Since yesterday was such a busy day, we forgot to add the info on The Netherlands. The capital is Amsterdam, and the population of the country is 17 million people that speak Dutch, as well as English as their second language. It is a land of artistic masterpieces, windmills, museums, tulips, liberal ideology, and canals with cafes to name a few. Did you know that more than half of the Netherlands is below sea level? And 20% is reclaimed land and flat as a pancake. The windmills help keep the water at bay. That makes it perfect for cycling. There are 32,000 kilometers or 19,872 miles of cycling paths throughout the country, believe it or not. Pretty impressive. The Amstel Gold Race is the biggest Dutch cycling race around hilly Limburg. It is 260 kilometers long and considered the most demanding race on the professional circuit. And after walking several kilometers today, we are convinced that the majority of bikes are in Amsterdam. And you had better watch for those bike lanes, or else get run over.
Tours offered here were the Keukenhof Tulip Festival for $80 for 4 hours. Greg and Heo did that yesterday, but on their own. More like Disneyland, they said it was jammed packed with people, and the blooming tulips were outstanding. Then there was windmills and edam (cheese we assume) for $90 for 4 hours. Amsterdam highlights and the Van Gogh Museum was $100 for 3 hours, while Amsterdam city of diamonds was $70 for 4 hours. Last but not least, was an evening canal cruise for $100 for 1 ½ hours.
The weather looked so nice out this morning, we thought it had warmed up. However, upon opening the veranda door, we discovered it was a chilly 44 degrees. With the sun out, it may warm up later according to Ian. Sure hope so.
We had the meeting of the minds, so to speak, at our Breakfast Club this morning. Actually we were the first to show up at 8am, because of the late night party we assume. Staying overnight, it was not a problem sleeping in later. When our group staggered in, we had more fun going over yesterday's events, mostly our special event in Rotterdam at the Hotel New York or the original terminal building for the Holland America Line. No doubt there was local TV coverage that was televised, but not so much because of the 150th year celebration, but the fact that Princess Margarite and the mayor of Rotterdam were in attendance. The general consensus was that this event could have been better organized than it was. It was rather insulting to our group to be told to leave for the buses, and the rest of the crowd could stay longer and enjoy the food and beverages. We all agreed that the most exciting things were happening outside the hotel with the marching band, the three mermaids on stilts, the tuba players, and even the Jamaican drummers. They about popped our eardrums with the extra loud drumming. We had to laugh since at one time we liked that music, but now, not so much.
Once again, after breakfast we worked in the room for a while, and also watched the activity on the dock below. It was the reverse of what we saw yesterday. All of the flowers, most of the large and small potted tulips, planter boxes, and chairs were being taken off and loaded into waiting vans. Guess it was all rented, except for some small potted tulips for table decorations. We left the ship around noontime, got a nice map in the terminal, and asked directions to the Hard Rock Café. The information lady gladly drew a line on the map to the restaurant and said it would take 45 minutes to walk there. That sounded like a plan to us, so off we went for the hike. One of us had worn the arctic jacket, and other a heavy hooded sweatshirt. As long as we kept moving, we could withstand the bone-chilling wind.
After leaving the cruise terminal, we turned right and headed towards the famous Central Station, an impressive old building, and one of the busiest hubs in the city. Even on a Wednesday, it was bustling with activity. Following the lady's instructions, we turned left on a major street that took us past more historic sights. Among some of the iconic sights we passed were the De Nieuwe Kerk (church), the Royal Palace, a huge square with a monument and a building called De Bijenkorf. Continuing down this main street we passed by a few McDonalds and a KFC. We know that our crew will be in this area for sure. Numerous shops, stores, cafes, bakeries, and restaurants lined this street. One type of fast food cafes offered frites or fries to snack on. There was a line of 12 people waiting to order them. We had to be careful walking near this place since many fries had dropped on the sidewalk. There were not a lot of pigeons to clean them up.
At one point, we had to turn right, which led us to a street that crossed the series of three canals . We came upon a building that housed garden items as well as fresh flowers and thousands of packaged bulbs. It appeared there were stalls with fresh produce. We would have loved to buy some of their fabulous tulip bulbs, but we are not allowed to bring these into the USA when we get to Florida. We did take a lot of photos though.
