Amsterdam, July 22, 2016

Sherry and I left July 21, 2016, for a two week vacation in Europe, including a week long riverboat cruise on the Rhine.  We left Tampa at about 8:00 PM on a nine hour flight to Frankfort.  From Frankfort we flew to Amsterdam, where the Rhine cruise was to begin.  We gave ourselves a couple of days in Amsterdam to recover from the flight, which was a good idea since we arrived at about 4:00 AM by Tampa time, or 10:00 AM local time, essentially missing an entire night's sleep.

The cruise company,  Uniworld,  took care of us in Amsterdam.  They had arranged a hotel reservation for us, and had a driver at the Amsterdam airport to take us to the hotel.  They had a local host, Rita, at the hotel. Several other couples who would be on the cruise were also at the hotel.  Rita gave us some orientation and then took us on a tour of the hotel followed by a walking and canal boat tour of the old city.  Then on the day the cruise started, they provided transportation by bus from the hotel to the boat.  I was incredibly impressed by Uniworld.  Everything they did was first rate.

The first thing you notice coming into Amsterdam is the bicycles.  Bicycles everywhere, parked beside the streets by the hundreds.  

  

  

Bicycles near our hotel

It is very expensive to live in the city (like New York.)  So many people who work in the city commute by train and keep a bicycle in the city for local transportation.

There are a lot of “bike lanes” – strips separated from the streets, reserved for bicycles. Small motorbikes and scooters also use these.  Fortunately, real motorcycles stay in the streets with the cars. The bicycles and scooters don’t stop for anything, and they move fast! 

The dividing line between the sidewalk and the bike lane is pretty subtle.  So it is easy to accidentally step into a bike lane and have a bicycle go whizzing by within inches.  You quickly learn to be vigilant.

Sherry was thrilled to find that our first floor hotel room had a view of a canal.

I knew that Amsterdam had canals, but I didn't understand how extensive they are.  They are everywhere in the old city.  Fortunately there are also lots of bridges.  So when you walk around, the canals don't get in the way.

Rita, our Uniworld host, gave us a guided tour of our hotel, which was surprisingly interesting.  Some history of the building is available here.  In 1916 it was an ornate office building.

Above the lobby

There was originally supposed to be a rooftop bar at the hotel, but the company was not able to get the necessary permit from the city.  So the access to the roof is normally locked and guests are not permitted to go there.  But Rita had connections and was able to get permission to take us up to the roof, where we had great views of the area around the the hotel.

After the rooftop, Rita took us on a walking tour of the old city, followed by a ride on a canal boat.  Here are some of the scenes.

Rita explained the difference between the Dutch and the Germans.  In Germany, if there is a “Keep off the grass” sign, there will be no one on the grass.  In Holland, “We will be sitting beside the sign having a picnic.”