Amsterdam - Dec 2, 2017

It's been a long couple of days with very little sleep.  We had seats with lots of legroom, but still had a tough time getting to sleep and more importantly staying asleep.  The flight was slightly delayed, but we arrived this morning at 10, got thru customs rather easily, got our bags and met our transport to our ship.  We were on the ship and eating lunch by 11:30.  After lunch we got unpacked and settled into our lovely stateroom.  

I joined the 1:30 walking tour of Amsterdam, while Jackie stayed behind to rest.  It was a brisk 32 degrees out, a little cold for this California girl, but I had a hand knitted shawl, a warm hat and gloves, and a brisk walking pace to keep me comfortable.  The tour guide did a great job explaining the history of the area and was very knowledgable.  

One of her first admonishments was to stay out of the way of the bicyclists as they own the road here and pedestrians who step in front of a moving bike do so at their own risk.  There is not a lot of space for parking, so bicycles are everywhere and the main mode of transportation.  There is a subway being built, but it won't be open till this summer.

Here are a few photos from around town.

After the tour, I went off on my own to explore the main shopping street, just a few blocks over.  I thought I had taken a picture of the holiday decorations and the crowded pedestrian streets, but it appears not.  It was fun to see the hustle and bustle of the crowds and hear many languages spoken as I walked along.  

We were told that there were two quilt shops right next to each other in central Amsterdam, so I stopped in at Starbucks to rest for a few and pull up a map to see if I could find it.  Luckily I did, but since I didn't set my phone up to use internationally I had to make due with screen shots and my unfailingly bad sense of direction.  Upshot was that I finally did find it after a long walk the wrong way and a stop at a McDonald's for more free wifi.  Quilt shops are quilt shops wherever you go, but the first one had a selection of Dutch traditional patterns which of course came home with me. Luckily there won't be too many shops along the way, so hopefully I will stay out of trouble because, I don't need more fabric....but that has never stopped me.

I am proud to say that I navigated my way back to the ship without getting any more lost!  I checked my steps, a total of 11,500 and 5.5 miles for the day.  Let's just say I should sleep well tonight.

We met up with the rest of the quilters on this tour and enjoyed a delightful meal.  Now it's time to see if sleep is going to be an option.

Tomorrow should be an easy day.  Our tour of kinderdjik and the windmills doesn't leave till 10:00. Then it's back to the ship for a safety drill and a restful afternoon and evening. 

More to come....