We got up at our usual time and went for a leisurely breakfast this morning.  The rigours of beating Sean at chess last night and the heat of the day yesterday can take it out of me you know!  I’m tired this morning but ready for another day of adventure.

We left the hostel at what should be rush hour.  However, it appears that nobody works in this city and the roads are dead.  We decided that in the morning we should spend our time taking a leisurely walk around the little back-streets and side-roads and really get off the beaten track to see what there is.  The architecture is phenomenal and the tourists who stay on the ‘touristy trail’ really miss out.  We descended upon a flea market and Sean spent an hour or so looking around for some sort of gothic ring.  He didn’t find what he was looking for in the end.

In the afternoon Sean decided he was going back to the hostel to relax whilst I decided to go to see the Anne Franck house and the Westerkerk.  Apart from a gang of rowdy French school children, the afternoon was spent trying to comprehend what people endured in World War II – despite the din!  The eerie feeling in the Anne Franck house is something that will last with me forever and I was very moved.

After tea Sean and I had a slowly paced evening.  For the first time in seven years I lost a chess match to Sean – perhaps my mind was on other things, and then we went for a walk to take in the evening atmosphere.

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