DAY-10: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Day - 10: Friday, June 5, 2015

Starting Location:  At Sea En-route to Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ending Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

We passed through the locks from sea en-route to Amsterdam around 0630; an hour and a half later the Marina was docked pier side at the Marine Terminal serving the city.

Our tour for our day was described as "Traditional Holland & Windmills". We met with our tour guide around 9 AM and were soon on our way. Our guide was Yuppi and the driver Orlando. As an aside, Yuppi was a great guide, so different than the one in Bruges. The tour took us to the outskirts of Amsterdam and soon we had arrived at our first windmill, a water elevating windmill to be specific. Additionally at the site, our guide pointed out a stork's nest situated on top of a surplus utility pole, not so dissimilar from the osprey poles in North Carolina and Florida.  After the oohs and aahs and many pictures of the birds and windmills we were ready to move on. 

We continued through the suburbs for about 90 minutes providing plenty of time for Yuppi to provide ample information about the area. We passed the International Flower Exchange but were not able to stop. Further en-route we passed alongside many of the local canals where people of wealth are able to buy homes ranging into the multi-million Euro range for what appears to be relatively small houses on small lots.

Boats are a way of life as the area is laced with canals, all seemingly interconnected.

Using the Selfie-Stick!

The Netherlands has windmills of many styles; we saw many of the 21st century version producing electrical power for the homes and in some cases specifically for the water lifting stations.

Our next stop was at Delft, the home of the Delft porcelain and china factory. This was an interesting stop. Our Delft company guide walked us through the process of producing the generally "blue & white" ceramics. We saw painters at work, saw demonstrations on the pouring of clay and workers processing the pieces for continuity, texture and general quality. Seems that when painted the Delft design looks to be black but through the process, the cobalt in the black pigment actually converts from black to blue establishing the traditional Delft blue.

As with most tours, the gift shop stands between the guest and the exit. We came out with a few post cards but I saw one woman in our group purchase a vase for about 12 hundred Euros plus the various fees, shipping and insurance, wow!

After the factory tour we were driven into the town where Yuppi led us on a 20-minute walking tour and then released us to find lunch on our own. As we were situated in the city center there were plenty of restaurants and street cafes from which to choose. We had ham & cheese sandwiches and of course I had a local beer though I don't recall the name/brand; it was not Heineken.

Yep, there was cheese available for sale.

While having lunch we were witness to a couple of weddings. Apparently both were being held at the city government building but the crowd had gathered in the central square so in addition to invited guests, these lucky couples had hundreds of non-invited viewers, photographers and general gawkers, not us of course.

Wedding transportation was of interest in that one couple and party came to the square in a horse drawn "chariot" (for lack of a better word); actually it looked like a middle ages hearse, with spiffy drivers, decked out horses and a tricked out wagon. The second couple was perhaps a touch more modest arriving and I guess departing in a tiny white Fiat adorned with flowers.

We saw a local TV personality filming a segment on caring for household plants. "You put the moss in here..."




As directed by Yuppi, we were all standing by the big blue heart at the appointed rendezvous time, 2:00 PM or so.

More practice with the Selfie-Stick.

From Delft we traveled into The Hague, the seat of government for the Netherlands though the capital is considered to be Amsterdam. 

We didn't do much more than drive by many of the government buildings though we had a 5-minute stop for photos of one of the palaces or some such place. Basically another selfie opportunity as Sheila decided to remain on the bus.

Returning to Amsterdam and not too far from the airport, Yuppi "pointed out" the "Dolly Parton" bridge. For those who were on the Australia MART, other than being more contoured, the "Dolly Parton" bridge was not so different than the "Madonna" bridge we saw in Sydney Harbor.

By 4:30 PM we had returned to the Marine Terminal but before boarding the ship, Sheila and I took the opportunity to sit in what else but a wooden shoe, a shoe of gargantuan size.

The ship's scheduled departure was at 6 PM but at 6:15, 6:30 and even 6:45 we were still tied up. Could it be someone hadn't made it back to the ship? We didn't think ships waited. By 6:45 the only connections to the pier were one small gangway and of course the mooring lines. We were watching from our balcony hoping to see just who would come running back on; and when it happened if everyone on board would be watching and cheering. 

At around 6:50 something more ominous occurred, the deck hands were back ashore reinstalling rat guards on all the lines; for those familiar with ship moorings that was not a good sign. Within a few more minutes an announcement was made that we would not be departing Amsterdam tonight. Seems that a storm had kicked up and the Port Authority, the pilot and the skipper had decided that exiting via the locks to sea would be unsafe. In the words of the cruise director, we would be facing winds of 50 "kilometers", again for those with nautical backgrounds, the idea of caving to a 30 mph wind seemed a little overly conservative. Apparently between the first and second announcement someone on the bridge had advised the cruise director that "kilometers" was incorrect and that she should have reported winds in excess of 50 knots or between 55-60 mph. Now I understood, yes 50+ mph winds during a locking exercise and a pilot transfer at sea would not be a good idea.

This change would impact our itinerary; no longer would we sail to Bremerhaven & Hamburg. We would remain in Amsterdam until 1500 on Saturday and then depart directly for our Oslo port call on Monday with a sea day in between on Sunday. Actually most people we spoke with were okay with the change allowing for an extra day in Amsterdam; for us we could now take a walk through the old city along the canals and get the true flavor or more likely aroma of Amsterdam.

With the departure canceled it was time for dinner, tonight we were in The Polo Grill, basically a steakhouse. Sheila had a steak and I had veal oscar. Noticing a Dundee Hills, Oregon Pinot Noir on the wine list, I decided to give it a try. I liked it; perhaps during the Fall 2015 Pacific Northwest trip we can find the Droughin Family Estate Winery

Though some are dark, here are a few more ship pics. The place is loaded with glass fixtures and decorations throughout.

So ended cruise day #3.