Lovers: Brown and Red

On Sunday, we started the day with a visit to the Begijnhof, which used to be a community for pious Catholic girls, but is now home to a multitude of women humanitarians. The small community, built around a church and its gardens, was beautiful. We were not allowed to take pictures; however, it was spectacular to see a community of women joined together by their desire to do good, living in some of the oldest houses in Amsterdam.

Afterwards, we stopped for a bite to eat, and then anticipated going to a museum that specifically showed how the war affected the Netherlands. We planned to get to the Dutch Resistance Museum via a "brown cafe" in order to enjoy a hot chocolate. Apparently these cafes were full of some of the most wonderfully tasty treats for people to enjoy when stoned. We ended up on a tiny side street, in a very unassuming little cafe.

We knew that we did not want to partake in any of the wide variety of 'delicacies' they presented to us, but instead bypassed the menu and enjoyed a plain coffee. The atmosphere was fascinating. In fact, Jeri befriended a guy that was very much into yoga, and we had a fascinating conversation with him. I admit that I was a bit reticent initially, but Jeri reminded me that it is in the face of strangers that we may see divinity. She is an amazing soul.

Although the first cafe did not have hot chocolate, we ended up stumbling upon another cafe recommended in our guidebook that was only one street away. The hot chocolate there was wonderful, the brownies were astonishingly tasty, and we enjoyed using the free internet computer for an allotted 15 minutes.

After finishing our treats, we stepped out into the cold anticipating a walk to the museum. For some reason, we began to see Kiki everywhere.

Realizing that half the day was through, we knew that we needed to reassess and re-route via the hotel that was hosting the ETF Conference Jeri was to attend on Monday and Tuesday. She wanted to get her team the registration packet and all other necessary materials so that she had everything set up for them Monday morning. It was a long walk over, but we enjoyed the sights.

Actually, we ended up having to walk directly through the red light district. We figured it would be fine for us to do this considering it was early Sunday afternoon, but we were admittedly leery. Overall, I would say that it was an interesting experience, and one that we would not want to have after dark. Like Begijnhof, they do not allow pictures to be taken here, for different reasons of course. (What a true dichotomy) I suppose it did look a little something like this, only you should substitute women where you see bicycles.

Needless to say, we were happy to find the hotel on the other side after seeing Amsterdam's most vivid attempt at being on the forefront of interesting features.

After Jeri got everything in order for the conference we did make it to the Verzetsmuseum. I was glad because it was the place she had scoped out in the museum guide as a must-see. Indeed, it was. We stayed until closing, taking in all of the interactive features, reading the stories, seeing the artifacts, etc. It was horrifying to learn about the devastation experienced not only during, but after the war. The impossibility of getting food and water to the people in the Netherlands caused many to die of starvation after the war was over. A horrific end that goes unmentioned, and a call to action for all people that live in fortunate surplus. The Resistance Museum posed a question at the turn of every corner. When atrocities like this occur, will you adjust, collaborate, or resist?

We had a very long walk back to our hotel which was a great opportunity for us to share our thoughts about our experiences that day. The conversation continued over dinner at a fabulous French restaurant. As would be expected, Jeri found the wonderful food, and I found someone to take our picture.