April 19 windmills & tulips

Today is our last day on the cruise. Tomorrow we fly home.
The ship is enroute to Amsterdam and on the way we see windmills and then visit Keukenhof.
Fortunately Merle & I decided to stay on board in the morning so we could exercise, pack and have a short massage. We were able to see the windmill field-- over 20 of them-- at Kinderijk, which is where our shipmates went by bus to see.

The visit to Keukenhof was spectacular. I took a ton of pictures of the flowers.  I would have liked more time there, though, as there was so much to see.  This is a must- see place this time of year!  So glad I got to be there in April. Very special.

(One day I hope to be able to add pictures here.)

This was a good trip, though as I indicated before, I prefer more time on the land than this cruise could have.Lesson learned.
Farewell Netherlands.

April 18 --if it's Tuesday it must be Belgium

So....the way this trip is set up you only get a very limited bit of time in cities so it's reinforced my hunch that this way to travel isn't my favorite.

We docked at Antwerp. Morning excursion was a walking tour in Antwerp and afternoon we drove to Brussels.  It was Really cold again in the morning.

After lunch Merle left the group to spend time with an old family's friend who lives near here.  The bus first stopped so we could snap pix of the Atominium--- huge atom structure from the worlds fair in 1958. Impressive.

Since today was the only time we visited a French speaking city, I decided to go on my own so I could interact with the locals.  While the time here was very short, I did get a very positive feeling for this city--- it felt a lot like France.

I went to a museum very briefly then wanted to walk a bit in the city, to end up at the group meeting place-- the Grande Place.
I had to have a Stella Artois on tap-- my favorite beer that's from here.  Yummy.
Just had a short walk around.

This was " If it's Tuesday it must be Belgium...."
Next trip I'll stay on land.

April 17 Ghent & Brugge Belgium

Today we docked in Ghent and went by bus to see the ancient cities of Ghent ( morning) and Brugge (afternoon) .  These day trips were too rushed and short and we were a bit frustrated, but we did see some nice things.
In the morning it was really cold and the walking tour wasn't very comfortable. Today is Easter Monday in Europe people are off work and it's another holiday for the locals.  The number of tourists was huge!  We thought going in April would avoid the crowds, but that's not the case.  However we got some nice pix and saw beautiful buildings.

The main site we visited was the Ghent church--- Cathedral of St Baro-- the very famous altarpiece by Van Eyck. ( circa 1492).
We had lunch on ship then drove to Brugge.  Merle & I wanted to go at our own pace so we left the walking tour & had our own tour.  That way in the 3 hours we squeezed in a lot.

First we went to the small Groening museum where we saw what's called "Flemish Primative " paintings.  It's art from the 1400s with unusual  features--- very detailed and colorful and almost a 3 D effect. I found them to be very interesting!  Glad we saw them.
I noticed lots of dogs in art and in town--- unlike in the Netherlands. I must be missing  my puppy!  😉

We then went to the Church of our Lady where we saw the Michaelangelo Madonna.statue.

The town was REALLY overrun with tourists and that was not at all pleasant.

We saw beautiful swans and some tulips.

April 16 Veere ( in Zeeland)

Funny thing last night... I turned on I pad to blog and the message said the site was blocked because it was deemed to be porn!! 😬  Oh dear!  I tried many times & was refused. So I'm glad that now I can log on.

During breakfast we went through another lock, which is always fun to watch. We docked in the town of Veere, on the North Sea.  Today is Easter and there is a large group on board from Germany. So in the lounge on the upper deck they laid out a German buffet and had music playing German songs!  Really felt like we were in Germany.  The food was not what I eat--- there was even a pig's head in display in the buffet--- but it was festive and lively.
I ate in the restaurant and by the way, the food has been excellent, as has been the service. I'm way over- eating.  I'm really satisfied with this cruise. The stewardess delivered a plate of chocolate eggs to our cabins this morning.

After lunch we had an excursion to the Delta project--- built to prevent the kind of horrible flood like they had in 1953.  Our bus drove over a dam where on one side was the North Sea and the other side was a lake.  ( I think I'm saying that right...). Then we went to the Delta Barrier----- built so that the sea could be shut off if necessary--- to prevent flooding.  This was an incredible work of engineering.  We walked over the barrier as well as went inside it.  At the visitors center we saw a film explaining the whole project. Just amazing! Our guide said the Dutch are fond of saying that God built the world but the Dutch built Holland.  It is a really apt expression and I now understand why they say that.  I hadn't realized before this trip that everywhere are dykes--- not just here and there.

We had a short walking tour in the town of Veere.  Again, really pretty and quaint.  The Dutch were all out riding bikes or going for a Sunday stroll.

We are never really sure what's coming next on this trip....we wish we had a clear map of our routes ( such as with the daily schedule) but that's not been the case so far.

By the way, I know there have been some typos in my blog ( and I know some friends are finding them all) but it's not always  easy to see them and Internet sometimes cuts out.  So please forgive.  😉
All's well here and still having a good time!

On the ship April 14-15

It's evening on April 15. I couldn't get on Internet last night so I'll write about yesterday and today.

April 14
I spoke to Roger a couple times on his birthday and it seemed he had a good day!
Today we went on a bus to and excursion out of Amsterdam. Just 15 minutes outside of the city you're really in the country and it was beautiful!  First we stopped to see our first windmill up close.  We learned that windmills were built in a row at increasing heights in order to pump out the water.  We visited a cheese factory where we tasted a wide array of different Gouda cheeses.  Yummy.

