Day - 11: Saturday, June 6, 2015
Starting Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Bypassed Location: Bremerhaven & Hamburg, Germany
Ending Location: At Sea En-route to Oslo, Norway
Well cancellation of the Bremerhaven/Hamburg stop will mean a lost opportunity for a German beer but I'll make up for it during the Berlin excursion later in the week. I think we like most were not really disappointed for the itinerary change as it gave us more time in Amsterdam, after all we hadn't even walked the streets or seen the Rick Steves recommended sights but now we had until our 3 PM departure time to explore.
Near our pier location was the Amsterdam home port for river cruisers. Here we saw several cruise lines represented, most notably, Avalon and Viking, both with two or more river ships boarding their passengers for the beginning of their European river adventures.
It was early, only about 10:30 AM but people were out and about, mostly tourists for sure, but the city was alive. We walked through the heart of the old city, also designated as the "red light district" though at such an early hour "red lights" were dimmed.
As most know, Amsterdam is a very tolerant city, evidenced by the smoke shops (from cigars to green leafy stuff) lining the street. No problem for us, as we wouldn't know what to ask for even if we entered such a shop.
We headed off to the local flower market, with my hopes of a commercial wholesale/retail market but that is actually nearer the airport and not accessible for us today. Anyhow after a walk of about 1.5 miles we reached the market, a tourist attraction to be sure but nevertheless, a place loaded with flower bulbs and tubers and a fair amount of cut flowers as well.
Some of the cars are so small, wouldn't want the back seat in the little red car. These things actually get to use the bike lanes.
After a hot chocolate for me and a fancy drink for Sheila at Starbucks we returned to the ship. By 3 PM we were underway for Oslo.
For the afternoon's "Enrichment Lecture" we listened to a presentation on 'Oslo, Copenhagen and the Vikings' presented by a traveling professor of many things, titles, credentials, degrees, etc.
The big event for the afternoon was the lock transit from inland water to the open sea. I had fully intended to watch the evolution but didn't expect such a crowd. If you look closely Sheila can be seen (4th from right) on the upper deck watching the lock approach and entry.
Bypassed Location: Bremerhaven & Hamburg, Germany
Ending Location: At Sea En-route to Oslo, Norway
Well cancellation of the Bremerhaven/Hamburg stop will mean a lost opportunity for a German beer but I'll make up for it during the Berlin excursion later in the week. I think we like most were not really disappointed for the itinerary change as it gave us more time in Amsterdam, after all we hadn't even walked the streets or seen the Rick Steves recommended sights but now we had until our 3 PM departure time to explore.
Near our pier location was the Amsterdam home port for river cruisers. Here we saw several cruise lines represented, most notably, Avalon and Viking, both with two or more river ships boarding their passengers for the beginning of their European river adventures.
It was early, only about 10:30 AM but people were out and about, mostly tourists for sure, but the city was alive. We walked through the heart of the old city, also designated as the "red light district" though at such an early hour "red lights" were dimmed.
As most know, Amsterdam is a very tolerant city, evidenced by the smoke shops (from cigars to green leafy stuff) lining the street. No problem for us, as we wouldn't know what to ask for even if we entered such a shop.
We headed off to the local flower market, with my hopes of a commercial wholesale/retail market but that is actually nearer the airport and not accessible for us today. Anyhow after a walk of about 1.5 miles we reached the market, a tourist attraction to be sure but nevertheless, a place loaded with flower bulbs and tubers and a fair amount of cut flowers as well.
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| Not sure about the costume thing but we saw several strangely dressed guys with groups of friends; is it a bachelor party thing or something? |
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| Old Familiar |
For the afternoon's "Enrichment Lecture" we listened to a presentation on 'Oslo, Copenhagen and the Vikings' presented by a traveling professor of many things, titles, credentials, degrees, etc.
The professor's message, other than relating some of the local history was to teach that the Vikings may have been misrepresented over time. First of all she insisted that they did not wear horns on their helmets. One simply has to look at the Minnesota Vikings uniforms to know that she was mistaken on this bit of history. Anyway, we came away knowing that the Vikings were good guys and gals, out to settle new territories for the good of mankind; the pillaging and plundering was simply propaganda from the "other side".
As it turns out, the lock entry/exit is in a relatively narrow channel as can be seen from the port-to-port passage with the tanker as we exited and the tanker entered to locks. Perhaps this is why we had avoided the transit last night with the 50 knot winds.
Once out of the locks we were piloted for another 1/2 hour or so until well clear of the port entry. On the beaches to the north wind was put to use for recreation but as we ventured further to sea, the wind became a source of utility power for the Netherlands.
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| Wind Farms Scattered Throughout the North Sea |
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