Goodbye Amsterdam

Tuesday 11-8 our first day on the boat. We awake to a sunny morning with the  boat still docked in Amsterdam. This morning we get a guided canal cruise to other parts of the city, then a brief walk around the city center including the flower market. We then get a bus tour to meet the ship which has left Amsterdam to go through the locks into the Rhine canal.

Cheese delivery bike

The tour is very well planned and comfortable and we can relax and let the tour people sort out the traffic and logistics, something we have been doing since we arrived last week in Amsterdam.  For example, on our bus ride to meet up with the ship we make a brief stop at a functioning Dutch windmill.  We meet our ship in Wijk on the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal. This is a canal that was built to connect the port city of Amsterdam to the main shipping artery of the Rhine. Its course follows a generally southeasterly direction as it goes through the city of Utrecht towards Wijk where it intersects the Lek branch of the Rhine.

Floating flower market

We have a leisurely lunch on the ship as we sail to Cologne Germany.  This on of our longest sailings which will take us until Wednesday morning.  During the afternoon we hear about all of the things we can do when we dock at the various stops.  We retire for a quiet time watching the river go by from our balcony.

Dining room

We have our first winemaker dinner this evening and it is hosted by Barry Collier of Collier Falls.  He was a movie maker in Los Angeles who transitioned into wine making 20 years ago.  We have 4 estate wines that are 100 percent of the varietal: Zinfandel, petite Sarah, primativo and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Each food course is paired with a specific wine and is absolutely wonderful.  If you are reading this you would assume we have probably gained 20 pounds by now but the portions are much smaller that typical American portions so a dinner like this is possible and still not feel like you will explode.

We retire to a great nights sleep, ready for another day.We could have listened to some classical music in the lounge, but we will save that for another night.

In Transition

The AmaPrima in Amsterdam Harbor

Monday 11-7 is the transition day from our apartment to our cruise ship the AmaPrima. We decide that we will take our bags to the ship, meet our friends and head off to the national museum the Rijksmuseum.  A very smooth transition with a warm welcome at the Amaprima which is docked at the cruise terminal in Amsterdam. We relax with a coffee, meet Ed and Linda and we are off on a gray and drizzling morning.

The Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague in 1800s and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, the current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened its doors in 1885. In April 2013, it reopened after a ten-year renovation which cost €375 million it is the most visited museum in the Netherlands. The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection of 1 million items from the years 1200–2000, among which are masterpieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. It is amazing to contrast the artists at the Van Gogh museum with the older Dutch masters.

Rembrandt's "The Nightwatcher"

After we wear ourselves out we get lunch in the area and move to the officially check in and get our room on our ship.  Everything goes well and our stateroom is ready with our luggage.  The ship is the newest of the Amawaterways fleet, built in Netherlands.  It is 443 ft. long with 85 staterooms. The AmaPrima is somewhat unique in that the majority of staterooms feature double-balcony configurations, one side is a French verandah, with floor-to-ceiling doors that open wide, and the other is an actual balcony, with comfortable chairs.

Our stateroom

Balcony and French verandah, with floor-to-ceiling doors

We take it easy and have an orientation from the captain and crew then a greeting from the president of the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley the trade association of over 60 wineries and 150 grape growers in this area of Sonoma County.  It is our favorite area near our home.  We then taste wines from the Dry Creek region other than the 6 wineries hosting our cruise.  Its also a mixer to enjoy wine and meet other travelers and the owners of the host wineries.

The lounge on the AmaPrima

After the reception we have a wonderful dinner in the main dining hall.  After dinner we retire and plan for the next day.

A Lazy Sunday

Houseboat on Prinsegracht Canal

On a lazy Sunday  11-6 we watch the rain, then the sun, drink coffee and plan for our scheduled visit to the Anne Fran House, but for the morning we try the normal part of life, the laundry since we have a washer and dryer in the building.

For 1.5 EU you can do a wash and a dry, but our change doesn't exactly work since our host said it was .5.  So after loading the wash and the soap and being short, we remove them  and wait for the stores to open.  The first one can't give us change because of their automatic change system. We then try another store and get change. Reading this is probably boring, and there at least ten more steps before we have our clothes done, and its an excellent example of how things can be different in another country, including reading the instructions in Dutch.

Cafes provide blankets for chilly mornings.

Half way through we go to a local coffee shop which has benches outside with blankets to enjoy your coffee and street watching.  This was a definite tension reducer on a slow Sunday morning. People in Amsterdam are not in a hurry on Sunday.