We continued on, hoping we were going in the right direction. Passing the Holland Casino, the area began to look familiar, as we had been bussed this direction in 2019 and taken to the Rijksmuseum for a huge special event. We had not realized that the Hard Rock Café was so close to that famous museum until we looked closer at the map. In the recesses of our minds, we recalled seeing the sign for this café from the bus at that time 4 years ago. Knowing we were close because we had seen a street ad pointing this way, we finally asked a workman where it was. He pointed to the next alleyway and said turn left. And there it was, the front of the restaurant facing the canal. The main entrance was well hidden from the main street. Relieved we had located it, we went in and found it full of customers. There were two levels of seating, and we were brought upstairs to a table for two with a view of the canal. Perfect. We were in need of a beverage, so we were happy to see Affligem draft on the menu, and we ordered two. Then we asked a a platter of nachos to share, and it arrived within 10 minutes. This would work out perfectly, since the all aboard time was 4:30pm, giving us plenty of time to eat lunch and take our time walking back as long as we left the café by 2:30pm. It had taken us about 1 ½ hours to get here, not 45 minutes as was suggested. Of course, we were taking pictures of the old buildings and canals along the way slowing us down. After lunch, we made a stop in the shop and got a few t-shirts, along with an extra one for 10 euro. The nice checker had put a HRC nylon drawstring bag in for free.
We did find our way back the same way we had come. It was slow-going due to the streets that were getting more crowded by the minute. There were tour groups and many high school kids being led places. Eventually, we got back to the cruise terminal by 4pm. Never felt so good to relax on the veranda which had almost full sun now. Protected from the wind, the temperature was 60 degrees. All aboard was 4:30pm, but we did not leave until after 5:30pm, due to the fact there was yet another person taken off in an ambulance. We stayed outside and enjoyed the sailing out of the river. On previous stops here, we had entered the lock and left in the dark. This was the first time to watch the lock operation, or at least some of the transit, because it was dinnertime and we were a little late. We could watch our exit from the dining room table.
During the late afternoon, we had received a phone call with a message left. Remember we said there was a telephone system upgrade happening yesterday? Well, something is still wrong, since we could not access the message left. It turned out to be from Greg who told us that Rene, our spa manager, was coming to dinner tonight with her sister who is on the ship for two days only. And it happened to be Rene's birthday (the same day as our oldest son….happy birthday, Bill). It was a pleasure having them as guests for the special day, which was also being celebrated for Bill, since his birthday was missed yesterday. Something had slipped through the cracks again, and there was no birthday cupcake and card from the Captain left in our room yesterday. He did get the nice card from the front desk folks and a very special one from Shiv, who never forgets. Truth be told, he does not like a big deal made at his birthday, but this same thing happened to me as well in January. If someone had not informed our waiters it was my birthday, we would not have had a cake at the table.
It was sad, however, that Woody informed us that Susie would not be re-joining the ship but would be flying home from Lisbon with a medical attendant on Friday. Her daughter had flown home today, also her birthday. Bet she never would have expected to be spending her birthday in Lisbon. Anyway, Susie will be home and in competent hands, while Woody will stay onboard and be back home May 12th. Like part of our extended family, we will all be happy to keep him company all the way back.
Despite all of that, we did have a wonderful dinner with our guests, and the choices of starters and mains were better. We had received more deliveries while in Amsterdam which was great. After we finished our meals, two cakes arrived…..one regular size one for Rene, and a double-size one for Bill. And naturally, a dozen of the wait staff, including Oscar, our head waiter, came to sing a rousing happy birthday song. A good ending for our visit to Amsterdam.
Another strange thing happened tonight, as well as last night. The room TV shut off at 10:30pm. Now what? That was supposed to be fixed on April 15th, but we guess it was not. Yes, we can live without it, but it is our only chance to keep up with the world news.
Tomorrow we will have a very precious day at sea, and enjoying every second of relaxing, but also catching up on hundreds of photos etc.
Bill & Mary Ann
