Rhine Getaway Viking River Cruise
Day 3: Tuesday, November 02, 2021 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 50s, drizzly / scattered showers
- Steps: 17,373 Linda; 16,178 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 15
We were able to get a good night sleep. We woke, showered, and went to the restaurant for breakfast.
It was a traditional buffet.
We ate a decent amount because this morning we had a two-hour walking tour planned at 9:30.
As a sample, one plate included scrambled eggs with cooked veggies on top, some potatoes, sausage, some fruit on the
side, with orange juice and coffee.
Our Viking Guide, Shirley, met us in the lobby and we headed out. We don't know the exact route we took (not that we
needed to), but we could sort of figure some of it out. Our tour was concentrated on the lower portion of the map.
- Green line is the walk from the hotel, extensively through the city, to end at the Rijk Museum.
- Light blue line is the tram ride to near the hotel.
- Pink line is the walk from the last tram stop to the hotel.
It was overcast and drizzly most of the morning, so some images are darker and or there are drops on the lens.
Here are some of the sights we saw along the way, with some descriptions when possible, mostly in the order encountered.
Amsterdam University, also known as Roeterseilandcampus.
This is a "Stumbling
Stone". The concept was started Gunter Demnig.
These are markers through the city - and many other cities in Europe - in honor of those that lived on the respective streets that were killed during the Holocost. There have been more than 70,000 placed.
A lending library.
The black windowed building and the building with the scaffolding are old diamond cutting warehouses. The windows
are big to let in as much sunlight as possible.
The Jewish Hospital is attached to the right side of the Diamond Warehouse buildings.
The refurbished Diamond Fair, and its clock.
A crooked house. Notice the window, in the black house, above the door, on the right of the house.
More crooked houses.
The foundations are inspected regularly to make sure the homes aren't sinking further.
The Skinny Bridge (yes, it was overcast AND there are raindrops on the lens), and the manual control for the Skinny Bridge.
An old theater.
Gable stones, which represented what the resident did for a living (for the most part), such as
a butcher, or fisherman; or the homeowner's name; on the sides of houses.
The beams sticking out of the peaks of the roofs are used to lift furniture and other heavy objects into the homes.
Getting ready for Christmas (remember, it was early November already).
This houseboat could have been included with the others above, but it was particularly unique. And it we came across
it while on this walking tour.
Not a gable stone, but want to guess what this resident does for a living?
I thought the lights inside this house were interesting...
This bench locked with the seat portion up. This would be, obviously, to keep unwanted people from sitting there, or
maybe any homeless. Admittedly, though, we didn't see ANY homeless. We saw three people "begging", but that was it.
An odd looking old (?) car.
This is a decorated bike. There is an "anonymous" artist that randomly puts these out around the city and supposedly
stays nearby to watch the reactions of those that locate the bikes.
Our tour finished at the Rijk Museum. First from across the street.
We headed toward the tunnel. Here is a close up of some of the stonework on the outside.
Here is the inside of the tunnel.
The museum had a restaurant. The line to get in (not in the picture) was VERY long.
The museum had a very large work of art above this "cut". When they were renovating the space where the work was housed,
it was too large to get out of the room. So they cut this slot to lower it down, and then raise it back up again.
A couple statues outside the back of the museum.
Looking out toward the park behind the Rijk, from underneath the Rijk. As you can see, it is wet.
Also, I was standing in the middle of the bike lanes when I took the picture. Looking back at the enterance picture above,
there are four arches, the center two are for two way bike traffic, and the outer two are for pedestrian traffic.
Our tour wrapped and we started to make our way back to the hotel. Before we left on the walking tour, since our Viking Host knew we
were also particiating in the "Tastes of Amsterdam" excursion this afternon, she gave us our 24-hour metro cards for the return from
the walking tour.
So we started using the cards at the end of the walking tour - which meant we had until about noon the next day before the
cards would stop working. We could work with that...
Back at the hotel, another view outside our bathroom window, but with some daylight, with a tram in the foreground (behind the tree).
This door is actually closed. All the way. It has a good half-inch rubber trim to help prevent loud slamming, as well
as noise insulation from the outside.
