Amsterdam - Arrival, Stay and Departure

One more night on board, tomorrow we would dock in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam – our final port, our disembarkation port.

 

But not before some final sightseeing and one more exquisite meal.

After breakfast we went to the lounge to listen to all of the important information about our time in Amsterdam, disembarking, paying any bar bills or for any on board souvenirs etc. We were staying in Amsterdam for 3 nights, at the same hotel as Ralph and Hanny so put our names down to share a taxi to the hotel tomorrow morning. Then it was time to start packing. We headed down to the dining room for lunch and then at 1.30pm we set off on the coaches for a 5 minute drive to the point where we would board the 'glass topped boat' for a tour of some of Amsterdam's many canals. 

It was very, very busy on the canals, lots of Sunday drivers and learners which made for some hilarious situations, especially when you add some teenage girls on a pedalo.

After the one hour cruise we got off the boat, which was now on the Amstel river, and taking our life in our hands walked behind the guide toMunt Plein and the Flower Market.

Pedestrians are easy targets in any city, but in Amsterdam the cyclists are out to get you as well as the cars, buses, trucks etc. We had been warned that the pink road sections are cycle paths and bicycles have right of way – over EVERYTHING. Any accident involving a bicycle, the other vehicle or person is always in the wrong. There has not been a case which has gone to court where the bicycle was found to be in the wrong – always not guilty.

Add to this that scooters and low powered motorcycles are allowed to use cycle paths and it becomes mayhem.

Yes there is (sometimes) a paved pedestrian path, but this is used to park the hallowed bicycles so it becomes a single path, obstacle course.

Being a pedestrian in Amsterdam takes skill and guts.

So... we had and hour's free time to wander around the Flower Market and neighbouring area.

The flower market was mainly selling bulbs and souvenirs and after a quick perusal we hastened into some quieter side streets. We found ourselves in a square with some art works for sale and then I realised that at the other end of the square was one of the things on my list of 'to do in Amsterdam'. The 3D Nightwatch, under the statue of Rembrandt – we were in Rembrandt Square.

We strolled back to our meeting point and then followed the guide back to the coaches and were driven around Amsterdam's outer areas to an area where we could see a beautiful old windmill. In the little pond opposite the windmill there was a post with a nesting stork, and chicks, on top. There were a few sheep, a couple of cows, chickens, geese and a rabbit. I think our guide was a little bemused at the interest in a few sheep.

That evening we managed to get tables together, so that all of us who were on the coach trip around Croatia could sit together. We also managed to be in the area served by our favourite waiter – Mihal.

It was always fun to be in this area of the restaurant and tonight was very jolly. It was also Hanny's birthday so after dinner the head waiter and staff brought around a Birthday cake and sang happy birthday.

What a lovely last evening.

The next morning it was time to disembark – the cabins had to be vacated by 9.00am so we were up, down to breakfast around 7.30am.

We had a taxi booked for 9.45am and put our bags out by 8.45am. Some people had early flights, some had in fact left before 6.00am, the rest of us sat in the lounge and as people left there were hugs, kisses and some tears.

Our taxi arrived and we discovered that we had been organised to share with another couple as well as Ralph and Hanny. They were going to an apartment for a week. Our taxi driver (the most glamorous taxi driver that Michael had ever seen, a very attractive lady), obviously knew her city because there were lots of road work blocking off streets and she had to detour time and time again. We dropped off the couple at their address and then continued on a short way to our hotel – Hotel Van Gogh.

We were far too early for check in but I had emailed a query earlier about leaving bags, and sure enough we were able to drop the bags and then go for a wander around.

Armed with our tourist maps, the four of us, walked a short way to Vondel Park and then up to the Leidseplein.

We sat outside at a little cafe / pub by a canal and soaked up the ambience. Michael tried to locate places from his previous visits but we worked out that the last time we were in Amsterdam was 1994 things had changed.

We walked around, and walked some more. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe and enjoyed a fabulous, enormous sandwich and a terribly delicious hot chocolate. It wasn't cheap but it was delicious.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel and check in. 

We walked back to the museum district and walked through the pedestrian / cycle route under the Rijksmuseum, into Museum Square. 

