More pictures of Day 2 in Amsterdam

                                                Trailer Park on the water

                                                             

Back to the ship at 2pm, just in time for the life boat drill at 3:30.  We went up to the Crow's Nest at 4 to watch sail away. It was way too crowded to get a good seat. We needed to arrive at 3. The view from the back of the ship is almost as good as the view from the Crow’s Nest.  We skipped our normal lunch time and we are starving.

At about 4:40pm we backed away from the pier and swung 180 degrees, then headed west for the 20 mile run back to the North Sea. With bow thrusters and azipods in the stern, the maneuverability of these large ships is simply amazing. No tugs required, thank you (unless the wind is strong enough to overpower the thrusters, in which case tugs are called for).

Along the channel, and especially at the exit to the blustery North Sea, are hundreds of modern windmills.

 

 

 

Day 18-19 July 29-30 2014 ~ Amsterdam Netherlands

               Bright lights in view close by out the cabin window. Smells like an oil refinery.

We are showered, shaved, and in the Crow's Nest with coffee at 3:30 am for a ride in the early dawn light. We had to go thru 1 set of locks this morning but it was so dark it was hard to see. The banks are lined with industrial stuff like refineries, wind farms, tank farms, etc. It's a beautiful ride before sunrise, with a bigillion lights. It's almost like Disneyland after dark.

After about 3.5 hours going up the canal we made it at day break to the passenger cruise terminal. We spend all day riding the canal boats and taking way too many pictures.  By noon the sun came out and was quite warm. 

The many traditional houses along the canal are narrow, 14 to 20 feet wide, mostly 3 or 4 stories tall. Typical depth is said to be 60 feet, for a typical footprint of about 1000 square feet. With four floors, this grosses out to 4000 square feet. They are said to sell for upwards of a million dollars. At $250 per square foot, that's not too different from typical US values. The older canal front homes are sometimes tilted, like the leaning tower of Pisa, because the entire city is built on wet soil, similar to Venice. A shortage of housing leads to numerous floating residences.

Most canal front homes have a traditional beam at the peak. When these homes were used for commerce, this beam was used to hoist goods to the upper stories, which were used as warehouses.

Cargo Hoist is Typical of Most Canal Front Homes in Amsterdam

Seven Bridges Canal

yep its a boat...

        Line up to view Ann Franks house.  This is booked up weeks in advanced

The Ann Frank House and Museum

A highlight of the canal cruise was a trip by the Ann Frank house, where a diary written by a young Jewish victim of the Nazis was found after the war, by the father and sole survivor of the Frank family.  It was a very moving place.  We came back for dinner and was totally pooped.  They are showing a movie tonight called Ark with Russel Crow starting at 10:30  I am going to try and make it. 

To be continued tomorrow...

Day 17 July 28, 2014 ~ At Sea

A big Happy Birthday goes out to our friend Harry...Hope you have a wonderful day at sea....
And a great friend back home "Happy Birthday to you Bert". Hope you have a fantastic day as well
Today was another wonderful day.  Full of activities and the sun was shinning with calm sea's. They give back our passports today. They were collected when we left Boson. What they don't give back is the hours 6 of them that they stoled from us.

11:30 and the passport line is getting longer, not shorter. The HAL lady says they will not feed the immigration officers until the line is cleared. Not wishing to stand 45 minutes, Bob stole a stool from the slot machines, and slid along the line. The Dutch immigration guy was very courteous.

Noon becomes 1pm, as we set our watches ahead once again.

1pm, Mongolian buffet at poolside for lunch. We love Mongolian buffet! I goofed and poured too much red pepper from an open container, but it turned out tolerable, and  enjoyed it. Had it been too hot to eat, there would have been no problem going through the line a second time.  Tonight was also another formal night.  On formal nights you always get a special menu.  Not that we need any better food but they always make it special. 

Tomorrow is Amsterdam so excited for this country. 

 

 

Day 16 July 27 2014 ~ Stavanger Norway

Stavanger has a lot going for it. Its centre is arrayed around a pretty harbour with the quiet streets of the old town climbing up from the water's edge. It's also home to almost two-dozen museums, and is said by some to be the largest wooden city in Europe. But Stavanger's appeal is as much about atmosphere as anything else. Most nights, especially in summer, the city's waterfront comes alive and can get quite rowdy in the best tradition of oil and port cities. By Sunday morning, however, it's quiet and charming once again, for this is a place that has never lost its small-town feel.  Again today we are just walking around this cute little town.

              What a great day once again