The Magical Adventures of Jennifer and Steve: Amsterdam

In the middle of the night, we crossed into Holland. Jennifer was up on deck early in the morning to witness going through our last lock for the trip. It was huge. They definitely take their waterways seriously. It was a lazy morning, as we weren’t getting to port until 1:00pm. We spent the morning packing. After lunch, we boarded a bus to a river canal cruise around Amsterdam. It was interesting to see so much activity on the waterways and canals. We also saw a bike or two (joking). We were told that there were about 750,000 bikes in Amsterdam. They are everywhere. Biking in cities must be international, because, just like Toronto, they don’t stop for pedestrians or stop lights. They do have designated bike lanes integrated into the roadways, which makes them stop even less. And no helmets!!!

The canal cruise dropped us off a little walk away from the national art museum, or Rijksmuseum. We saw the Rembrandt’s famous Night Watch painting. Impressive. From the museum we walked back to the ship instead of taking the bus back. It’s better to see and experience the city at street level instead of in a bus. Amsterdam is very commercial in some spots, very touristy in others and unique in others. Walking along or over canals is very refreshing. We skirted around the red light district, but may go back tomorrow. And before anyone asks, yes, we saw people smoking pot and got whiffs of it as we passed cafes. On the way back to the ship, we checked out where our hotel was for the next night and how to get there. We could actually see the hotel from our ship, so we knew it was close. We got back to the ship and after nice walk through the city in the sun, we were ready for a beer on the sun deck.

Tonight was the Captain’s Farewell cocktail and dinner. We dressed up in our finery for champagne in the lounge before dinner. The shirt I wore to the Welcome dinner seems to have shrunk as soon as we entered the Dutch waters, as it seemed a little tighter tonight. Dinner was very good. We started out with an amuse bouche of mushroom and cappuccino soup. Next a smoked salmon and shrimp terrine, followed by a pumpkin ravioli. Some sorbet in kir royale to cleanse the palette before the main course, surf and turf. Filet mignon and shrimp. Dessert was a baked Alaska. We finished off with a drink in the lounge. We got back to the room, there was a thank you package from the ship. It included a picture of the staff, and printouts of all the dinner menus for the entire cruise. I guess I didn’t need to take pictures of the menus.

Tomorrow, a leisurely day in Amsterdam. We’re getting tired and ready to get back to routine. So after posting for 3 weeks straight, apologies in advance if I don’t post tomorrow.