What a beautiful city! The flowers are all in full bloom and the fragrance is beautiful. We rented a Volvo stationwagon and made our way to the outskirts and our hotel. We arrived there at 10:00am, (4:00 our time), and the receptionist was incredibly kind to let us check in early so that we could get some sleep! After some refreshing shut-eye we headed out to explore with the local transit. Our neighbourhood was totally residential and it was great to see kids everywhere playing outside by the beautiful canals. We loved crossing over the many bridges – some of them decorated with flowers….we also had to be mindful of the bike lanes as they were integrated into all traffic areas with their own traffic lights.
The bus took us to the central station where we then began our own walking tour. We enjoyed the fun atmosphere of Damrack street with street performers and unique shops – most of them with clogs!
We then made our way to the Anne Frank house where we were able to tour and learn about how the family hid upstairs in a secret annex for two years and never being able to go outside. It was sad to hear of someone betraying them to the Nazi’s. Only Anne’s dad survived the camps and he found Anne’s diaries and had them published so that we might learn of how prejudice is so harmful and hurtful. They had an amazing activity for us all to do at the end of the tour….they talked about discrimination of the Jewish people, but then also gave more modern-day scenarios such as
· the making of laws to have Muslims remove their headscarves in France
· Removing the crucifix from public schools in Italy
· Mein keimph created in Manga
· Banning neo-Nazi clothes such as combat boots with white laces
· Racial profiling
Once given the different scenarios we were able to vote with clickers on how we felt about the different topics. It was interesting to see the results of the people who were there, as well as the averages collected over a period of time. It made me really think about some of the decisions we make about different cultures and their perspectives.
After the museum, we kept on walking while wishing we had bicycles with flowers in our baskets…it was beautiful and simple.
We managed to grab a bite at a local diner and afterwards caught the bus back home. The bus driver was super friendly and invited us up to chat with him. He had visited British Columbia for the Olympics and was very positive about Canada and it’s beauty. He shared some information about a grand cheese festival happening in a Northern town on Friday, but unfortunately, with our travel plans we are unable to attend.
Sleep was elusive for Mik and me….Ollie and Zoe have a great sleeping talent and their soft breathing could be heard right away. Mik and me were still up at 4:00 in the morning as we heard the roosters starting to call the farmers. Oh well…a few days and we’ll adjust!
Zoe
The food on the plane – chicken fingers and fries!
I liked the museum – the voting machines were fun.
The bus was fun too – it was awesome because it went so fast and the bus drivers were really nice. ,l
There were lots of bicycles which was great because they don’t pollute like cars do.
Mik
-canals – everywhere, watery
-the beds in our hotel were comfy
-voting tool at the Ann Frank Museum
-pretty flowers were everywhere
Today, Zoe made me laugh so hard that my face hurt from smiling:) I thought I’d never stop laughing!! The drive to Dresden is going to be very long, but me and Zoe came prepared with lots of activities. The wedding is going to be one to remember!!!!:) The hotel room is simple but nice. I especially liked the circular chairs because the chairs were really comfy.
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