SUNDAY, 7/6/14
Last night, the Dutch team won their World Cup Quarterfinal game. I badly wanted to stay up and walk around the neighborhood bars, checking out the crowds during the game and absorbing the atmosphere. The game kicked off at 10pm here. I just couldn’t stay awake. I’m blaming it on jet lag, but I’m sure age may also be playing a roll. I did wake up in the middle of the night, in time to see the last 15 minutes of extra time, and then the shoot-out. I could see the fans celebrating the win from our hotel window when it finished. That was as close to “venturing out” as I got.
We’re ready to venture out “full steam” today. The hotel concierge recommended the Hop-on Hop-off canal boats, over the Hop-on Hop-off buses. We enjoy ourselves, cruising the canals, and disembarking a few times to check out an area. It’s fun to eat in the small local restaurants, and wander the streets, admiring the homes, and buildings. We try two of the three available routes and feel like we’ve thoroughly seen the town.
After a refreshing nap, we go back out for a walk, heading in some new directions from our hotel. It’s still a curiosity to me to see all the “coffeeshops” full of pot smokers, in a building located next to a McDonalds, then a bakery, then a sex shop, then a Burger King. The more we walk, the more noticeable the “street people” become. Sit anywhere very long, and someone will come by scrounging through the trash.
MONDAY, 7/7/14
Today we’re booked for a tour of North Holland. We walk to the meeting site, and board a double decker bus. After a 45-minute ride out of town, we pull into a small town built around a several traditional windmills. Inside one of them, we get to observe the process of turning nuts and seeds into oils (in this case, peanuts). Another nearby windmill is running a saw and making lumber.
Next stop down the road is Volendam, where we get a short visit to a cheese factory, and eat lunch in a café near a lake. The lake used to be the Zuider Zee, a large saltwater bay. After devastating floods in 1916, a long dike (30 kilometers, or so) was built across the entrance. Eventually the saltwater was pumped out (windmills) and replaced with freshwater from rivers flowing into the former bay. Now it’s the largest freshwater lake in Northern Europe.
After lunch we take a boat across to an island. The guide walks us around a picturesque village before taking us to a wooden shoe factory. It’s a really interesting place, and we get to see a pair of shoes made. There are some really fabulous shoes in the shop. We can’t quite justify a purchase, especially when we’re going to be near our baggage limits on several upcoming flights.
We’re back in Amsterdam around 3:00 pm. After naps, we go out for a walk, looking for some of the famous french fries. So much of my life seems to revolve around a search for food. That’s not a complaint, just a statement of fact. Back in the room later, we begin making plans for our transition to the cruise ship tomorrow. Repacking this much stuff is always a challenge.