied Holland in 1940.  An education in itself to read about the life of  girl who died at 15 in a concentration camp.  A sombre but also uplifting experience when reading how she found beauty in the midst of it all.