The flight from IAH to Amsterdam was uneventful. There is a seven hour difference between where we will be on this trip and US Central Time Zone. We arrived within minutes of the scheduled arrival time (9:15 am local time). There were no issues in finding my checked bag and getting through Immigrations/Customs. We had received an email regarding where to find our Tauck driver depending on which Arrival Hall we were deposited into. As soon as I walked out of the baggage claim, there was someone with a Tauck sign who guessed my name and sent me off to the shuttle. About 20 minutes later, we were at the Intercontinental Amstel Amsterdam hotel. Dave had yet to arrive so I decided to wait for him to arrive before checking in.
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| Intercontinental Amsterdam Hotel |
The hotel is bordered on two sides by canals. Canals are everywhere. The temperature is in the mid-50's and there is lots of sunshine....perfect!
I sat out in front of the hotel for awhile and quickly came to the realization that, in Amsterdam, bicycles are the dominate species. There are bicycles EVERYWHERE and they zip around almost oblivious to autos or pedestrians. Pedestrians especially have to be extremely alert or they will be mowed down.
Davoid arrived and we checked in. We were told our room would not be ready until 3:00 pm. So, we left our bags with the concierge and headed off to explore the city.
During our three hour trek, we walked over to the Botanical Garden (didn't go inside), the Wertheim Park (oldest park in Amsterdam [1815]), the Portuguese Synagogue, Jewish Cultural Quarter Dam Square, Old Town, Sea Palace (didn't eat there), Central Train station (didn't take a train), the Red Light District (just looked) and shared a fish sandwich from a street vendor.
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| Lots of canals and house boats |
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| Lots of bakeries |
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| Lots of hashish shops |
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| Lots of cannabis shops |
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| Royal Palace in Dam Square |
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| National Monument in Dam Square |
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| Dam Square |
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| Dam Square |
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| Royal Palace in Dam Square |
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| David in Dam Square |
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| Central Station |
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| Central Station |
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| Sea Palace |
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| Display Cases in Red Light District |
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| Display Cases in Red Light District |
By the time we arrived back at the hotel around 3:30 pm, we had put in about 5 miles. Unfortunately, we were told our room was still not ready. We were given a coupon for a free drink at the bar (which was closed) and told the room would be ready in 30 minutes and someone would come fetch us. About 40 minutes later, we went back and were told they needed another 5 minutes. About 10 minutes later, we were led to our room. It is a nice sized room and very comfortable.
Tonight, David wants to go back down to the Red Light District...just to say we did. Tomorrow,
Saturday, (Day 1 of the tour), we will have breakfast at the hotel and meet the Tour Directors at the hospitality desk in the hotel lobby at 9:30 am. We need to have our bags tagged and ready to be picked up from our room before 10:30 am. We will then check out from the hotel and have until 3:00 pm to do more sight seeing in the City. David is suggesting we visit the Dutch Resistance Mueseum.
At 3:00 pm, we are to meet in the hotel lobby to take the motor coach to the MS Espirt, embarking at 3:30 pm. We will have dinner on-board ship. On Sunday (Day 2), Tauck will take us on a tour of the Rijksmuseum and then take a canal cruise through Amsterdam. Afterwards, we will take a motor coach to catch up with the boat which will have been heading south.
Update: We went back over to the Red Light District after dark and wandered around. Interesting but it did not live up to all the hype. We did split a foot long hot dog with all the trimmings. David just had to have some of Amsterdam's famous fries. Carb City!!
I also picked up some cheeses for the kids.
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