The House that Anne Frank lived in.

Amsterdam is a strange city with all sorts of things to offer; good cheese, beautiful tulips, famous works of art, and sinful temptations. Yet the most influential and interesting of all, the one that is most likely to have a profound impact on your life is an old house sitting along a canal which is now one of the most popular attraction in Amsterdam, the Anne Frank House.

Anne Frank, a young girl who has touched so many lives after having so tragically lost hers at such a young age. Thanks to her fathers survival and persistence to publish her diary. Little Anne is the author of one of the most read books about the Holocaust.

The queue to enter the museum starts well before it even opens and grows so quickly you can easily wait for 3 or 4 hours in whatever the weather before you manage to get through the doors. There are a couple little shops you can take advantage of while you wait for a quick drink, a snack, a sweater for the cold,  or an umbrella to shield you from the rain.

Once inside the queue does not dissipate but continues on. Walking through the museum in a never ending line of people it is a relief that photography is not permitted inside as it allows you to move along gradually with the crowd uninterrupted from your thoughts. Each persons experience of the Anne Frank house is different. It is powerfully emotional, gut wrenchingly sad, and sickeningly real. Standing where a family once lived in hiding for years in fear of the Nazi regime suddenly makes that dark era of our history come to life making you appreciate the lives we live much more.

The museum is organized fantastically, taking you through the history of the Holocaust, the Frank family's secret annex, the conclusion to the story of the residents of the secret Annex, showing you the original diaries of Anne Frank and finishing with a powerful memoir of Anne Frank's impact of people throughout the world. There is a small coffee shop with a pretty view at the end of the museum which is a great place to sit, collect your thoughts and discuss your experience before heading back out into the city.

Needless to say the Anne Frank house should be at the top of anyone's to do list while in Amsterdam. Just make sure you go early to minimize your wait time and maximize your ability to enjoy the rest of your day outside for little Anne who so longed to play outside in the fresh air.