Since we had a big breakfast, and we were going on a "Flavors of Amsterdam" tour, we didn't have lunch.
We met our guide, Mike, in the lobby and headed out. Our group of three included Mike (yes, it was a private tour).
Here is an approximation of our walk:
- Dark green line walk from the hotel to the underground subway (yes, there were surface trams and underground subways).
- Dark blue line subway from near the hotel to Waterlooplein.
- Medium dark green line walk from Waterlooplein to that theater.
- Medium light green line walk from the Meneer Pannenkoek cheese shop (next door to the theater) to the pancake shop, which
included the brief visit to the courtyard (I was trying to keep the colors consistent).
- Light green line walk from the pancake shop to Hulscher's.
- Light pink line walk from Hulscher's to the tram.
- Medium blue line tram ride to north of the hotel.
- Medium pink line walk from the tram to the hotel.
The subway was just as clean as the trams and we felt very safe all the time, even as Americans and tourists, and with a
camera and camera bag hanging off of me.
This is a multi-car train that had the accordian like connectors between each, just like the tram.
Also, the stops are marked with a map with lights above the door.
We arrived at our stop - Weaterlooplein - and emerged.
Here are some of the sights we captured, with some descriptions where needed / appropriate, mostly in the order they were
seen.
A particularly nice bridge - called the Blue Bridge.
The Tuschinski Theater, which just celebrated their 100th anniversary.
We think that because there were only the three of us, that we were able to go inside briefly. The ticket taker at the door
verified our vaccinations, and we had to wear a mask going inside. No problem. And we were glad we did as the theater was
restored to its original brilliance, and was named (by one organization) the #1 Most Beautiful Theater In The World.
Historically, a man and his two brothers-in-law that owned the theater, were all killed by the Nazis.
Too bad this wasn't a scratch and sniff site, because there was an aroma of fresh popcorn in the air.
And yes, we didn't notice it until afterward that the light in the center dome changed color.
The next door or two down was our first food stop, a cheese shop call Proefzolder Henri Wiliilg.
We had a sample of port wine, as well as three different cheeses that included cow and goat cheeses. This shop had quite
a variety of different cheeses, and some that are VERY unique, such as cheese with lavender, pesto, garlic, or hot peppers.
Another couple with another guide shared in our tasting. They were also traveling with Viking, but were finishing their
trip whereas we were just starting ours.
We were done with the cheese, and it was time to make our way to the next stop.
On the way, we stopped by an outdoor flower market. It was suggested NOT to buy flowers from here at this time of year
(not that we were going to) as the bulbs are considered "out of season".
We moved on toward our next food stop. Here are some more sights.
Here is another sight that we think we were able to see because of our small group size.
This courtyard is called Begijnhof 1400s Women's Community. In the right-most picture above, with the white buildings,
you may notice that are no doors visible (go back and take a quick look, I'll wait...). That's really because those are
the backs of the homes. The doors are accessed from the courtyard.
This community was built around the churches that are to the left, one with the scaffolding. One of the homes was a
sanctuary for unmarried or widowed woman who cared for the sick, poor, and or elderly. They were called Bejuines, the
last of which died in 1971.
Also in the courtyard, behind the red umbrella in the stitch panaramic above, is a gravesite.
This is the burial site of Sister Cornelia Arens. She was Catholic, and, at the time, the Protestants didn't get along
with Catholics. Sister Cornelia didn't want to be buried in the Protestant cemetery and said she would rather be buried
in the gutter. When she died, they buried her behind the statue in the stitch above. However, the next day her coffin
was found lying in the gutter. This happened two more times - apparently she really didn't want to be buried in the
cemetery, and preferred the gutter. So they wound up actually burying her... in the gutter.
Back to our trek to the food stop. Here are more sights, again, including a university building, and a pigeon
with what looked like a spider marking on its back.
We finally arrived at Meneer Pannenkoek for
some poffertjes (traditional dutch pancakes that are tiny but sweet).
Our guide is responsible for the quality of these pictures.
The pancakes were yummy, sprinkled with powered sugar and drizzled with sweet cream. We also had coffee.
