BY EDIE GROSS

AMSTERDAM

"Oh my God, Newsha's in town," she said. "Our trip just changed dramatically."

Our weeklong trip in April was a mix of business and pleasure. Stephanie Sinclair, my best friend since college, was in town to do some work for Human Rights Watch and to pick up the 2012 World Press Photo award for best contemporary issues story for her National Geographic piece on child brides.

Since her husband was neck-deep in law school exams, I went along as the proud family member, figuring I'd do touristy things between official events.

I'd never met Newsha Tavakolian, but she and Steph got to know each other years ago while covering the war in Iraq. Born and raised in Iran, Newsha, a photographer, lives in Tehran with her husband, Thomas Erdbrink, a Dutch journalist and chief of The New York Times bureau there.

It was a fluke that she was passing through Amsterdam while we were there and an incredible stroke of luck for Steph and me.

There are many things to love about Amsterdam: world-class museums, charming houseboats, canal-front architecture, bicycle-friendly streets, live-and-let-live attitude. But the most wonderful element--and I suppose you could say this about most places--is the people, a facet that's often inaccessible to tourists during short visits.

Thanks to Newsha, a gregarious soul with an infectious smile, we went from tourists to welcome guests in about 10 seconds.

I'd brought along a colorful travel guide and had set a conservative goal for myself: Before leaving the Netherlands, I wanted to visit Anne Frank's hiding spot, cruise Amsterdam's canals and see tulips.

As you can imagine, the Frank family's attic annex, where they hid from the Nazis for two years, was incredibly moving. Hundreds of us waited in the rain outside the building at 263 Prinsengracht for a chance to see the spot, concealed behind a swinging bookcase, where Anne Frank penned her famous diary before she, her parents, sister and four others were deported to concentration camps.