We started the day with a Dutch pancake making course. I had misread the tour titled and assumed we would be doing the course in a Dutch Canal Boat while meandering through, however it was just in a house that overlooked the canal. It was weird but the kids loved it. We were in someones house who runs these classes for tourists and we cooked in her kitchen and ate in her dining room. The kids really enjoyed mixing the batter and then flipping the pancakes. I always thought Dutch pancakes were small and pikelet sized, however these were almost as big as crepes. We made one with apples and another with bacon. We also tasted some local cheese and fresh herring – which apparently is a very common dutch snack.

The rest of the day was spent in reliving the Anne Frank story. We did a walking tour around the neighbourhood where the Frank family lived when they first moved to Amsterdam. We saw her old house which is still inhabited and is not open to the public. Similarly we saw her old school which is still one, however is now called the Anne Frank School. The front of the school has a giant mural with passages from her book. We walked around the neighbourhood and saw the house that belonged to Miep Gies, who was Otto Franks secretary, and helped the family with food and rations while they were in hiding. Its surprising that even after nearly 100 years most of the old houses, buildings and parks are intact and not much has changed. The guide showed us photos of Anne Frank from her childhood and the same buildings still exist.

We were fortunate enough to get tickets to the Anne Frank Museum (thanks to our travel agent), which are incredibly hard to come by. They limit the numbers of visitors and tickets only go on sale 4 weeks in advance and there are specific time slots that each group is allocated. No photos are allowed in the museum so we only got a photo with the external facade. The museum includes Otto’s office building and the secret attic where they hid for 2 years. Some of the original books and artists are preserved and it was quite a surreal experience walking through it all. The museum also includes videos and recordings from survivors and those who assisted the Frank family