Thursday, August 16, 2013
The date for our much anticipated Anniversary Cruise is finally here. Bonnie and I flew to Amsterdam, arriving yesterday morning (Aug 15) to begin a cruise beginning in Amsterdam and finishing in New York 28 days later. We are traveling with our best friends, John and Marcy, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Imagine that - an 80th anniversary cruise!
The flight Atlanta-Amsterdam was effortless and smooth. Flying through the night does leave one a bit tired and disoriented but that's what it takes to get to Europe. We took a train from the airport to Amsterdam proper then a cab to the hotel. When we opened the door to the hotel we saw stairs, lots of them, heading straight up, up, up. With four pieces of luggage and being tired, this was just what the doctor ordered. These stairs led to the check in area and from there were more stairs! Fortunately they had a big brass hook attached to a cable that you could hook your bag to and with the push of a button, up it went. Pretty slick
John and Marcy joined us and the six of had an amazing meal of sushi and other
Asian delights. Tons of food and lots of flavor. Guy insisted on picking up the tab
and would not be talked out of it. Delightful evening for sure. Back at the hotel we truly crashed, having been up for close to 36 hours. Mercy!
We awoke this morning pretty refreshed and had a simple but super breakfast provided by the hotel. We then ventured out to explore and maybe go to a museum. It started to rain so we ducked unto a local eatery and had a light snack instead.
The date for our much anticipated Anniversary Cruise is finally here. Bonnie and I flew to Amsterdam, arriving yesterday morning (Aug 15) to begin a cruise beginning in Amsterdam and finishing in New York 28 days later. We are traveling with our best friends, John and Marcy, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Imagine that - an 80th anniversary cruise!
The flight Atlanta-Amsterdam was effortless and smooth. Flying through the night does leave one a bit tired and disoriented but that's what it takes to get to Europe. We took a train from the airport to Amsterdam proper then a cab to the hotel. When we opened the door to the hotel we saw stairs, lots of them, heading straight up, up, up. With four pieces of luggage and being tired, this was just what the doctor ordered. These stairs led to the check in area and from there were more stairs! Fortunately they had a big brass hook attached to a cable that you could hook your bag to and with the push of a button, up it went. Pretty slick
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| Lots of steps! Hook for luggage was AFTER these stairs |
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| Easy up with luggage |
After getting thinrgs into the room (very tiny) we headed out to explore and
have a snack. We found a charming place just a block away and sat canal side in
the sunshine for a relaxing light lunch.
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| Our hotel in Amsterdam |
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| Hotel on this canal |
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| Canals everywhere |
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| Living on a houseboat is very popular |
Greg's good friend, and the bass player for The Obsessed (Greg's band), lives in
Amsterdam so we contacted him and made supper plans. Guy (pronounced Gee,
said with hard G) came to the hotel and walked us to the restaurant, Momo, an
Indonesian fusion kind of place, very chic and euro. We were joined by Guy's
girlfriend, Alexis, who was not only beautiful but charming and bright as well.
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| Alexis and Guy |
We awoke this morning pretty refreshed and had a simple but super breakfast provided by the hotel. We then ventured out to explore and maybe go to a museum. It started to rain so we ducked unto a local eatery and had a light snack instead.
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| Quick bite before going to ship |
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| Man sized chess game |
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| More people travel on bikes than cars |
From there it was back to the hotel, load into a cab and head to the pier to get
on the ship. You would think this is a crowded, difficult process but it is anything but.
They take your luggage right out of the cab (you see it later in your stateroom).
You go to the sign in area and you are checked in, given an ID card, and that's
about it. Next thing you know you are on the ship! Of course we had done preregistration online before leaving Knoxville.
We met up with John and Marcy, headed out to eat, and were interrupted by an announcement that it was time for the lifeboat drill. The purpose of this is to have a dry run at finding your assigned lifeboat position. When that was over we did grab a bite. During this time the ship got underway so we watched as we cruised right by downtown Amsterdam.
Next we headed to the spa where they were doing drawings for various spa treatments. Bonnie won one of them, a treatment for getting rid of bloat and toning up.
We had a great dinner, browsed around the ship, then went off to our room for a very welcome bedtime.
We met up with John and Marcy, headed out to eat, and were interrupted by an announcement that it was time for the lifeboat drill. The purpose of this is to have a dry run at finding your assigned lifeboat position. When that was over we did grab a bite. During this time the ship got underway so we watched as we cruised right by downtown Amsterdam.
Next we headed to the spa where they were doing drawings for various spa treatments. Bonnie won one of them, a treatment for getting rid of bloat and toning up.
We had a great dinner, browsed around the ship, then went off to our room for a very welcome bedtime.
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