Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
We are glad our little baking adventure entertained so many of you. Makes me wonder if we need to loosen up! We figured we would get more comments on being in the Red Light District than the brownie! Apparently we missed the local additive and passed unscathed. Hmmm…maybe we need to go back to that shop before we head to our boat today…nah…too much excitement for our wheelchair offered age group!!
On to the ship…arrived at dock around 10:30. Cloudy and a little damp from rain last night. We are on the Skadi not the Bragi as there was a scheduling issue. We spent a little time walking around the ship and getting acclimated. Our room is the size of a small rv, so we are good to go. Later in the afternoon we walked back off the docks into this edge of town and took another canal ride, this time on a smaller, more open boat. We are now back onboard will have a welcome talk and supper. We sail at midnight.
Short synopsis of Amsterdam—we understand that there are approximately 1,250,000 bicycles for a population of around 900,000.
(That doesn’t include the thousands and thousand of bicycles that are supposedly on the bottom of the canals!!) There are approximately 1,500 bridges crossing waterways here. About 1/2 the country consists of reclaimed land and an extensive range of sea walls and coastal dunes protect the land from the sea while levees and dikes along the rivers protect against river flooding.
By the way…we were told this evening that the WiFi on the boat is marginal at best so I may have trouble sending the posts out. I may have to write some and send whenever I have service, so please be patient. I may have to try to send tonight’s without the afternoon pictures as I have been having trouble loading them. We will see how it goes. Hugs to all!
PS…I am going to try to send what I have tonight. Will maybe add more if and when I get service.
Mike
2023-08-12
Thanks for sharing the photos. Sunny day, but looks cooler than our mid 90s in South Carolina. I looked at the Skadi on-line. Looks very nice. Have a great cruise!
Caleb
2023-08-12
Hope the cruise is awesome!
Lora Carbary
2023-08-13
I hope you have sunny skies the rest of your trip. I know you will love the cruising and seeing all the ports. Your pictures are great and love the blog. Safe travels. Did you see them making the dutch pancakes in any of the windows of the cafe's.
Pat Bistline
2023-08-13
Bicycles is the way to get around. Did you two try using them? Love all the pictures. Enjoy cruising on the river
Ashton
2023-08-13
That’s a lot of bikes! Have a great cruise!
Cathy
2023-08-13
So fun and exciting! I'm not sure you needed the buzz of a loaded brownie, I'm sure it was delicous anyway. The boat sounds amazing and how nice to have so much room.
Barb & Len
2023-08-16
Bon Voyage!🙋♀️🤗😉🥰🎉🎊🤙