About the coffee.. in the US, the cup sits on the saucer smack in the middle. However, here (at least at this shop),
the cups are offset a little - this allowed space for the spoon, sugar, creamer, or whatever. Neat idea.
We chatted with Mike a little, and he told us about himself and his family, travels, and other topics.
Also, the guide and couple from the cheese shop came in and sat at the table next too us. We think we were being followed.
Two stops down, one to go.
Shortly after exiting the pancake shop, we came across the back of the Royal Palace, with Atlas on the roof symbolizing
Amsterdam's place in the world (at the time).
I tried at least a half dozen times to try to get a good shot of this, but this was the best I could do. We were moving,
and I was, at one point, in the road, so I wasn't able to spend too much time trying to get it perfect in a hurry...
But the image contains: Poseidon, representing Amsterdam's connection to the sea; the virgin Stedenmagd. in the center,
personifying Amsterdam; personifications of continents honoring Amsterdam with a representation of trade, and the Amstel
River; representations of four continents with monkeys, a lion, and an elephant for Africa, a cow and a horse for Europe,
a camel for Asia, and native Americans and an aligator for America.
I carry the camera around my neck. One drawback of this is that after taking a picture, the menu on the touchscreen on the
back stays on for a little bit. But sometimes, depending on how the camera hangs, my body or buttons on my clothes presses
the menu - without my knowledge. And that's what happened - and the camera started taking REALLY low quality pictures.
I eventually noticed this, but not until after I took a couple hundred pictures. :-(
And a reason this is also an issue is because I frequently do a little "post-production" on the images before I post them.
This means I may color correct, brighted, darken, crop, and or straighten the pictures. My target is usually 800 pixels
wide for a portrait picture, or 1,000 wide for the landscape shots, which is most of them. When the camera takes a picture
that's 3,000+ pixels wide, I have a lot of room to work with. When the low-def images are only 720 pixels wide, I lose
the ability to manipulate the size and or orientation of the pictures without them getting even smaller.
So for a little bit, the pictures either won't be cropped, or will be smaller than the others. And will generally look
crappier. Sorry.
Anyway, ONWARD! More sights before our last stop. The sun was starting to set now too.
This store is covered with LEDs that changed scenes and was animated. I tried to capture a couple different ones.
Our third and final stop was at Hulscher's, originally a brewery.
When we arrived, we were accused of following the other couple around because they were seated there too, with their guide.
Here we were going to be trying Ginever, and bollen. There are two types of Ginever - "young" and "old".
The glass is supposed to be filled right to the brim, and it is supposed to be first sipped with the glass still on the
table, like this.
Linda tried the "young" - which is less than 50% mulled wine - and I tried the "old" - which is more than 50% mulled wine.
We each preferred the other's, so we switched, and finished the glasses.
And a third beverage which neither of us had a chance to sample (we were only permitted one).
And here is our tour guide, Mike.
After the beverage, it was time to try the bollen (it is in the foreground of the picture above of my trying to sip the drink on the table).
Bollen is a mix of flour, meat, egg, and a couple other ingredients (they can be different based on who is making it, sort of
like sausage), that is mixed, formed into a log, and refridgerated. The firm log is then cut in slices, rolled into balls,
rolled in egg whites, then breadcrumbs, and deep fried. It is actually tastier than it may sound.
We boarded the #14 tram, which happened to have a stop right outside the restaurant, and headed east toward the hotel.
We stopped a little notrh of the hotel and had a brief walk to the hotel, passing by a Mexican restaurant that was
celebrating Taco Tuesday, as well as the university, again.
We knew we had the morning to ourselves again, so we talked to Mike about some suggestions. He gave us a couple,
but stressed going to the Royal Palace. You'll have to go to the next day's summary to see what we did.
When we got outside our hotel, Dominique was heading home for the evening. We parted ways with Mike, who walked away
with Dominique.
It was dinner time and we were hungry because, let's be honest, while the snacks were good, they were by no means filling.
So we headed across the street to our favorite supermarket for some dinner.
We had salad, bread, and wine (of course).
We eventually made our way back to our room, ate, watched a little TV, and went to sleep.