Amsterdam – Day 2 Saturday September 21, 2024

 

It was a long overnight flight from the United States to Amsterdam.  We left Fort Wayne at 11:15 am and had a short hop to Atlanta.  We rode the tram to the International Terminal and boarded  flight DL72 with a departure time of 5:30pm. 

We flew on a large Airbus that held close to 450 people.  As it got dark we tried to sleep, but most of us were lucky to catch only  a few hours of sleep.  The flight was close to 8 hours long.  With the time difference, we arrived in Amsterdam as the sun came up at 8am on Saturday morning (still 2am back home).

We all cleared customs and grabbed our bags for the bus ride into town.  The Emerald/Mayflower cruise ship was parked east of Centraal Station.  

We quickly checked in at the ship knowing our rooms wouldn’t be ready until later that afternoon.  Then a group of us took off to explore the city.

Centraal Station

Centraal Station is where most people come in to Amsterdam and all the streets and canals radiate off from it.  We walked down Damrak, which means Outer Harbor, this used to be the Amstel River.

Olde Kerk (Old Church)

  We noticed all the shops and eateries.  Bertie went into one of the waffle shops and came out with this waffle creation that was covered in white chocolate and topped with Bien Chocolate squares.  It was warmed so it was a soft gooey mess.  Enough to share with everyone.  It was delicious!

We soon walked by the Beurs van Berlage that was once the Stock Exchange.  The Bull still sits on the sidewalk outside. 

We entered Dam Square lined by the Royal Palace, DeBijenkorf (upscale shopping mall).  This part of Amsterdam is very busy, with lots of tourists walking about and bicycles racing by.  We had earlier been warned to stay out of the Red Lane which is dedicated to bicycles, motor bikes and very small two seater cars.  All moving at break neck speed.

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

Royal Palace (not really a palace more a seat of government)

We ventured to  the Singel Canal to view the floating flower market, Bloemenmarkt.  It did not disappoint.  There were tons of tulips bulbs of every shape and size.  Many were just in loose bins, however you had to search out the bagged bulbs with the certificate if you wanted to take them home to the US.  We continued to walk and marvel at all the beautiful fresh flowers and bulbs.  It was so sad that the majority of it could not be taken with us.

Floating Flower Market on the Singel Canal

We continued walking the small streets that lined the canals.  Bicycles were parked everywhere, along with small little cars.  Many of which I had never heard the name of.  We had to very careful walking through here because traffic, motorized and non-motorized was moving fast.  They knew where they were going, although we tourists were just enjoying the architecture and quiet back streets of this beautiful city.

We back tracked to the DeBijenkorf shopping mall and walked past upscale names like, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada and some we had never heard of.  We rode the escalator to the fifth floor where a self-serve cafeteria had sandwiches, sweets and drinks to choose from.  We rested our weary feet, grown tired from walking on the old, uneven cobblestone streets.

Beautiful Canals

small odd cars

We took some back streets which went through the notorious Red Light District of Amsterdam.  It was pretty tame in the daylight with plenty of bars, bakeries and stores selling marijuana products.

Once back at Centraal Station, we headed back to the ship to check into our rooms.  We all were looking forward to a shower and perhaps a short nap.  I ventured to the roof top to enjoy the view of all the water traffic plying  the IJ (eye) River.  There was all means of transportation from ferries running back and forth to canal boat tours, barges and even an extremely large cruise ship, heading out to sea.  The police boat was ever present checking out questionable boaters.

Three large barges plying the river - one carrying gravel/sand

At 6pm, we all went to the lounge for a safety presentation by the Cruise Director and an explanation about how the tours would go on.  We ended with a brief presentation from the Head Chef about tonight’s dinner.  Then it was off to the Dining Room for our first exquisite dinner of the cruise. 

What a whirlwind day we had, and this is just the beginning.