Amsterdam! 6/25 - 6/26 2024

 

It's big.  It's busy.  It's bike crazy.  Full of canals.  Amsterdam.  We're staying inner-city at the Hotel Nes, where it's all of the above, plus hot.  Real hot, as in mid-80's.  Unusual for this region.  Because this is an historic area, the buildings have no A/C.  So, take in everything you've read so far and you'll realize I'm pretty uncomfortable!

Egyptian Geese, with lots of kids.

We left the ship Tuesday morning, hopped on the free ferry to cross the river, and schlepped our suitcases a couple of kilometers over the cobblestoned streets and walkways to the Hotel Nes.  Then we did it again, minus the luggage, to retrieve our black folder that holds all my travel information.  Yes, we were sweating by the time we got back to the hotel the second time.  By day's end, we had over 18,000 steps on the ol' fitbit!

Along the way, we spotted a small dredge in a canal and assumed it was clearing away dirt and debris.  Nope, it was picking up dead bikes from the bottom of the canal!  How they got in the water in the first place is anybody's guess, but they were hauled out onto the barge and taken to the dead bike cemetery.

Very picturesque.  I can't say which canal this is, but they all have names.  The late 16th and early 17th Century canals that helped drain the swampland using a system of canals in concentric arcs and filling in the intermediate spaces, are listed on the UNESCO heritage site.  Our hotel is in this circle.

Notice some of the old buildings are leaning!  Above and below.

Every which-a-way!

Jimmy and I walked and walked and walked.  We looked and pointed and looked some more.  Boats of all sizes plied these canals, many of them touristy.  Houseboats parked alongside the land.

The reflections!

We decided to eat dinner at a cafe next to our hotel.  I ordered pizza and Jimmy had a calzone.  The pizza was good, but tasteless if that makes any sense.  Inside it was too hot to sit and outside is where the smokers were.  And smokers are everywhere in Amsterdam, leaving the city streets and paths a mess of dead cigarette butts.  My sinuses objected to the smoke.

Trying to sleep was a nightmare.  Too hot to have the windows closed in our tiny 3rd floor room and way too noisy to have them open.  We did both.  This is a young person's town with whoopin' and hollerin' into the wee small hours.

New take on The Thinker.

The next morning, Wednesday the 26th, I woke up with a fierce sore throat and the kind of nasal congestion that means a lot more than mere allergies.  Phooey, several friends on the boat/bike tour had come down with colds just before we all departed.  My turn.  But, what the heck, who cares?, and since we may never come back this way again, we had two objectives today:  The big market (Albert Cuyp Market) and the Rijks Museum.  Jimmy bought The Perfect New Cap at the market.

We knew where we wanted to go and made a few detours along the way, but after our market foray, we got to the museum and in time for lunch! 

I lifted the photo above from the 'net -- the museum building itself is a stunning work of art.  Inside we'd see works by the Old Masters and more.  I took a few pics, amazed that photos were allowed.  Was it crowded?  Not too bad, I'd say; the place was large enough to accommodate everyone.

But first, a bite to eat.  Hi Jimmy! 💗

Every single thing about this museum is magnificent.  These windows (there were four or five) are several stories tall.

As you might imagine, here was the busiest spot:  Rembrandt's The Night Watch.  I was astonished at the size of this painting:  12' x 14.5' -- it's huge!

Rembrandt painted this in 1642.  Working up to 500 years ago!

Wonderful hallway, with art installations, right and left.

Breitner's, The Singel Bridge at the Paleisstraat in Amsterdam, 1896.

"A Windmill on a Polter Waterway, Known as 'In the Month of July.'"  1889 by Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriel, which was one of my favorites, since we'd recently seen the windmills.

Aha!  More art!

Jimmy before a Model of the William Rex, 1698.  Wowzers.

Vermeer's "The Milkmaid," 1660."

"Still Life with a Gilt Cup," Willem Heda, 1635.

Amazing.  The detail ...!

I took more pictures, but this post is already long.  If you're going to Amsterdam, you need to visit the Rijks Museum, good gosh, it's a dream come true.

With over 15,000 steps today, our feetses were hot and tired!  Dinner was at a small restaurant with small dishes, and then on to the Hotel Nes.  Today was hotter than yesterday and a loud, happy party was in full swing at a large hotel patio across the canal.  Not much sleep to be had this night!  Not every single thing/place can be a winner, and, besides, I pretty much felt like dookie by now, and would be glad to fly to Bergen, Norway tomorrow.  Hope it's cooler.

We've been, we saw, we conquered.  On to the next chapter of our adventure.

Into Amsterdam! 6-24-24

Today is our last day -- today we bike into the big City of Amsterdam.  We'd all heard about the millions of cyclists using the dedicated bike paths in and around the city ... it could be a sort of bike pandemonium.  But that's getting the cart before the horse, or the journey before the bike.

During breakfast, the ship cruised to Breukelen (think: Brooklyn), where we disembarked to start our final day of cycling.  Sitting on the top deck, we relaxed and enjoyed watching The Netherlands go by, as you see above.

Bridges!  And more bridges.

Other boats, and even an airplane.

Ready to ride!

We rode along the Vecht River which is famous for its beautiful mansions, impressive houses and their sumptuous gardens.  Tis the season for Hydrangeas to bloom, and many of us have ooohed and aaahed as we passed colorful displays.  Truly.