There were lots of families and tourists enjoying the park and the art displays. We sat on the wall at the edge of the pool and enjoyed people watching. Then we walked a short way along Paulus Potterstraat to our hotel.

We deliberately chose an hotel away from the busy nightlife of Leidseplein and chose the Hotel Van Gogh, which is opposite the Van Gogh Museum in the Museum district. Reasonably quiet both day and night. The hotel is situated in a side street, opposite a school. The playground is the pavement between the two.

Some people on tripadvisor found this a nuisance, we found it delightful. The play time screams were not a distraction and they won't be doing it at midnight. 

                                        (our hotel room wall)

 

We checked in, opting to pre book for breakfast each day for only 5 euro each. (6.50 euro if paid on the day). We found our rooms, opposite each other on the first floor, and all decided to unpack and have a rest before meeting up later to walk back to Leidseplein for dinner.

Around 3.00pm we heard a faint fire alarm going off, looked out of the window and saw all the little kids trailing out of the school. It was obviously a school fire drill. The youngest were in a line, holding on to hoops tied together, all very well behaved. Not intrusive or annoying at all.

We walked back to Leidseplein and immediately selected Mr Tong's Bistro.

The full menu had meals around 13 euro but the daily special was a Wok meal for 5 euro (select the meat, the sauce, and whether noodles, plain rice or fried rice.)

The drinkers amongst us had a lovely, local beer. The meal itself was great, and we sat next to fellow diners from Melbourne. The waiter, was Indian and had lived in Melbourne and Darwin.

On our way back to the hotel, we were surprised when a cyclist fell off his bicycle in front of us – for no apparent reason.(we think his front wheel may have touched a rubber wrapped chain lying on the ground in front of a bicycle hire shop). He had been riding along, smoking a cigarette, and talking on his mobile phone one minute and the next minute he's on the ground.

Michael and Ralph took a few moments to check out bicycles in the hire shop, then we all walked on. Just as we crossed the road a bicycle rode past, then we heard a crash – same cyclist, same place, same accident.

Stoned! Was the unanimous verdict.

We walked back through the Rijksmuseum passageway, through museum square and back to the hotel, bed and a nice quiet night's sleep.

The children started to arrive for school around 8.30am, gentle noises.

We went down to breakfast, expecting just cereal and croissants but we were pleasantly surprised to find fresh fruits, cereals, pastries, cold meats and cheeses, bacon, mushrooms and beans. Fruit juice and coffee machine.

Incredible value for 5 euro.

Ralph and Hanny had not spent time in Amsterdam before so headed off to 'do' the Rijksmuseum. We walked northwards to Waterlooplein market. We loved wandering around and couldn't resist lunch at a little stall – frites mit mayonnaise (chips and mayonnaise), a Dutch tradition, lovely.

(The only thing that we bought at the market was a folding emergency triangle for 2 euro).

That evening we met up with Ralph and Hanny and again walked into Leidseplein and after walking around a few streets headed back to Mr Tongs but elected on a banquet for 4, and a couple of beers each.

Are we jinxed, or are we lucky? We were just about to cross the road near the Rijksmuseum when two cyclist collided. No one fell off or was hurt but it was another night's entertainment.

The next morning we were off to another market, Albert Cuyp Market. Hanny fancied joining us, so they postponed their visit to Madame Tussaud's until the afternoon.

We walked down some quiet suburban streets to the market. It was a good market too. Hanny bought some shoes, and we bought a new sportsbag.

There was a little sandwich bar near the end of the market and we all enjoyed a hearty sandwich.

Ralph and Hanny caught a tram to Madam Tussaud's and we walked back through the market to the hotel.

Dinner that night was going to be a rice table at an Indonesian restaurant (it was my birthday) but when we asked if we could just have the banquet for 2 between the 4 of us they said no. We were not hungry enough to eat a full banquet so moved on. We walked along the streets that we had walked that morning. We spotted an Ethiopian restaurant but it looked deserted and each dish seemed to contain minced beef and cottage cheese and be served with flat bread. Just down the road was a Thai restaurant. It was busy, which is a good sign.

