The one where we were kids again!

We entered Day 3 in the Netherlands with the goal of knocking off the majority of sites that we wanted to see there.  Here is Europe it is a common occurrence for museums to close on Mondays, so that eliminated going to the museums on our last day of the trip.  Judge me if you like, but at the top of our list was the NEMO Science Center.  Yes, it is technically a children’s science museum.  No, that did not stop me in the least from wanting to go there or from going there and having an awesome time.  Museums make me tired; I may be an adult, but I want to touch things, figure out how they work, and understand how they were created.  This museum is absolutely perfect for that.  I highly suggest it for anyone traveling with children or who is looking to have some fun for a bit.  We look young enough, so nobody called us out, but people might give you funny looks if you are an older adult (especially a man) going through the museum by yourself.  Here are some of the awesome exhibits that we saw/played with:

In the upper left corner, that is me, INSIDE A BUBBLE! As you can see from my face, I was pretty psyched about it.  The upper right corner is a picture of Marissa and my shadows.  There was this special paint on the wall that after a flash of light the shadows would stay in place! I was like PETER PAN'S SHADOW, with it doing its own thing as I went about my business!  The lower left corner is Marissa, there was this cool optical illusion that made your body symmetrical; this is what resulted.  Finally, the lower right corner is me on infrared camera.  I look awesome!  And there were cold metal designs for you to press a body part against, make it cold, and leave a design on your skin.  You can see mine on my forearm!  It was really neat :) So basically, the museum was a success.  Part of it was dedicated to teaching teenagers about puberty and their changing bodies...it was a riot.  There is NO WAY some of the things in that exhibit would be allowed into a children's museum, but that is Amsterdam for you...

For lunch we went to a pancake place and got some savory pancakes.  Mine had cheese and tomatoes and was quite good! It was strange though, definitely not in line with America's pancakes with syrup or fruit.  In the afternoon, we went and picked up our bus tickets to Brussels for the next day and then headed to Anne Frank House.  It was really interesting to see in person.  Evidently, Marissa and I both went through a WWII/Holocaust phase in middle school, so it was pretty cool to see this in person.  I would highly recommend it to families, especially of kids who are of the right age to read Anne Frank's diary.  One of the most interesting parts was how the museum came to be and learning about the people who helped those in the Secret Annex.

What a pretty place :)

After a rest at the hotel, we headed back out to get dinner.  I got to try falafel for the first time, which was really good.  We also tried some Belgium fries, which were absolutely fabulous! There is one thing that Spain does not do that well, french fries, and it is rather upsetting.  Next we checked out the Red Light District, which was fascinating and alarming at the same time.  You can't go to Amsterdam and not see it, so we went.  It was weird.  It was startling.  People have this idea that Americans are so sexualized, but it is nothing to some of the things I have seen since coming to Europe.  It is not something that most Americans are okay with talking about. We went, we saw, we conquered (I guess).  And then we quickly went back to the warmth!