Our first, and only port on this cruise, that isn't Norway. We've been to Amsterdam a few times before, but we always seem to find new things. This time, unfortunately, we noticed that the city is actually pretty dirty with lots of trash visible. Perhaps it was just the contrast with very clean Norway.
Our tour today was a walking tour followed by a canal tour.
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| There are more bikes than people here. Our guide warned us that they can be very aggressive, so you really have to watch out before you cross the street. There are bike lanes, and you'd better stay out of them. They really don't pay much attention to traffic lights either. |
The weather again was perfect, low 70s with a mild breeze and some high clouds.
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| These white stones in the road point out the traffic bumps in the road. |
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| This cafe, called Coffee Reefer, is a combination coffee shop and marijuana seller. Our guide said that shops such as these have helped get the street corner drug sellers off the streets and generally improved things. Be careful if you order the brownies unless you want a little "extra" kick. The apple pie is regular, though. |
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| The canals are degrading over time, so measures have to be taken to keep them up. These are some of the temporary measures. |
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| More ways to shore up the sides. |
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| And still more, but these have been made attractive at least. |
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| Before the city used house numbers, homes had plaques on them which told something about who lived there. Now, when one of those houses is torn down or renovated, the plaques are often sold and put on walls as a sort of mini museum. |
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| An amusing name for a rubber stamp shop. |
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| One of the street lamps on the central square caught my eye. |
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| Our canal boat just barely made it under the lowest bridge in the canal system. Looked like only inches to spare above the open top. The boat was driven by an electric motor. |
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| Looks like a party canal boat complete with a pretty well-stocked bar. |
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| We've seen Hop On Hop Off buses in every city of any size, but a Hop On Hop Off canal boat was a first. |
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| We saw many houses that are tilting pretty obviously. The guide said that the wooden pilings they are built on gradually rot or sink deeper into the ground. But, according to her, as long as it's not a corner house, it's mostly under control. Mmmmhhh. Not sure I'd agree with that if I lived next door. We passed one street where the owner had hired a not-so-experienced builder to make repairs, and the whole thing fell down, so it's now an empty lot. Oops. |
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| That one behind the tree looks like it could topple any minute. The blue house to the left has tried to fill in the gap, and you can see it's more of a wedge, which is much larger at the top. |
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| There were lots of tiny cars about, which makes sense. This one looks like it's not much bigger than the bicycles parked near it. |
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| This one has sort of a cute face on the it. |
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| Most of the canals have a low guard rail at the edge, but not all, as can be seen in this photo. These cars are parked so close to the edge that the driver must have a really hard time getting out. Parking at night must be a bit tricky. |
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| Some of the boats are houseboats, which pay an annual mooring fee in addition to utilities like electricity, water, and sewer hookup. These boats (or at least the mooring sites) are in high demand, and people will pay a lot for an old junker boat just to get a good mooring place. |
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| This is a church that was built to be Lutheran, not converted from something else. You can tell by the Swan at the very top (which is a bit hard to distinguish in this photo unless you zoom in.) If I understood the guide correctly, a very important influence on Martin Luther was Jan Gas, whose name translates to Goose. He was martyred but said he was dying as a goose, but would return as a swan. So swans are on Lutheran churches now. |
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| As we sailed away from Amsterdam we passed many of these turbines. They are so large when you get up close. |
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| Not sure what these tanks are, but some are rather whimsical. |
We didn't win any points on our last Trivia game and said farewell to Steve and Nanette. But a very nice French woman named Claude, who played on the very good team behind us is also staying on, so we've asked her to join us. (Claude is used for both men and women in France.)
Most everyone is packing tonight as tomorrow is the last day of this cruise. We will arrive in Tilbury, UK tomorrow morning, which will be turnover day.
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