My Trip

Our Local Expert Says:

See the website for information about the private rooms that can be used for parties and business meetings and the special arrangements that can be made to combine your meal with a taste of history!

Description:

When viewing the Waag building, which was built in 1488 and looks much like a castle keep, it is not difficult to imagine the long, rich, and varied history behind this remarkable building. Although the building still hosts a historical society dedicated to the preservation of the building and its story, the larger part of the building has been turned over to a restaurant serving upscale bistro fare. While the food is good and the atmosphere is lovely (see also the large outdoor dining section), potential patrons should visit the website to read up on the building's history to truly understand how special this dining setting is.

Description:

In summer, you may have to wait an hour or more to get in, but you shouldn't miss seeing and experiencing this house. It's a typical Amsterdam canal house, with very steep interior stairs where eight people from three separate families lived together in silence for more than 2 years during World War II. The hiding place Otto Frank found for his family, the van Pels family, and Fritz Pfeffer kept them safe until, tragically, close to the end of the war, when it was raided by Nazi forces and its occupants were deported to concentration camps. It was in this house that Anne, whose ambition was to be a writer, kept her famous diary as a way to deal with both the boredom and her youthful array of thoughts, which had as much to do with personal relationships as with the war and the Nazi terror raging outside. Visiting the rooms in which she hid is a moving and eerily real experience.

During the war, the building was an office and warehouse, and its rooms are still as bare as they were when Anne's father returned, the only survivor of the eight onderduikers (divers, or hiders). Nothing has been changed, except that protective Plexiglas panels now protect the wall on which Anne pinned up photos of her favorite actress, Deanna Durbin, and of the little English princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. As you tour the small building, it's easy to imagine Anne's experience growing up in this place, awakening as a young woman, and writing down her secret thoughts.

To avoid lines, get there as early as possible -- and while this advice isn't as useful as it used to be, because everybody is giving and heeding it, it should still save you some waiting time. A better, strategy if you're in town from mid-March to mid-September, when the museum is open until 9pm, is to go in the evening; it's usually quiet then. Next door, at no. 265-267, is a modern wing for temporary exhibits. A bronze sculpture of Anne stands on nearby Westermarkt.

Description:

At Luxor, the Pyramid Hotel in Las Vegas, you'll enjoy extravagant décor. In addition to spectacular city views, you'll be treated with Luxor's signature 24-hour room service, valet services, and first-rate staff. Choose a deluxe room, spa suite, tower luxury one-bedroom suite, tower premier one-bedroom suite, or player suite.

Our Local Expert Says:

Try the homemade tamales with a variety of fillings to choose from! But bring cash, they don’t take credit cards!

Description:

Although the term "healthy Mexican food" seems like an oxymoron, somehow these folks make it work. While it is a little off the beaten path, any restaurant that can make enchiladas, refried beans and tortillas low-fat, healthy and delicious is worth a visit. Your best bet is to try the tamales, the enchiladas or the chalupas with sides of Mexican rice and either refried or black beans. For an interesting twist, opt for the whole-wheat tortillas. Splashed with wild colors and funky ethnic decorations, the interior is small but inviting. The faithful arrive early for lunch and dinner to garner the best tables, with larger groups either claiming their space at the semi-private back tables.