Day 2 September 13, 2023 Exploring Amsterdam

Our plane ride was pleasantly uneventful. That's all you can hope for when it comes to air travel.  

The three hour layover in Dallas made it effortless to get from one gate to the next and we didn't even need to change terminals.  And, although Wayne warned me that the Amsterdam  airport was very large and would be a very long walk and we should get wheelchair assistance, we did not have any but didn't need it.  I guess it just depends on your gate.  The only delay was in waiting for our luggage.   It  was about an hour before  the luggage arrived at the carousel.  

The flight from Dallas to Amsterdam, 9 1/2 hours was fine and with the help of two benedryl I slept on and off pretty well.  It's now 5:45 pm here in Amsterdam and except for the (approximately 4 hours of sleep on the plane, we've  been awake about 28 hours since waking up yesterday morning in Mesa.

Since we came in a day early, to explore a little of Amsterdam on our own, and  to be sure that there weren't any flight delays that would cause us to miss the cruise ship....Viking did not transfer us.

I hired a car service, Martin's Transfer Service and they were right on  time at Schipol Airport and we had a very nice ride into the city, straight to our hotel.  

Our hotel, The Bank Hotel has proven to be a great choice.   I struggled with choosing a hotel.   Many of the smaller hotels do not have elevators.  The large, chrome and glass hotels do, but none were convenient to get from the hotel to the  central area and walk about given our walking abilities.  The hotel staff has been excellent and very accomodating.  We arrived at the hotel at 10:30 a.m.,  obvioulsy too early to check in.  

They held our luggage and helped us with maps of the area.

So, off we trecked, to see the sights. Here you walk or you ride a bicycle .  There are thousands of them.  People of all ages ride a bicycle instead of cars.  

We walked to the Dam Square, where we saw the  Royal Palace Amsterdam  (Koninjlijk Palace).  We were really lucky to be able to go in and tour the palace since we didn't buy advance tickets.  The palace was built in the 16th century and was the reception palace of King Willem-Alexander.  The original   palace was built as the city hall of Amsterdam. It is one of the most important monuments of the seventeenth century. In 1808 it was used as a palace by King Louis Napoleon and palace it remained since then. 

Leaving the Palace and Dam Square we needed a stop to rest.  While we weren't really hungry even though it was noon, we found a shop selling sandwiches and apple cake.  The Netherlands are famous for apple cake.  Beth and I split a piece as well as a delicious chocolate croissant with a custard filling!   A great reason to get off our feet for a bit.

From there we headed to the Central Train Station where we were to take a canal cruise at 3 pm.   The canal cruise was a lot of fun.  We had a fun guide from Captain Jack's canal cruises and for a pleasant, sunny 1 1/2 we cruised the canals while he pointed out some of the buildings and the history of Amsterdam.  

Houseboats that are the primary residences for some.

Some of the houses are built angled out, leaning toward the street.  There's a block and tackle at the top of many as furniture can't get up the narrow steps andust be hoisted so the houses are built with block and tackles.

The area around the Anne Frank house. We couldn't get in, tickets go on sale 6 weeks in advance.  I was definitely on my computer to get the tickets on the exact date and time only to learn that the Anne Frank house is closed today and tomorrow for maintenance, (scheduled); the only two days we are here.   

Oh well, it's a reason to come back!

Manyof the houses are painted black.  This goes back to the Black Plague when a black strip of paint marked houses where the plague was.   Over the years, well after the worries of the Black Plague, the houses were fully painted black as paint was expensive and it was easier to paint the entire facade black.

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The Love Bridge. Kissing while under.the bridge guarantee a very long marriage and a happy one!

This building is beautiful

  It's where they made coins!

The beginning and end of our tour, the Central train station.

After our canal ride, we walked back to our hotel.   We had made a promise to get to the Red Light District at night to 'see' for ourselves.  Well, that's not happeneing.  We are beat!  

We ate a marvelous dinner here at the hotel, the first 'real' meal since the 5:00 am breakfast on the plane. I was charging my phone, so no pictures of dinner.  But it was very good.

Tomorrow, we have breakfast at the hotel.  Restaurants don't normally open until 9:30 for breakfast????   But here at the hotel, it starts earlier.    Then we are off to the Rijksmuseum and eventually to the Viking longboat, the Gersemi, to sail down the Rhine.