July 28 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We're baaaacckk.  And it hasn't changed a bit in 2 whole days!  Today's tour was very interesting.  We took a short bus ride to the north part of the city, which is across the waterway from where we're docked.  The first stop was at an attraction called This is Holland.  Visitors are escorted in pretty small groups into 3 rooms.  First was a little bit of information about how the land in the Netherlands has been reclaimed over the years and what an amazing engineering feat that was, and continues to be.  The next room was a little bit about the different parts of the Netherlands and what goes on there.  And then, the best part, where we entered a room with one of those semi-surround screens and chairs that feel like you're being suspended under a parasail.  We were asked to put our bags in the net sleeve under the seat and strap ourselves in.  Then the lights went out, the half wall in front of us folded down, and we were off.  The seats tilted forward and back and up and down, which adds to the effect of the "flight" video along with special effects like misting and smells.  We "flew" all over Holland for about 11 minutes and it was most effective.  I tried taking photos, but with the curved screen, they really didn't come out very well.  But at least you get an idea.

This is a sort of typical street scene in old Amsterdam with the interesting architecture and the canals and bridges.

The city is expanding on the north side so here you see lots of construction and lots of new, interesting apartment buildings.  Quite a contrast.

Here ware "soaring" over the canals and windmills in the country.

And zooming among the turbines that we have sailed through offshore.  This came complete with mist.

We flew over the tulip fields too quickly for me to get detail, but this part included the smell of the fields.

We really enjoyed this attraction.  Next we went to the "Adam" building (can't remember where the name came from) which used to be a 20-story Dutch Shell headquarters building.  They sold it in the late 1990s and it has been refurbished into a multi-use facility.

These are some of the things that are here which include a nightclub, a hotel, private clubs and several bars along with other attractions.

One of the popular activities is to swing over the edge on the roof which is 21 floors up.  For this frightening experience, you pay EU7.50.  They'd have to pay me EU750 to do it.

We spent some time on the lookout floor (20), where they have interesting exhibits and a restaurant, and bar.  Even the elevator up here is a show of sorts.  The ceiling was clear, and they had a light show along the shaft walls as you ascend and descend.

There was a very detailed model of the city on the ground floor.

A view of the waterway with our ship docked across the way.  These were taken through the windows which had a green tint, so everything looks a little odd.

So many new apartment buildings here.  It's very popular because it's just a quick ferry ride over to the city center and more affordable.

Watching the ships, barges and ferries all maneuvering across and down the waterway was like watching a ballet.

This small tug was really moving this barge along.  We couldn't figure out what those colorful things are.

Then we headed up to the 21st floor to check out that swing called The Lookout.

This looks pretty bad, but it gets worse.

From the other side - two people swinging.

When I zoom in, notice anything missing - like maybe BELTS or HARNESSES??

Jan doesn't believe me, but I swear they weren't wearing any safety gear.  Take another look.

Two blokes out for a casual swing.

Again, I see NO harnesses.  I don't even see a back support.  It's JUST a swing.  Are these people mad??  I mean they are actually dangling over the edge at the outer part of the swing movement.  Make that payment to me EU7,500 and maybe a stiff drink at the bar first.

Gives me the willies just looking at it.

After this soaring adventure, we met back on terra firma for (wait for it) another canal cruise!  Michael thinks this was probably our 4th canal trip.  But this time there was a twist, because it included a gin tasting!  The hype was better than the reality.  We got to sample 3 different genevers (which is the Dutch name for what we call gin) and I didn't really care for any of them.  But we were gliding again through the canals, so it was fine.  

I guess when your boat needs a tow, you call these guys.

We made it back on board right on the dot of 3:30 pm, which was all aboard time.  However, we weren't worried because the ship won't leave if you're a bit late getting back from a sponsored tour.  Do something on your own (like take a train to visit friends) and you'd darn well better be back on time or you may very well get left behind.

We did well with Trivia today, getting 12/15 for one point with our new player, Claude.  And we had dinner with a couple who were also on the Norway cruise with us, named Jeannette and Ben from New Zealand.  We were seated in a different section than our usual starboard side and unfortunately, towards the end of our meal, several tables of really noisy people were seated nearby.  It became difficult to hear so I'm glad they weren't there the whole time.  The children we were seated near last night were quieter.  As I mentioned, the passenger makeup of this cruise is really different from a typical Regent cruise,