Cafe Sonneveld

We meet Ed and Linda at Sonneveld for lunch.  Its a charming local Amsterdam place.  We have a lazy lunch of soups and sandwiches, plus beer of course. Locals begin to stream in and by the time we leave the place is full.

Then its off to the Anne Frank house and museum.  The thought that it is right down the street from where we are staying makes us pause.  The house includes the rooms that they occupied and walking through them gives you a slight sense of what they experienced while hiding.  The collected writings and commentary by people that knew her made her seem like a normal girl caught in a terrible world. There is also commentary from people who have visited the museum and a place for you to sign and leave your thoughts.

Interior drawing of Anne Frank House

We take the rest of the afternoon to decompress and relax.  We are doing a pizza dinner because we feel that is one food we probably will not see for a while.  We select La Perla in our neighborhood on a busy street called Little Italy. That doesn't work out because of the wait, but being little Italy there is another one, Hostaria. It is the size of my living room, they have somehow managed to cram a kitchen, three chefs, 20 tables and a waitresses into it: it’s a wonder there’s room for any diners at all. Our meal was excellent and we weren't sorry it was our second choice.

Red Light District

Ed wants to see the famous red light district which is a short cab ride away.  In stark contrast to our quiet neighborhood, its crowded and a real sensory overload ranging from the women in their windows to shops that sell everything about sex. There are a few museums thrown in like the sex museum and the marijuana museum and plenty of bars.  We walk around and take a cab back to our neighborhood for night cap at the Cafe De Prins which is practically empty on a sleepy Sunday.

Local beer at Cafe de Prins

Day at the Museum. Night on the canals.

On Saturday 11-5 we awoke to a rainstorm and a bit of confusion because our friends and us had different times for the Van Gogh Museum.  So we watch the rain from our apartment window and enjoyed good coffee and local croissants.  We order our Uber ride to the museum and take off by ourselves.

Van Gough Museum

At the museum we walked around the museum area in alternating sunshine and clouds.  The Van Gogh museum is spectacular. It is dedicated to the works of Van Gogh and his contemporaries and located at the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw.  It opened in 1973 and was designed by Gerrit Rietveld and Kisho Kurokawa. The museum's collection is the largest of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world. Last year the museum had 1.9 million visitors. We were lucky being one of the first in for the day we went backward and saw the top 2 floors with virtually no other people.  That all changed as we got to the first floor.  Admission is limited and the line can be very long.  So after a visit to the museum cafe in the museum for good coffee.

3rd floor of Van Gogh Museum. No people

It took us well over three hours to go through the three floors and special exhibits a wonderful experience.  As we were leaving we were greeted by our friends who were just arriving and another rain shower, but we took refuge under the eves of the building and listened to a musician playing for the crowd.  We then walked a short distance to a cafe, the Pompa, for a wonderful salmon salad and then back to our apartment.

Lunch at Cafe Pompa

On Saturday there is a farmer's market, the Noordermarkt,  in the square directly on the other side of our apartment so not to miss trying to be a local we were off for raspberries, croissants and quiches for the next days breakfast. The Noordermarkt is so popular, that it draws crowds not only from the nearby Jordaan, but also from the whole city and from distant cities. People can buy fresh healthy food and the market has became a real social phenomena and recently a book (in Dutch) has been published about it.

Baked goods at farmers market.

As we were walking back to our apartment we noticed one of the local pubs was very crowded and when we circled back a few minutes later a hearse had pulled up and everyone was out on the street singing we assume to the deceased who probably was probably a frequent visitor to the pub before passing from this life.

Saying farewell.

We take it easy for a few hours and listen to the music coming from the Noordermarkt to the living room of our apartment.  We are then off to a special dinner aboard the only antique riverboat in Amsterdam which has been transformed into a charming sailing fine dining restaurant. The Henry Schmitz, was built in 1898 and sailed as a ferry on the Rhine river. Then is was completely restored in 2000 with teak and mahogany, combined with the beautiful copper bar and comfortable red upholstered chairs which gives the boat a very warm and classic look and a very cozy intimate atmosphere.

Our dining compartment

The dinner was excellent, Ed and Linda brought a special wine from one of our outings in California and the dinner is first class.  We  cruise the canals of Amsterdam with extra lights on buildings because it is a once a month museum night when all the museums are open and there are large numbers of people are out.  We have the only table for 4 at the stern of the boat that almost feels like a private event.  Since the boat has no galley on board we stop several times at a caterer for the next course.  As we finish we dock and walk home and as we open the door to our building it starts to rain. Time to end the day.

