Today is Friday, and the country we are visiting is The Netherlands with a population of approximately 17 million people. The capital is Amsterdam, same name as the ship on which we are residing right now. The Netherlands has beautiful old cities like this one, as well as Haarlem, Leiden, Delft, Utrecht, The Hague, and Rotterdam to name a few. The Dutch are excellent at making the best of what they have, creating a comfortable modern country out of swamps and shallows. With constant northern winds, the power pumps keep it all dry. It is one of the world’s best places to ride bikes along the numerous canals. Contrasting this scene are the notorious Red Light District and the marijuana-legal shops and cafes open to the public. However, it has been noted that the Dutch are the least likely consumers of the product.
The best time to visit is April for the tulips, and May through October for the café-friendly weather. Amsterdam is one of Europe’s best preserved great cities with canals, 17th century vistas, and an incongruous mix of neighborhoods. Bicycle your heart out, but pedestrians….watch out.
Best things to eat here are crispy fries doused with their mayo. Yes, it is different from what we have in the US. Favorite drink can be rich ales, like Palm, rather than the bland best-selling lagers.
Trademarks are: bikes, dykes, windmills, clogs, tulips, red light district, pot smoking, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, canals, and tall people.
Random fact: Twenty percent of the Netherlands is underwater such as canals, lakes, and marshes. Another twenty percent is below sea level, but protected by 2400 km or 1490 miles of dykes. The average temps in April are from 50 to 60 degrees with 12 days of rain in the month. Another interesting fact is that Amsterdam gets 3.5 million visitors yearly. And most of them seem to be here today….the beginning of the King’s Holiday this weekend.
The ship began scenic sailing at 6am. Even the promise of Dutch pastries would not entice us to get up in the darkness of the chilly morning to watch. We did turn on the TV channel to watch and listen to Ian’s commentary. By 8am, we were alongside the Passenger Terminal, about the same time we went to the dining room for breakfast. Lucky for us, they did have the Amsterdam pastries, which Gan called apple empanadas. They were equally as good as the Panama rolls. Gan told us that the bakers had run low on flour, and that was why they made pretzels for dinner last night. Hope they make more, since we love them. Big loading from many containers would take place today.
And of course, there were some ships tours here. There was only one 9 hour trip to Delft with lunch. All the other tours were no more than 4½ hours, one to see the tulip fields, and one to see windmills, clog-making, and the village of Edam. The last three tours did Amsterdam highlights with museum visits to the Van Gogh and Hermitage. One included a trip to the diamond area. Canal boat rides and the hop on, hop off buses could be booked on your own.
Today was also the end of another segment, and only a few folks were going home. About the same amount of new people will be joining the ship today. Strolling around the lower promenade deck, we saw several river cruise boats docked all around us. This is one type of cruise we have never done, preferring sailing the seas and oceans by far. But it was interesting for us to see these river boats up close. From what we saw, it became apparent that it is the destination that comes first, and not the boat experience as much. It is a wonderful option for many travelers, but not so much for us. But who knows, we may change our minds one day…..also watching the activity of various boats on this waterway was mesmerizing.
We left the ship around 10:30am, bundled up because it was only 50 degrees outside, and very cloudy. Should have known that it would warm up later on, but we layered, and could remove some layers if needed. Yes, it was needed.
It has been twenty years since we have been here, starting a Celebrity Baltic cruise. At that time, we spent a few days in Amsterdam, taking tours out of the hotel. We did see Anne Frank’s house, the historical sites, and did a canal boat ride. Although not much has changed here, much of the city was unfamiliar to us. Of course, walking it instead of riding in a bus is a whole different story.
The cruise terminal here is a two story building with the gangway connecting us to the second floor. We came out into a modern holding area with a center mini-marketplace of souvenirs. There was even a welcome group of mature male singers. Down on the ground level via an escalator, a desk with tourist info people gave us maps and circled where we should walk to see most of the highlights in the center of the action. The young Dutch info fellow also told us that the city was hopping with excitement with many people preparing for the big King’s Holiday starting tomorrow. Wow, good or bad timing for our visit, depending on how you look at it.
