This morning we went to Schipol Airport to collect the third member of our party arriving by plane from Luton, and from there by bus to Keukenhof. The gardens were a delight, though we are too early to catch the tulip fields in bloom. I did get a distant view of the current state of the fields from halfway up a windmill (extras), but certainly wasn't prepared to pay extra for a boat-trip around the fields if there were no colourful shots to be had.
In the afternoon we returned to the city centre and explored a bit more, making sure we were in the right place at the right time to visit the Anne Frank House at our pre-booked timeslot. A great deal of this trip has had to be pre-booked, which naturally leaves less opportunity for spontanaity. I think/hope we've got the mix about right.
I had made a point of reading Anne Frank's diary prior to this trip, and only finished reading the latest edition 3 weeks ago. It seems odd to imagine there being more recent editions than the original, but over the years more hand-written pages have come to light, people who may have been hurt by some of what she originally wrote have died, and so the overal work has evolved since its first publication. But what does not, has not, will not change is the fact of eight people sharing a tiny space in hiding for over two years. Because I finished reading the book so recently I could easily imagine those characters occupying those rooms. Today we happened to be blessed by a beautifully clear blue sky and bright sunshine, so when I reached the top of the house with its darkened windows and looked up into the attic where Anne and Peter used to stand at the only openable window and breathe fresh air and hear birds and discuss teenage awkwardness it was so very real.