We arrived in Amsterdam a whole 2 hrs later than planned due to traffic congestion (an accident) on our way to Brussels central train station. This caused us to miss our thalys high speed train and instead we were only able to swap for a regular train ticket without incurring an extra fee, but which took double the time to get us to Amsterdam. Fortunately, Inntel Amsterdam Hotel was close enough to the rail station, we were able to just walk there and checked in directly, with still enough daylight left for us to roam the town before sundown. From the weather forecast, it looked like rain for following two days, so getting to enjoy a dinner on an outdoor restaurant patio ( imported Argentina Beef is big in Amsterdam ) and a stroll with the late afternoon rays seemed a good idea.
King of Austria Maximilian I in the 15th century awarded his crown as a gift to the ppl of Amsterdam out of gratitude for services and loans - top of this cathedral
At round dusk, which for Amsterdam is around 8pm, we went to visit Ann Frank House. Tip : we were warned about the long and winding line ups, so did not expect to be successful in getting in. Well, it turns out that since the museum closes at 10pm going at 8pm was exactly the right time...we virtually walked in without line up and had enough time to totally take in the tour before it closed up for the night.
Wandering aimlessly in the Red Light District - the city was awash in the color orange- orange hats, feather boas, orange plum tieras,etc... in good spirits to root for their soccer team & we learned orange is also their national color, if not of their flag, due to fact that it is the name of their Royalty - House of Orange
The swans swimming in reflected canal waters of the redlight district
The next morning in Amsterdam was wet and raining..so we took in the Van Gogh museum. Another tip - purchase the tickets in advance at the hotel - it costs only 0.75 euros more, but you skip the long line to buy tickets at the door. No photo taking allowed in the Van Gogh museum though :(
We boarded the Ama Dolce river boat after the museum visit around 5pm .. just in time for cocktails and dinner. Our embarkation was made very welcoming with champagne and longstem roses (ladies). Cabin was well laid out for the minimal amount of space but compared to ocean cruise ships, we felt the bathroom to be a bit tight. After the overnight on board, the next morning, we inaugurated the 15 day cruise with a city tour of Amsterdam and boat canal ride. Despite the overcast and drizzling climate, Amsterdam still provided us with much to admire.
one stop on city tour was the floating flower market
Fishing out bicycles and other large debris is commonplace in the canals of Amsterdam. Apparently there are 750K residents in the city and 600K bicycles. There is even a huge bike parking lot with over 2,500 parked bikes per day.
Neat view of a series of 7 canals in succession. All of the river canals are man made, except the Amstel - the only natural river in the city. There is 3 principle dug out canals : the Gentlemen, the Prince and the Emperor canals.
All the houses have the wooden pulleys on the attic - now used for lifting furniture up
Yes..the water looked pretty dark and unappealing & no wonder as we learned that 80 % of the Amsterdam houseboats still empty their sewerage directly into the canal! Their goal is for 100% of the capture into pipes by the year 2015...good luck!!
Back onto the AMA Dolce and we set out straight ahead towards the Rhine - the scene was very peaceful with miles of such rows of trees and bike paths on both sides of the river bank.
On the dock the next day ..just arrived at Dusseldorf Germany
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