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Braemar
berthed at Felison cruise terminal, Ijmuiden, Holland just after
7am. A misty morning, and initially we couldn't see very far, that
soon cleared and it turned into a very warm day about 80°F.
It's
about 40 minutes by coach into Amsterdam from Ijmuiden. Amsterdam is
a lovely city with 60 miles tree-lined canals, gabled 17th and 18th
century townhouses, and 1,000 bridges. There is a bridge going for
free, but the catch is you have to transport it elsewhere. Dave and
Howard only spent half the day in the city, whilst Beverley and I
stayed until the last coach back. |
Sunrise
in Ijmuiden |
We
went for a trip on the Museumboot.
A hop on hop off canal trip taking 1 1/2hrs to compete a full circle
with 6 stops taking in most of the museums, shopping street and sites.
Museumboot
We
boarded at the Centraal Station with the idea of getting off to
visit Anne
Frank's house and either the
zoo, or maritime museum. However the queue outside Anne Frank's house
was already about 2 - 300 yards long when we got there at 10.30am and
the guide on the boat said it would take about 2 hours to get
through. So we stayed aboard. Shame as Beverley really wanted to go
inside, but we didn't have the time.
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Tree
lined Canal in Amsterdam |
We
passed many of Amsterdam's sites, including the Van Gogh Museum,
Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt House, Maritime Museum, Flowermarket, there is
so much to see here. If we had got off anywhere else we would only
have had 30mins to see anything before having to catch the next boat,
so Dave & Howard wouldn't miss for their coach back to Ijmuiden
at 12.30pm. So we ended up just doing the round trip. The canals were
pretty in most places with lots of houseboats lining the banks, some
of which didn't look in too good a state of repair, others were
lovely. We passed under many bridges sometimes having to give way to
boats coming in the the opposite direction. We only had one 'canal
boat jam' awaiting a narrow stretch through a bridge, but apparently
later on in the day during the busy season there are too many trips
on the go and the canals get quite congested. Did see some evidence
of this when sitting people/canal watching waiting for the coach back
to Ijmuiden. |
In
the afternoon Beverley and I explored all the shopping areas around
Dam Square [C17 Royal Palace and Madame Tussauds wax museum here] and
back streets. Found a big C & A which we miss here now in the UK,
and Beverley bought a top in the sale. Plenty of sex and head shops
in some of the little pedestrianised streets, and everywhere was
crowded with tourists, just like us, although many were back packers.
Plenty of hustle and bustle, trams, cyclists etc a vibrant city.
Voorburgwal
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Just
a little too hot today. There was a Hindu celebration going on in
Dam Square which was followed by a procession round the streets
halting the traffic for about 20 minutes. Beverley and I had had
enough in the heat and crowds an hour or so before the coach was due,
so we just sat with a drink by the canals and watched the goiings on.
All the various tourist coaches seem to collect their pax from the
same place and it was pretty chaotic. DFDS had a lot of people from
Newcastle on a mini-trip, Royal Princess was in Amsterdam too today
and Galaxy's change over day. |
Magna Plaza Mall |
Once
back aboard in Ijmuiden we just had time to get showered and ready
for formal night and the Captain's Welcome Cocktail Party in the
Neptune lounge. After dinner in the Thistle restaurant Howard wanted
to go to the bow. His favourite place on the ship and whenever asked
what he wanted to do next it was always to come here and stand in the
breeze watching the waves.
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Beverley
and I went to the show. Déjà Vu and Company are very
good [some of the girls were the same ones from Black Watch last
year], as was Eddie Colinton, a great comedian, and illusionist Russ
Stevens excellent. A good night. Thereafter Beverley perused the
shops for the umpteenth time, I am sure she's their best customer,
and went to bed after a game of cards in the card room |
Eddie Colinton |
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Cruise
Intro
