My fondness of reading is actually brought  by my passion for travelling. I read because it takes me to a lot of different places, mostly to those where I haven't been to. I like forming images in my head and try to imagine how a place has been described and how the characters felt on those places. It is a different feeling once you've actually seen and experienced what you have read come into life. It's like stepping into the shoes of one of the characters and reliving the moments in a story.

I have read several books whereby the story or some parts of it has Amsterdam as its setting. So imagine my excitement when I have finally booked my flight to Amsterdam! I have already made mental notes on what I have to see based on the books I have read. I had a day by myself to explore Amsterdam so I decided to take this day to go to these places.


First was 'The Diary of a Young Girl' by Anne Frank. I actually just read it a month prior to my trip as I didn't want to visit the Anne Frank House without reading her diary. Reading it and just knowing a few details of it are entirely different. You will fully capture the gist of the house's story once you have read her diary. Good thing I was able to find an available slot and book a ticket online as the queue for this gets crazy long all day!

The Anne Frank House

It felt surreal to be actually inside Anne Frank's house. It was like walking through the pages of her diary and my mind was suddenly giving me flashbacks of what Anne has written. I was imagining what it must have been like for her, so young and full of dreams, to be trapped within the confines of this building they have called 'home' for a while.

It was more than just a house, it is a timeless story, a living reminder of what happened in the past and for us to not allow it to happen again. It is a living history on its own, through its walls, its floors. It holds so much story to tell.

Standing right outside The Anne Frank House

263 Prisengracht

Anne Frank Monument

Photography was not allowed inside so I bought some postcards of the bookcase that covered their hideout. The actual ring binders were still there. There were also some preserved pages of her diary on display.

Some pages from Anne's diary

The Bookshelf

Although they have made some renovations on it to convert it into a museum, it is still exactly as what Anne had written to be. This is definitely something not to be missed when you visit Amsterdam.



I have also read John Green's 'The Fault in Our Stars' (TFIOS) before flying to Amsterdam. He has also written about the Anne Frank House where Hazel Grace and Gus (the main characters) went to. As I was ascending through the steep stairs leading to the third floor of the house, I couldn't imagine how Hazel Grace was able to do it. She has very poor lungs and any little, physical effort that she would try to exert would be such a pain. At the back of my mind, I was thinking how in the world was she able to get up with her tank?! I have a healthy body but climbing those stairs was really a physical challenge for anyone, let alone Hazel Grace.


On my last day at Amsterdam, I still haven't got the chance to find the hotel where the author John Green had stayed while writing his novel and in which he mentioned in the book where Hazel Grace and Gus stayed as well. The main reason why they went to Amsterdam was to find Van Houten, the author of An Imperial Affliction, which was Hazel Grace's favourite book. She wanted to meet the author face to face to ask him questions about the ending of the story. I already researched beforehand if Van Houten's house was a real address but apparently it was not. I asked my cousin to come with me to find the hotel instead. I can't leave Amsterdam without seeing it! 

The street were Van Houten apparently lived.

I was able to chat with some of the hotel staff. There were also a lot of fans of the book (like me) who came to visit this hotel. They even had a guestbook dedicated to the fans of the book. They were even offering to show us the actual room where John Green had stayed in but it was booked at that time.