NOTE: It seems my WordPress account was no longer connected to FB so my first post did not appear. Hopefully, it is now fixed.

Saturday, September 7, started off with the breakfast buffet in the hotel. They have a nice selection of foods – cereals, fruits, cheese, cold cuts, breads, eggs, bacon, sausages and a coffee machine that makes espresso drinks and regular coffee.

We planned to do the hop on, hop off bus tour today so we could see a bit more of the city. Don, Frankie and I walked down the street to a souvenir shop that sold tickets. We had vouchers from the hotel and they told us it would be cheaper to get the tickets on the bus. So, we walked down to the closest bus stop to wait for Celia and Barb. Frankie had called a taxi for them.

We have found that the reception desk at the hotel is not the best source of information and not real helpful. When we checked in we had the trouble with our rooms being cancelled. They took our credit cards for incidentals at that time, but I came back to my room to a note saying I had a ‘high balance’. When I called, they said they had not credit card on file!

The day before when Frankie went to get our tickets for the Van Gogh museum, the woman ordered two then was not able to get the other three and told him there was nothing she could do. And there was other misinformation given.

Rainstorm

Standing in the rain with thunder and lightening

As we waited, it started to rain, then it started to pour. We didn’t have umbrellas (Amsterdam is like Seattle in a lot of ways. One being that many people wear rain jackets or just go in the rain. We didn’t have either.) We ended up running over to the canal boat area where there were some umbrellas. That helped but we still got wet.

Amsterdam is a city of bicycles. There are bike pathways next to the sidewalks and the cyclists get a bit upset if a person is in their way. For the most part, the cyclists follow the rules of the road but we all wondered if the bikes have right away over pedestrians and vehicles. Driving here must be very frustrating since there are small roads with pedestrians and bikes everywhere. Some of the Uber or taxi rides have been a bit frightening. While standing in the rain we saw cyclists go by with no rain gear and getting soaking wet, even the little kids. Also, no one wears helmets.

After taxi issues, Celia and Barb finally showed up and we caught the next bus. There were headphones that you plugged into the side of the bus and listen to the narrative. It was okay but it seemed like the attraction was almost past before they started talking about it.

Rijksmuseum

Old apartment buildings

One of the only windmills in Amsterdam (photo credit:Frankie)

We passed the museum area, the concert area, a lot of apartment buildings, went thru the ship docking area, and then thru the diamond quarter. We decided to get off in the diamond area and go to a Delft shop and use the bathroom. It was around 1:00 and we were wanting a snack and a beer. Celia and Barb decided to continue the tour and Don, Frankie and I went around the corner to a cafe.

The buildings in Amsterdam are built on soft soil so they pound wooden pilings into the ground and then the buildings are built up no more than around 4 stories. Many of those buildings are now leaning.

At the cafe, Don and Frankie got some calamari and I got some Dutch cheese, great brown bread, and pickles. It rained again a little and since we were outside we put up the umbrella. After finishing our beer and wine, we took off for the red light district.

There were a lot of people, suggestive signs and things (i.e., penis bottle opener) in windows, the smell of pot everywhere, many shops selling same, and we saw one woman in a window. This area has had a lot of problems with tourists getting drunk and puking and peeing in the streets so they don’t allow tours anymore and also have cracked down with fines for those things.

We ended up at The Old Nickel, which is a bar and hotel. Don had stayed there in 1968 when he was 24 and in the army. It was a funky old place with wood wainscoting and walls. The thing I noticed was that the various glasses, beer mugs, etc. on a ledge around the top of the room were sparkling clean! The bathroom smelled like it hadn’t been cleaned in the hundreds of years the place had been around, though.

1614 Church

Red light district

Red Light District Canal

The Old Nickel

Then we walked to the Dam Square which has restaurants around it, there was a band playing across the street, and thousands of people. We got a table at one of the restaurants outside and had wine. Then took an expensive (ripped off) taxi ride back to the hotel. It was about 4:30 by then and had been a long day with a lot of walking. My feet hurt!

Dam Square

Euro Pub on the Dam Square

We all met up and went to dinner at Black Restaurant. It was another small, intimate place on one of the canals. Most of us got steak that was very good. It all came with unlimited fries and salad, which got Frankie singing Red Robin, in reference to the Seattle area restaurant which has unlimited fries.

The Black Restaurant

My rare Butcher Steak with pepper sauce and the basket of fries and salad.

The Black Restaurant on the canal (photo credit: Don)

The dinner was another success that we all enjoyed. The day had its ups and downs as far as weather but we saw a lot of sights and enjoyed it all. Sunday we get on the ship.