The place was almost full, but we got a table for four. There was just one poor waitress, running her legs off. Her mother was behind the bar but seemed only to be allowed to fill bowls with prawn crackers. The food was delicious, tasty without being too fiery. Although almost full we splashed out and had dessert – lychees and ice cream. A splendid birthday meal with friends.

In the evenings museum plein was nice and quiet, we were able to enjoy the beautiful Miffy the rabbit art works without lots of happy children cuddling them.

 

The next morning saw an end to our stay in Amsterdam – we were off to UK. (Ralph and Hanny were travelling into Netherlands then on to Finland and Poland).

The next morning  we said a bientot to Ralph and Hanny as they were off to get a train at 10.30am we would be getting a later intercity train to Brussels. 

After breakfast we. Then we went checked out and as we had a couple of heavy bags we opted to get a taxi to the station, not a tram. There was a taxi stand outside the Van Gogh museum, opposite the hotel so Michael went over to grab a cab. The driver seemed to know where he was going but when we were in north Amsterdam and had been in the cab for quite a while we started making anxious noises. His reasoning was that it would be a long walk for us if he dropped us at the front  of the station so he was going to set us down at the back of the station, closer to the trains. Unfortunately there was not set down or stopping at the back of the station so we had to join heavy traffic and make our way to the front of the station. The driver kept making different excuses for the long non-direct journey and eventually just pulled up opposite the front of the station and said he'd let us out there, and gave us a discount on the fare (meter read 29 euro, he said 20 was okay! We'd anticipated a direct taxi fare would cost around 18 - 20 so paid him his 20 euro).

We dragged our bags across 3 road junctions into the front entrance of the station. It was only a short walk to the intercity platform and there was only a 12 minute wait for a train. This train would get us into Brussels a coupld of hours early for our Eurostar train, but we were so unhappy after our taxi ride that we didn't want to stay in Amsterdam any longer. We boarded the next train.

We considered leaving our bags in the area between carriages but decided to bring them into the cabin with us, leaving them on the seat next to us.

It wasn't a fast train (because when I booked our Eurostar ticket back in Aus, the tickets for Thalys were not open and I wanted to get a good Eurostar discount price) and stopped at Schipol airport, Rotterdam and Antwerp, and a couple of other places, eventually pulling into it's last stop - Brussels midi. We were very happy that we had followed our instincts and kept our bags close by because there were a couple of announcements on the train warning of pickpockets at the stations and on the train!

We couldn't check in, as check in is only for the next train departure, and to change our ticket to an earlier train would mean paying over 3 times the price I'd paid for the ticket - we sat at Sam's Cafe and had a coffee. We read the paper, and had another coffee. Then we could check in and go through immigration and security. All done very easily, then we could board so we walked down to our carriage and found our seats. Thank you 'The Man In Seat 61'. 

When I booked the tickets I read all the notes and hints by The Man in Seat 61, one important tip being that the seating plan on the eurostar website was back to front. We had good seats, with an unobstructed window and we were facing forwards.

Soon we were pulling into St Pancras International Station. 

We weren't sure where we caught the train out to St Albans so I sat Michael down with the luggage and wandered off to find 'information'On the way I got some money out of an ATM, still no euro in UK - back to pounds and pence. I spotted the Thameslink sign, and a sign for St Albans. Next to the barrier were to ticket machines so I bought 2 tickets and headed back to collect the luggage, and Michael.

The next train was not an express train but we didn't mind and were soon walking out of the station, into a taxi and within 10 minutes we were outside Michael's brother's house.

A lovely welcome and a nice cuppa tea.

Bamberg, the Main River, Wurtzburg and Bonn

The next day arrived and we docked in Bamberg around 8.00am.

As we were docked a little way out of the main town we used shuttle buses to get into the town centre. Another delightful town and another organised walking tour, but once again we elected to do our own thing (well, I did, Michael elected to stay on board and relax after a restless night).The drop off and meeting point was behind the Messerschmitt Hotel. 

 

    
Messerschmitt -the same family as Willy Messerschmitt, the aircraft designer and manufacturer. He was born not far from Bamberg, the son of a wine merchant and hotelier.

(Bamberg also lays claim to the birthplace of Levi Strauss, the jeans man, but he was actually born in Buttenheim a tiny village near by).

