After a day at sea enjoying music, a couple of SkipBo games with Gene and Mary, a good show, and dinner we docked at Amsterdam. Everyone in the show was hoping that GK would announce another cruise. He teased us during the show with references about getting together again. But there was no announcement. And as he closed he and the audience sang the doxology. That could be interpreted as a final good bye. We shall see.
We had one of the later departure times (which was good since we got a bit more sleep than some folks). We were on the dock side of the ship. I was amazed at all the sound and lighting equipment being off loaded. The picture on the right only shows some of it. Several crates had already been loaded on the ship.
Watching the luggage come off and how they made all that happen was interesting. They have the process down for sure. The first passengers debarked (what a funny word) about 7:30 AM. The last around 9:30). The ship would sail again about 5:00 PM. All of the rooms would be clean with clean sheets and towels and the new passenger’s luggage in the rooms. I’m sure there is no rest for the staff on that day.
We spent a couple of days in Amsterdam before we headed home. Her are some pictures from the beautiful city.
The first thing you notice in Amsterdam are the bikes. They are everywhere and have their own lanes and sometimes their own stop lights. And, you do not want to be walking in their lanes because they have the right of way and expect you to not be in it. The picture above is a panorama taken at the Central Station. The building the background is a bicycle garage. I think it would be hard to remember where you parked your bike. The bikes are very utilitarian. Not very many multi-speeds. Not fancy. And designed for carrying things, including children. We went to the Rikjs Museum which has a bike street running through the middle of the building. You had to be careful crossing that street.
Amsterdam has many canals. When I realized that the city was mostly below sea level it was obvious that they have to way to get rain water somewhere (since it won’t run into the sea). They must be pumping the canals somewhere so they drain. In any case, on a Saturday night, the canals were full of boaters. The boat on the top-left was very nice with wine and fresh fruit. The one on the top-right is a very simple boat with a group of guys (I’m guessing bachelor party before a wedding) having a good time. Speaking of having a good time, the picture on the right shows a party bike (for lack of a better term). We saw several of those as we walked around.
The buildings in Amsterdam are interesting. We loved the shutters on some of the building (left below). And some of the building were obviously at funny angles with respect to their neighbors. In the right picture notice now the building in middle appears to be tilted towards the camera.
Monday AM we flew home and made it back just fine. It was a great trip. We hope you enjoyed our posts.