A River Cruise in Europe: October 30, 2018 Touring Amsterdam

After a quick run through Dutch customs, we retrieved Barb's bag from Baggage. We met the rep from Viking who put us on a bus running into Amsterdam. We joined the rush hour traffic in the pouring rain. The bus driver provided alot of insights into Amsterdam's development. They continue to reclaim land from the sea and nearby A Amstel river. The land is 22 feet below sea level. The examples of engineering from the old windmills to the present are amazing. The old architecture is blended with the new designs. The bus dropped us at Ingvi, our ship for the next several days. We got to meet some nice folks wto were also on board from Virginia. Small world. We moved into our deluxe accommodations, did a quick freshen up and then bolted into town before we collapsed from lack of sleep. Fortunately, the rain stopped. We walked through the Old section crossing numerous canals. I have always heard that Amsterdam is a bike friendly city but I was astonished how well the infrastructure supports all modes of transportation. There are about 851,000 people in Amsterdam and twice as many bikes. People have their good bikes that they enjoy on the weekend and then have one or even two beater bikes for commuting to work. Bike thefts are common so you see large locks on each bike. Usually young guys get drunk and steel a bike then throw it in one of the canals when they are done riding it. They drain the canals periodically to remove all the bikes. You have to be careful crossing the bike lanes as there are frequent accidents with pedestrians. Aside from that, Amsterdam is a very clean and walkable city. In our travels, we found the Anne Frank House. The original row house is still preserved and they added a large museum next to it. It was very crowded and hard to get a pic of the house. We then set off for more exploring. We found a nice little restaurant for lunch. Also discovered that using a public restroom or WC(water closet) is not free. It cost us each 0.40 Euros. A lady sitting at the desk took our money. I have to say that the restrooms are very clean and well kept. Lunch was delicious complimented with some Dutch beer recommended by the waiter. We were getting ready to order and I was struggling reading the Dutch menu. The waiter showed us the English section a few pages back. After lunch, we hiked on then took a 1 hour canal tour boat. The tour was excellent giving us a lot of Amsterdam history. Back to the ship to rest up. We have to attend the Captain's briefing at 6:15 then dinner is served at 7:00. Then back to the cabin for the night. Our cabin has a veranda so we can watch the sights as we travel along.