More facts about Bamberg – it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983 due the abundance of historical buildings. It has 9 breweries in town and another 81 in the surrounding area. The Bamberg speciality beer is 'smoked beer', a dark, red ale with a smokey taste and an after taste of bacon. Sounds very odd but some people like it, apparently there's no middle ground, you either like it or you don't, no one seems to 'not mind it'.

Anyway, I got off the bus at the Messerschmitt Hotel and left the group to join their guides and set off on my own walking tour.

 

 I wandered through the quiet, cobbled streets, across the river and up to Dom Platz (Cathedral Square). It was beautifully quiet, with only about 9 other tourists and 1 council street sweeper. (Later when our various groups arrived it was a lot busier). 

I retraced my steps down through the antique shops, back over the bridge, through more quaint back streets down to the busy market place. 

                                      (Isn't this jewellery box delightful?)

I don't normally go shopping when I'm on holiday but I had time to kill so wandered into the Karstadt department store. As I did have plenty of time to kill I started looking at clothes and walked out about 45 minutes later with a very nice beaded tunic, which was a bargain as the labels were very misleading and the assistant agreed with me that although it wasn't in the sale it had been displayed as such, so I got it at the sale price.

Despite more stores and lots of little shops the only other purchases were at the supermarket on the way back to the Messerschmitt Hotel. We arrived back on board just before lunch and then set sail for Wurzburg.

There was a little drama during dinner as we made an unscheduled stop and an ambulance pulled up nearby. A kitchen staff member ('the washer up') had slipped on some stairs and hurt his ankle. He was attended to on site and we were on our way again. I don't think some people on board realised what was happening as the dinner service continued as smoothly as always.

We docked in Wurzburg the next morning. The organised tour was of the Wurzburg Residence, as the ship was docked in town we opted to do our own thing and walked along the river bank into the town centre.

We did a little shopping, odd souvenirs like a Swiss Army knife and a kitchen clock with temperature and hydrometer readings.

We had a coffee at a street side cafe and enjoyed people watching. We then wandered back to the ship for lunch. When we got back to the cabin we had a lovely surprise, our 'maid' had been and today she had demonstrated her napery folding skills - sitting on the bed was a little short-sighted elephant.
(the glasses were my spare pair).

After lunch I was folding up the map of Wurzburg when a little photo and note on the back of the map caught my eye. Wilhelm Roentgen the man who discovered X-rays, discovered them in his lab at Wurzburg university and that lab is now a museum. I checked out where this was and decided that it was walking distance so off we set.

It wasn't a short distance but we got there. We saw a sign saying Roentgen laboratory but thought the door at the top of the steps was locked. We walked on a little way and found the next door open, this lead into the science block of the University and apart from a couple of classes going on there was no one around. We opened a couple of more doors and it was like a scientific Marie Celeste – no one around. Then there was a clunk (probably a coffee cup hitting a bench) and a man appeared. We explained that we were looking for the museum, he took us outside, up some stairs and showed us the museum entrance – the door that we had thought locked.

                             (Roentgen's Nobel Prize)

A small but good museum and the exhibits were explained in English as well as German, we managed to get the video presentation to play in English too.

I thought about getting a taxi back to the ship but Michael was sure that he could make it, and with just one ice-cream stop he did.

Before we boarded we had a quick photo op on the foreshore where there were these lovely seats.
 We were back on board by 4pm, plenty of time for a nap before dinner.

The next day we had a treat on board, with a master glass blower coming on board to show us some of his work and explain all about glass blowing. We cruised on down towards Freudenberg as we watched. It was fascinating, he was an expert both at glass blowing and entertaining.

We docked in Freudenberg and after a light lunch we had a rest before we were off on another special treat – a home visit.

There were 4 coaches and each coach was then divided into groups of 6, 8, 10 or so and dropped off to meet our 'hosts'. We had not prearranged to go with anyone so when they needed numbers at the first stop we jumped of.

We were in the old town of Miltenberg, and were the only group that would be walking through the old town square as our host family lived in the town centre.

It was delightful, one of our group likened it to a scene from a Walt Disney fairytale. 

