As I am sailing down the Rhine away from Amsterdam I will pause and to bring you up to date on the grand river tour. Grand it is, indeed. After arriving safely via Lufthansa we quickly were escorted to our ship which I will from now on rightly call a boat. One hundred thirty two passengers and a crew of about twenty. Since I was among the last to arrive I was quickly able to access my luggage and unpack. The room is not spacious and the window is literally at water level. Madeline had gotten there hours before so her suitcase was the last to be delivered and we had to wait for her to get her coat out of the bag. Amsterdam is very windy and it was quite cold.
We ventured out to walk which felt really good after the very long flight. No time to see the things I really wanted to see but I am sure we will be back again as the jumping off point for some cruise or the other. First impression of the city was that it is not as clean as I expected. Second thought is that being a very flat country is a good thing. Bicycles everywhere. At one point we were walking on what we thought was the sidewalk when the repeated ding-ding made us realize we were on the bike path.
Since it was Sunday I was surprised to see how busy everywhere was. Thousands of bikes are augmented by excellent, bus, rail and trolley services. Young people seem to have locked away all the oldsters as few were seen. And young people have a good time in Amsterdam where coffee shops are adults only and Hookahs are evident and in use there and in Smoking Bars. I started to make a stop in the Seeds store to looks for something interesting to bring home and plant. That would only get me in a lot of trouble --- Seeds stores sell marijuana seeds of several varieties!
This morning we went out to Kinderdijk which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Only 17 kilometers from Rotterdam there are nineteen working windmills. Each raises unwanted water 3 or 4 feet at a time until it is up 22 feet to river level so it can be carried to the sea. Families live in each in order to preserve them for emergency use as a back up to the now active Andromeda Screw System that does workhorse job of creating dry land for crops and cattle. In exchange for this free housing they maintain the windmills which otherwise the owning foundation would find to be a multi million dollar proposition. Luckily the rain stopped part way through our included excursion and the sun has been playing peek-a-boo ever since.
Back on the boat the delicious cheese soup with grapes and walnuts was delicious as a warming lunch.
Got to go – evacuation drill. No lifeboats so maybe we will find there are rubber rafts. But the Rhine is only about 50 to 75 yards wide hear so not too worried!
Our nest fun activity today was a tasting of juniper gin, Jenever, and varieties of Dutch cheeses (Gouda). A quiet chat and some picture taking on the sun deck followed this and then was soon interrupted by time for Dutch tea time which featured liquor laced Dutch coffee topped with double layer whipping cream and strawberries. Also served was Plum Cake which is a favorite of my family. Very nice but the amazing thing was how small the world is.
Joining me at my table was a very nice lady from Michigan. When I asked where she was from she held up her hand in typical Michigander style and indicated near the base of the thumb I told her that my daughter, Christine, used to date a young man from East Tawas which is the next town over. I said his dad owned the weekly paper. It turned out that these people are friends of Neal and Barbara Miller, Torre's parents!
The time passed so quickly that before I knew it the time had come to raise a glass to the Captain and then have dinner. More lovely people at our table from Kansas City, Missouri. He had been the person who was the one responsible for all the benefits of the boilermaker union. Very interesting and well traveled.
The evening entertainment was a lesson in speaking the German language since we are now in German waters and tomorrow will dock in Cologne, Germany. River Cruises are not the same as Ocean Cruises. Everything is very low key and quiet. Only one option at a time offered and a little more regimented. There are plenty of things to fill your day if you choose but the best part is the scenery that is ever changing and an arms length away.
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