We pedaled to the Village of Nigtevecht (I don't try to pronounce any of these words) and a traditional cheese farm.  When we descend upon an area, we take up a lot of space.  Hi Jimmy!

After tasting several different cheeses, we bought one small wheel and hope to goodness it survives the rest of our journey!  This was such a nice spot for lunch, being entertained by the nesting White Storks.  Also on the grounds were apple and pear trees heavy with fruit, sheep, and friendly dogs.

Continuing on -- Zwaanwijck.  We allowed as how if all 40 of us went in on its purchase we might be able to afford it.  Then we decided, nah, not even then!  Absolutely stunning place.

Muiden Castle, currently a national museum, located at the mouth of the Vecht River, roughly nine miles from Amsterdam.  We walked around it, but didn't go inside.  Like many castles in Europe, this one has a long history, beginning in 1280.

This was fun to watch -- two small boats, each going in a different direction, passing through the lock. 

Fisherman.

Even the canoe had to pass through the lock.

Now it was time to get serious.  Peter was sort of directing us as we honed in on the city.  The path was wide here to accommodate heavy bike traffic.  We had to cross major streets, too.  I kept my eyes on the person in front of me.  We made it to our boat without incident, but everyone was relieved to be safe onboard.  We've never seen so many bikes.  We rode about 20 miles today.

Both Belgium and The Netherlands have an extensive network of interconnecting bikeways with a map showing each and every one, like a road map for cars.  To an American, this is incredible.  I wish we had more bikeways like what we've seen here.  I know our country is an entire universe compared to these two small dots in Europe.  At intersections, their roads have separate traffic signals for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.  We had to learn how to cross the street!

Ahhh, back at the ranch, we gathered on the rear deck.  Our guides, Peter, Marleen and Irene were going to rehash a few trip highlights and give out some *awards*, all in good fun.  We laughed a lot.  Do you see Jimmy?

Marleen announced that we'd biked 300 kilometers in our six days.  You'd have to subtract a few kms for me and Jimmy's short bike day, so I figured he and I biked somewhere around 160 miles.  Not bad for old farts about to turn 80 in a few months.  Eh, right?

Captain Paul had the center stage at this point.

Great guides and great crew.

I handed Cap'n Paul my camera and asked him to take a pic of the whole group at our "last supper."  He kept backing up and finally stood on a chair to get us all in. 😉  Dinner was fabulous.

We said our goodbyes the next morning, sad to go, but happy we signed up for this trip  Really.  Now we were on our own to tackle Amsterdam!

Very cool day! 6-23-24

 

The group usually starts riding around 9am/ish, but today we boarded a waterbus with our bikes first, which took us to Alblasserdam in roughly ten minutes.  It didn't take us long to cycle to Kinderdijk, a world-famous village known for it's 18th Century windmills.  Their website says:  "For over 700 years, the dikes, windmills, and pumping stations of Kinderdijk have kept our feet dry."

Ready, set, go!

We have arrived.  Our two green-vested guides are at far left.

I believe every single one of us was excited to see this small village, these giant windmills, up close.  Look how impressive, how lovely the scene is, above, like a picture in a book.  That being said, lots of other people were around to view this site.  

I'm gonna quote:  The windmills were constructed in the 18th Century to pump water out of the low Alblasserwaard polder (a polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments).  Now we all know.

To my left is a very large visitor center,

filled with all things windmill to purchase.

Interesting.

Yes, you should see swans here.

One of the windmills was open and furnished in the period style.  Plus it was operating.  I'm so glad these old relics weren't dumped in a scrap heap, and were saved for all to see.  Nowadays wind turbines are used in The Netherlands.  Anyhoot, I gravitated to the garden plot and picked ripe raspberries!  So yummy!

The group paused here to figure out where the heck we were supposed to go!

This is a boat/bike tour.  Today we had the option of a short or a long ride.  Jimmy and I and several others opted for the short ride.  We wanted some quiet time on the boat.  I stood on the top deck and watched The Netherlands go by, bridges, people, cows, and everything in between.  Jimmy sat on the back deck and alternately read and watched the world go by, too.  I think we biked a bit less than 20 miles and the longer riders did around 36 or something like that.

Even saw a waterskier on De Lek (river's name).

Always checking out places to camp!

I usually wonder if we'll fit.  Sometimes Jurro, the sailor, had to lower the mast thingee for the low bridges.  The sky appears dark/ish, but the day was fine, neither hot nor cold, and the wind on the top deck felt great.

Here's something you don't see every day!  Cows coming to a picnic.  Or maybe it's the other way around?  Either way, we found it humorous.

The Magnifique III had to go through another set of locks to get to her mooring in Vianen.  Fascinating to watch.

Boats/ships get soooo close to the wall when they're in locks (left).  Bridge goes up (right) to let us pass.  The other riders came in and said the rest of the ride was uneventful.  Jimmy and I were pleased that we took some time for ourselves this afternoon.

Dinner was extra special tonight.  I dunno about you, but I think it's 100% extra-special to have someone cook, serve, and clean up after the dinner 😃.  Woo hoo!

As you can probably tell, we are really enjoying this boat/bike trip.  Obviously we don't know all 38 other participants, but everyone is friendly and kind.  I think I mentioned previously that we have Germans, Brazilians, French-Canadians and Americans aboard, Americans making up the most.  The crew is fantastic, as well, all five of them, and our three guides (one is a trainee) make a good team.  One more ride tomorrow ....