last day, for now....

tomorrow we leave for copenhagen, which is supposedly 10 degrees colder than amsterdam, which has not been warm lately. i might need a new sweater. 

 we had to eat at de bakkerswinkel again. i mean, we're not going to be here for another whole week! i tried to order something else, really i did, but breakfast stopped being served 5 minutes before we sat down, so.... i had to get another scone. and i ate it all up. 

after breakfast, i bought a pair of wool tights (you'll see pics soon; they're turquoise and argyle.), and then ryan went to the casino to play poker, and i went to Jewish History Museum

on the way, i passed a bookstore with two of my favorite books! i love suzanne collins' series The Hunger Games, and you will too. you don't have to read it in dutch. 

okay, so the museum. it's housed inside 4 synagogues that used to be in different parts of the city, but were moved here to house the museum. the museum was here before the germans invaded holland in ww2. this is the altar from the great synagogue in amsterdam. 

this museum is located in the heart of the former jewish quarter. looking around today, there is not a trace-- not even a hint, other than the name of one street, and market that still operates on the same square-- of centuries of jewish life. 

this is a circumcision kit from the 1800's. 

the altar of the great synagogue in 1935

and the interior and exterior of the synagogue in 1953. 

this is the former mikveh, which was in the basement of the synagogue. 

fabric used to make the star of david badges the Nazis forced Dutch Jews to wear. 

suitcase of Leon Cohen, who was sent to Westerbork, a transit camp in the northern Netherlands. Most Dutch Jews were sent here first, before being sent to death camps further east. Anne Frank and her family were on the last train sent to Auschwitz from this camp. 

artifacts from the period of the German occupation. 

after the museum, i went for a walk to get used to not having ryan remind me to LOOK LEFT! because, i'm telling you- those bikes come out of nowhere. but i survived it, and got some super cute postcards, including this one, but i'm not sending it to you:

then i went out and got myself a falafel and some currants for dinner. i have to say-- i've never had fresh currants before. they are a little different, and i'm not sure that i can eat this many. they're quite tart. you know how if you eat a whole tube of sweet tarts, the top of your tongue kind of rubs off, and then you can't eat anything salty for a few days? i feel like they will do that. good though. weird and good. 

11 hour train to kobenhavn tomorrow, and i'm sure i won't be blogging for a day or so, depending. talk to you then!