He was so right….the streets and sidewalks were so crowded, it was like entering a nest of angry red ants. And the cyclists – they belong to another breed of speeding bullets, not giving way to anyone. You take your life in your hands stepping one foot into the designated bike lanes without looking both ways – twice. Even more dangerous, were the number of motorbikes that also used the bike lanes. Add the cars, trucks, buses, and trams, your head will spin within five minutes of leaving the terminal building. But then, we have to consider we are in the heart of the “tourist” area, such as Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, which is always an extremely crowded area without the volume of bikes.
Using the most impressive Central Station as a guide, we navigated our way around canals, waterfront cafes and restaurants, and to St. Nicolas Basilica. A line of tourists were going inside , so we joined them to take a quick stroll through it. Glad we did, as it was most impressive. The celebration of Mass was going to commence soon, and it would have been great to stay, but we did not have that much time. Sidewalks are impossibly narrow in this part of town, and with the large number of organized tour groups, we found it difficult to even walk around them. It was obvious that we would not be getting very far today. So the plan was to wander the smaller side alleyways to find a suitable place for lunch.
There were so many options, with various cuisine appealing to a myriad of travelers and locals as well. More like international cuisine. Some cafes and restaurants were serving breakfast, while other were not opened yet. But we had no problem studying the food photos as we passed dozens of options. The bakery displays kept bringing us back to their windows, but we would come back to one of those after lunch. Most every establishment posted menus with pictures, and the one we chose was The Corner, on the corner, of course, buried in an alleyway of shops and cafes. Thankfully our waitress spoke good English, and we ordered a cheeseburger with fries to split and two Heineken draft beers. The mayo was different in that it was slightly sweet with a touch of mustard mixed with it. Lastly, we added what they call a pancake, which was a dinner plate-sized crepe with sliced strawberries, drizzled with a strawberry syrup and topped with some whipped cream. So, so good. And there was a restroom, but to access it, you had to go down a flight of very steep stairs. Once again, there were no public restrooms anywhere that we could see.
A must stop before heading back was at a bakery. There were dozens of them, but one had some cookies with our name on them. Extra-large almond cookies were 2 euro each, and it was a great way to use our coins to buy 4 of them.
Just by luck, we happened to be close to the Henri Willig Dutch Cheese and Gift Shop, where we saw how the cheese was made into the giant wheels that they had displayed in their windows. This was cheese heaven. Wanting to use the rest of our euros, we found the perfect combination of a smoked cheese log, one small gouda cheese wheel, and a tiny bottle of honey mustard. It all came on a wooden cutting board for 17 euro. We added a tin of mini waffle cookies for a total of 25 euro. What a deal.
Happy campers, we made our way back to the terminal slowly, like salmon swimming upstream. Back to the ship, we took photos from deck nine of the surrounding canals, river traffic, canal riverboats, and the town we just explored. Many of the officers had family onboard for the day, especially the Dutch ones. We understand that there was an express Mariners Lunch in the dining room at noon for all of the new guests and the invited guests as well.
We had to be ready by 5:30pm to meet with our fellow President’s Club members for an early 6pm coach transfer to the BIG special event of this world cruise. But first, we had been advised to have an early express dinner in the dining room, which went totally open seating. It began at 4:30 and ended at 8pm, because the affair this evening was strictly complimentary drinks and desserts. Some fruit and a little chocolate candy from Belgium was enough for us prior to leaving.
We met up with Barb and Don and other buddies to fill one coach for the 30 minute ride in bad traffic. For those that needed it, a wheelchair van was used also. It was good to see more sights we had missed earlier in the day. Once we arrived at the museum, our driver seemed confused as to where the drop-off was located. He ended up jumping a curb, turning right on a one-way street, and getting stuck between two bike stands. Eventually, he backed up carefully, and got us there safely. Later on, we found out that a couple of buses were not so lucky, having one accident with a tram and a car involving police, and another bus had taken out two light poles near the museum.
An Evening at the Rijksmuseum was the theme for this grand after-hours private event. We understand that the closing of this world-renowned museum for a private affair is seldom done, so for our group of 48 or so (not all attended) to be welcomed ½ hour ahead of everyone else, was really appreciated by all. Directed by our crew members in orange caps, we were led into the museum by Gerald B, the head Mariner Director, after the four us of being greeted with handshakes and hugs. We were supposed to show our room keycards, but that never happened. Certainly, we went through an xray scan, but now it is all a blur if we did. Considering the state of the world these days, security is of upmost importance.