 

Our hostess was Maria and she spoke a little English, after we'd arrived at the house her husband, Karl-Heinz arrived and he spoke English quite well. We had a very nice afternoon tea with the choice of a very rich cherry cake or a rhubarb streusel type cake – some of us had a piece of each! a small one!!

Then our hosts showed us their garden which stretched out to a lovely vine shaded area with the river just across the road, uninterrupted views. Beautiful. Karl Heinz brought out a tray of Schnapps and Maria gave everyone a little gift of some chocolates. They were lovely, lovely hosts. 

Maria is Mexican, from Baja California, she had met Karl-Heinz when he was travelling around the world. They have 4 children, all of whom live in Baja. Karl had a bad accident and returned to Germany for the operations he needs on his leg. He is hoping to return to work as a dental technician soon, but they're not sure whether they'll ben returning to Baja or staying in Miltenberg.

All too soon it was time to head back and meet the bus, collect the other groups and return to ship.

We stood on deck as we cruised through Miltenberg but although we located their house, Maria and Karl-Heinz were not in the garden to wave to.

After dinner we relaxed, watched a movie on tv and slept very well.

Only a few days left on board but we still have places to visit. 

This morning we sailed into the Rhine River. A very busy, fast flowing river. After breakfast we docked in Rudesheim. We were definitely going ashore on the excursion today – visiting Siegfried's Musical Cabinet.

We got the 'Winzer Express' mini train from the dock into town and down to the Musical Cabinet.

 Here we were shown some amazing mechanical musical instruments and organs. At the end of the tour we were shown a beautiful little singing bird in a silver box, this was an antique but they are still being made.(There were some available in the museum shop, priced 3,000euro and upwards).

We set off to explore Rudesheim, wandering down more narrow cobbled streets and laneways. 
The most famous lane is the Drosselgasse which is 144 metre long,in the centre of town. It was built in 15^th Century and was meant for boat owners to move items from the river to their homes in town.

We found a nice cafe near the town square and had lunch sitting at an outside table, watching the world go by.

Then we made our way back to the ship.

Later in the afternoon we sailed into the Rhine Gorge. 

We sat up on the Sun Deck, listening to our tour guide's commentary about all the castles we were passing.

The last castle came into view around 6.15pm, just as it was turning a little cool. Time enough to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was, great as usual, and tonight had the theme – 'The International Dinner'.

Our choices were – Germany – Venison, or Italy – Rissotto

Everyone went Sweden for dessert – Vanilla and Pistachio ice cream.

The next day we docked before breakfast, in Bonn. The shuttle buses were leaving at 8.30am so it was an early start and breakfast. The tour involved a walking tour of Bonn and a visit to Drachenburg Castle. We opted for just a visit to the Castle and then straight back to the ship. It was raining!

We got on the coach and were driven to the base of the Funicular Railway and the ride up to the Castle.

It was actually more of a 'stately home' rather than a 'castle' which, to us, implies fortifications.

The rain persisted down so we didn't get a tour of the lovely gardens, it was straight inside for the tour of the rooms. The furnishings were quite different to some of the grand houses that we'd visited, very dark décor – everyone agreed it was 'very German'.

It was still persisting down so about two thirds of the group decided to forego the walk and stayed on the coach to return directly to the ship. Everyone was back on board before lunch, then we set off down the Rhine again.

Late in the afternoon we cruised into Cologne, the weather had improved so we were up on the sundeck.

 As we arrived there were some impressive  buildings on the river's dock side, these were built in the old dockyards and are meant to look like cranes to remember the dock yards's history. The first tow are office buildings but the third one is residential. A one bedroomed apartment in that block, we were told would cost around 1 million euro.

We got a glimpse of the wonderful Cathedral but Cologne was not a stop on our itinerary so we sailed on.

That evening dinner was The Captain's Farewell Dinner. There was champagne in the lounge and the Captain introduced the crew, so that we could show our appreciation. The staff on board have all been absolutely wonderful.

The kitchen staff were busy so we didn't get to see them, they would appear later.

Dinner was another amazing feast. There was no choice of dessert, everyone was going to get the same tonight – Baked Alaska. The chef and kitchen staff did a circuit of the restaurant with Alaska's aflame.

One more night on board, tomorrow we would dock in Amsterdam.