The first town where we stopped was Volendam-- really charming!  Would be a lovely place to stay for some days.  In the town is a huge lake that was originally a part of the sea but was dammed and now is a fresh water lake.  Tradition here is for each house in the village to have a window close to the street and the curtains at each house are unique & special.  Town has grown so much that now it connects with the city of Edam.

Driving past houses in the country showed me the typical lay out-- street in front, then canal,  then another canal on the side followed by a field with grass & sometimes cows grazing. The land all was reclaimed and evidently pumps keep things in check all over.  Many houses have a boat in a nearby canal.  Beautiful!

Next town was Edam. Turns out though there's not a lot of Edam cheese made here as locals prefer Gouda --they say it's got a stronger flavor ( and Edam is seen as too bland). This is another really charming town!

Our ship FINALLY set sail during the night Friday-- after 2 nights moored in Amsterdam. I say "finally" because the travel plans changed from the schedule when they discovered the place we were heading to had " no room at the inn"--- or rather at the harbor.  Hard to understand how that sort of thing can't be set in advance but someone speculated that the local harbor master may have gotten a better offer elsewhere... Hmmm...
But we still are having a good time.

April 15
During the night I kept my curtain open a bit to watch the water.  Nice.  This morning we woke up to the ship going through a lock before arriving at Arnham.

Our guide Frans gave us an excellent lecture about the waterways and how it all works.  Most informative!
After lunch Merle & I joined a couple of others to deviate from the organized excursion so we could go see a museum -- Kroller- Muller Museum outside of Arnhem. It holds the second largest collection of Van Gogh works.  Since we missed his museum in Amsterdam we really wanted to go here.  His works were fantastic and the crowds were nothing like we found in Amsterdam despite this being Easter vacation week.  In addition I was delighted  to see other works such as Picasso ( I Loved those), Gaugin, Pisarro, Cezane, Monet, Renoir, Signat and some excellent Dutch painters I had not known before.  We were very pleased with our decision to go here.

Weather was chilly but sunny so that's good!

Off to dinner now!
Jane

April 13 Amsterdam

I'm now sitting in my cabin aboard our ship the Amadeus II Silver. We came aboard late this afternoon after a full day in Amsterdam. This morning our art historian ( Max) gave a lecture about the 17 th century art in the Netherlands-- the " golden age."  He's very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and brought to life the artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and others. This was a prelude to our visit to the Riksmuseum.  He took us on a short " greatest hits" tour of the museum.  These were masterpieces for sure.
Unfortunately this is the week before Easter and we discovered that this city was extremely crowded with tourists ( oh dear) and hoards of school children from all over Europe on vacation.  So navigating the museum --and really all over town --was not fun.  Locals said the number of tourists in the city has gotten out of hand and we sure saw that.  Anyway, we did see some excellent art.

Some overall impressions of our stay in Amsterdam:
-- I really liked this city. Lively, beautiful, easy to get around ( tram or on foot).  I'd be happy to return here.
--yes indeed I smelled that special herb often on the streets
-- we only accidentally walked down a street in the red light neighborhood but did see examples of ladies in windows
-- we experienced some intermittent sunshine, and quite a bit of grey and overcast skies

We boarded out little ship around 4 pm and got settled.  Our group of 21 is only a small part of the approximately 130 travelers aboard.  Merle and I wanted to sign up for massages tomorrow before all the slots were taken, so we did that ASAP.

Our cabins are gorgeous!  The ship is only a couple years old, and quite spacious cabins and new. I'm very impressed with that so far.

Dinner was delicious---- high quality. I had salmon.  I expect we will eat too well!

Was surprised to learn that the ship doesn't depart till tomorrow afternoon so we are moored here in the harbor in our floating hotel room.

So far so good!
Tomorrow is Roger's birthday. Sorry to be missing it ( and him).

Jane

April 12 Amsterdam

Today was our first full day with our Road Scholar group. Our guide gave us a short history of the Netherlands lecture (1.5 hours) with PowerPoint and while it covered a lot of material it did hit the major events. ( Glad there wasn't a test after, however). Any discussion of history inevitably reminds me that things just keep repeating themselves... It's about power, control, money fame, ego, pride, etc.
Frans is quite knowledgeable and easy to understand, thankfully.

He then introduced us to Max, an expert on the architecture and art of the city.  Max gave us a walking tour and pointed out curiosities and historical facts about the buildings.  We walked through various neighborhoods and along canals & the river. It was nice to walk around but we also had to stand a lot & it became very chilly. The weather has been unexpectedly cold and today was quite gloomy, with a few light bits of rain. We really hope the weather is better on the river trip ...or it may not be quite the trip we hoped for.

After lunch we were on our own.  I wanted to see the floating flower market but it turned out to be a waste of time.  The shops along the river sold bulbs and kitch and nothing of  interest. A disappointment.
But then we went to the Hermitage museum where there is a fantastic exhibit about the fall of the Romanovs. The way the information was displayed was very special--- made you feel you were there, with music, art and history woven together. The focus was on Czar Alexander and his heir --- the very ill- fated Nicholas and his family. It was a most interesting unfolding of this tale.

Merle & I were cold & tired so we opted to have dinner not far from the hotel-- at a Malasian restaurant. Nice. Wish Roger could have had their yummy coconut ice cream!

We had to pack up, for tomorrow our bags are sent to our boat while be go to museums.  Then when we head to the boat in the afternoons, our bags will already be there.

Time for nite nite.😬💤
J