So here is the exact description of what we were going to see. “This is a very special opportunity to experience the museum in a private setting. All exhibits will be open, including for the first time in its history, a display of all of the works by Rembrandt in their collection in a single exhibition called All Rembrandts. You can see as many as 22 paintings, 60 drawings, and 300 engravings, which includes one of Rembrandt’s most celebrated masterpieces, the Night Watch.”
In the center of the rotunda, we were greeted by Orlando A and Hamish, with the ship’s photographer, although our photos were not taken. Just as well, we have enough already. Something close to champagne was served, then our group including Barb, Don, Ginger and Bill, were escorted up a flight of stairs to the upper level and the entrance hall to the exhibit. Yes, there ws an elevator, but it was not offered to us. There was a bar set-up with tables full of assorted desserts for our small group. The only thing was before entering the hallway of paintings, we had to leave the beverages behind, or drink up quickly.
The two of us had the honor of being the first to enter the display, starting with the smaller paintings, and working our way to the main room that housed among other things, Rembrandt’s most famous work of the Night Watch. Free to photograph all the works of art, we most certainly did (without flash).
Now we can divide the entire group of passengers into three categories. There were those that know-it-all, those that enjoyed seeing the exhibit, although perhaps not knowing-it-all, but willing to learn, and those who honestly admitted it was not their “thing”. Nothing wrong with any of these categories, because we can relate to all three. In our humble opinion however, those who grandstanded with being over-dressed and supreme authorities on the fine arts, were the most annoying. Just our opinion, as it was an eye-opener. For the most accurate descriptions, 20 “ask me” guides and art experts were there, and self-guided tours could be down-loaded with their museum app.
By the time we exited the room, we spent some time enjoying the wine and Heinekens with Barb. Gerald happened to stop for a chat, and we bent his ear about some of our specific concerns regarding some PC benefits that have been changed over the last two years. Whether he really listened or not, we felt better after being totally honest with him. He said he would “look into it” and get back to us.
Back down the stairs, or the elevator we discovered, we joined the rest of the party where everyone was enjoying the live band and singers entertaining the crowd. It was nice to see that a large table had been set up full of sugar-free desserts. Besides drinks of wine and beer, there were numerous types of juices and bottled water as well. The museum shop was held open to give guest an opportunity to purchase merchandise with a 20% discount. We visited with many friends before we left the museum. This affair would last until 10pm, but we did want to catch the sun setting as well as take more photos from the bus on the way back.
Turned out we had a good coach driver who gave a mini tour on the way back. Passing many houseboats on the canal, he said that they cost between 300 to 400 thousands US dollars, but getting insurance on them was steep. His story was that in the past, some of these boats sunk when some drunken sports fans jumped on the roofs of the houseboats , and literally sunk them. We passed by the Heineken Experiment building, where earlier there had been a huge line of young folks waiting to get inside. Now that looked like fun.
Tomorrow for King’s Holiday, a number of folks will set up blankets in the parks to sell stuff like in a flea market. Festivals, parades, and music groups will be everywhere throughout the city. Assuming our ship was overnighting here, he warned about pickpockets that would among the crowds. Not to worry, we were gone shortly after midnight. Passing the Amstel Hotel, our driver said it was the most elegant in the city, housing guests like Madonna and Beyonce. We also drove by fancy apartments that surrounded an old zoo, which became smelly during the hot summer months. Coffee shops can be “weed” shops or legal marijuana vendors. The dock area was once used for storehouses, but now have 1 ½ million dollar apartments. That same amount of money would buy you a large country home with lots of surrounding property. That’s where we would live, for sure.
Back at the terminal and our room, we ordered some food for a late dinner, the first room service we have had. Salads, a bowl of soup, and a shared beef panini were perfect. We were surprised that it arrived in less than 20 minutes. Boy did we sleep good tonight, but did wake up briefly to see the ship leaving for our next port in Denmark in two days. What a day we had in Amsterdam! And another outstanding set of gifts were waiting for us. We each were gifted a Tiffany & Co. pewter round jewelry box, complete with an engraved Rijksmuseum building on the lid. The 2019 Grand World Voyage was printed on the lid as well as Amsterdam on the bottom. How appropriate.
Bill & Mary Ann
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Report #98 Amsterdam, The Netherlands April 26, 2019 Friday Cloudy & 63 degrees
