July 10
After a late night of cards in the lounge we slept soundly all night on our first night on the AMA Serena. Fortunately we'd set the alarm for 6:40 am to give us time to get ready and to breakfast shortly after 7am as we were to meet in the lounge by 8:45 am for our canal cruise outing. Note worthy - the next TWO mornings we will wake up sailing and not be on a schedule with excursions slated for the afternoon! :) Much like our Avalon cruise last summer, your excursion groups are determined by you selecting a little colored plastic square, which we did after breakfast. At promptly 9am we were instructed we could disembark and meet our color-coded guide for the short walk to the canal cruising ship. It's always great to cruise the canals and it's always a little different. And I must say that this particular time I heard more things I'd never heard before. Half of the roof of the boat opened up like a sun roof on a car which allowed plenty of fresh air so it was a delightful morning of cruising.
The Group: Randy & Karrie / Lynn & Doug / Kim & I
Property taxes are determined by the size of the front of your home, so nearly all homes on the canals are narrow and tall. Thus, for hundreds of years the way to move furniture, groceries, etc. up to the upper living floors is with a hoist which you see on nearly every building! .....and more bikes. The most common method of getting around the city are on bikes, which have THE right of way, more important than the pedestrians! What's also interesting is apparently it's very common that regardless of how many locks you put on your bike it may get stolen! And SOMETIMES you can repurchase your own former bike! Houseboats line the canals.....but they never move :) The Houseboat Museum. So THIS guy had a great idea....for months, they'd get a knock on the door and tourists would say, "Can we see inside your houseboat?" Being a kind person he'd say yes and then it occurred to him, why not charge two Euros? And then an even better idea - he went to the city and got the SOLE LICENSE to have a "Houseboat Museum" so his is the ONLY houseboat you can visit :) Of course with all the canals there are bridges everywhere.
The iconic "Seven Bridges" - the only spot where you can see seven bridges in one shot.....lit up at night, very romantic The Waldorf Astoria - created by purchasing five houses right next to one another and then connecting them. It's a 5-Star Hotel. A unique restaurant & story - this Chinese restaurant/boat was built in China and created for 400 guests. Shipped to Amsterdam to be reassembled, when it opened to a capacity crowd the boat was shifting and appeared to be sinking. The owners contacted the builders who explained, "400 Chinese people weigh far less than 400 Dutch people!" So the foundation was reinforced and can now hold up to 700 guests! As we sat down for lunch we set sail for Cologne and spent the afternoon sailing....just the most wonderful part of river cruising :)
Those of you who know me, KNOW that me drinking a merlot is so out of character - enjoyed it quite a bit though :)
Those who followed our Egypt adventure KNOW the significance of bread pudding to our travel stories. Unlike in Egypt, THIS was the REAL DEAL!
The twins, Lynn & Doug playing while we cruise
Just sailing - such a great part of Euro river cruise adventures
Maybe it's just me, but one of THE most fascinating parts about the river cruising is sailing under the bridges.....cool in and of itself, but when you go under the bridge........... ......the clearance is pretty amazing. Sometimes the water level is so high that the entire upper deck is collapsed so the ship can just barely go underneath. Another "just wow" of river cruising!
Tomorrow afternoon we'll arrive in Cologne, Germany and have an extended excursion as we explore the Old Town of Cologne and the massive Cathedral.
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