Amsterdam at night 

Friday and its a food day

On Friday 11-4 we had a rainy start so we just had breakfast in our apartment and watched people start the day.  There are many dogs in Amsterdam and in the morning they get their walks, exercise and yes a ride on the bicycle.

Morning view from apartment

We went of the Jordaan Food Tour through Eating Amsterdam with our guide Rudolf who has been an Amsterdam resident for much of his life an has a deep knowledge of the history, art, architecture and the way people live their lives in Amsterdam. He also has a love of american blues, especially early delta blues.  We learn about Amsterdam humor and how over powered the less than a million Amsterdam residents feel about the 17 million tourists that visit each year.

Rudolph

We visit 8 places in the Jordaan our adopted neighborhood.  They were tastes foods that the Dutch calls snacks: poffertjies (small pancakes) at the Cafe De Prins,  advocaat pastry at Patisserie Anesta, herring and kibbeling from the north sea at Vis Plaza, beer and bitterballen at Cafe De BlaffendeVis, ossenworst and grillworst sausage at Butcher Louman, local farm cheese of various ages at Jwo Lekkernijen, broodje pom and baka bana sandwiches from Surinam and Indonesia at Swieti Sranang and finally Dutch apple pie and beer at Cafe Papeneiland.  Remember we had just a taste at each location and it was great walking through the neighborhood. We learned that on a visit to this cafe Bill Clinton had 4 pieces of apple pie.

Poffertjies

Pastries

Vis Plaza,

Bock beer and bitterballen 

Butcher Louman,

Cheese at Jwo Lekkernijen

Apple pie

Tom, Grandpa Papeneiland and Rudolph at Papeneiland

We then did a bit of food shopping and home for a rest. We met up with our friends from North Carolina Ed and Linda at De Regeir in the heart of Jordan is from 1896 and is one of the oldest pubs in the neighborhood. The property has been decorated and restored to what it is today: a characteristic combination of authenticity, Art Nouveau and Art Deco influences.  We had a great dinner of Venison, lamb and short ribs.  We walked back to our apartment enjoying the neighborhood in the evening, very lively and to be a part of.

Our neighborhood in Amsterdam

We had a great flight to Amsterdam by way of Washington Dulles, landing in Amsterdam around 7:00 AM local time.  Luckily our apartment wasn't rented the day before and our host Cido allowed us to check in early.  So with the usual logistics of getting some Euros, sorting out the cell phone situation, we were in our apartment by about 9:00 AM.  It was exactly what we had hoped for, right on the Prinsengracht Canal in the Jordaan neighborhood.

Living room

The neighborhood was originally a working-class neighborhood, that fell into ruin and has become one of the most expensive, upscale locations in the Netherlands. It is home to many art galleries, particularly for modern art, and is also dotted with speciality shops and restaurants. Rembrandt spent the last years of his life in the Jordaan, on the Rozengracht canal.

We took a stretch your legs walk and visited the local supermarkets Jumbo and Al Heijn.  We purchased caesar salads or lunch that included an odd dutch treat, potatoes. which we promptly took out. A quick nap and then off to a walk about going by the Anne Frank House and we check out the Cafe de Prins where we will begin our Jordaan food tour tomorrow.

View from apartment

Amsterdam to Zurich by way of the Rhine River

“To wander is to be alive.” - Roman Payne

Part 2 of this journey

This is the second journey of our long planned 4 trip retirement adventure.  First we went to Vietnam and Cambodia now Europe, then next year we are off to Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

Itinerary   

We start our journey in Amsterdam. We have rented an apartment in a canal house right on the Prinsengracht canal or Prince's canal. The apartment is the top floor of a 17th century canal house. Many of Amsterdam’s canal houses were built during the height of the Dutch Golden Age, serving as home and workplace, and were distinguished by the striking gables and dual entrances.

We then board the "Amaprima" in Amsterdam for an 7 day cruise down the Rhine River disembarking in Basel, Switzerland.

We will be stopping in Cologne, Germany, Rudesheim, Germany, Heidelberg, Germany,  Strasbourg, France, Breisach, Germany and ending our cruise in Basel, Switzerland.

Many of these towns date back to the 13th century with cobbled streets, castles and cathedrals

Then we travel travel to Zurich to get our flight back to the US.