Amsterdam - part 1

We disembarked the ship early in the morning.  We had a post cruise excursion in Amsterdam for two days.  Viking actually hired a full size bus to drive those of us staying to the hotel.  The hotel was literally one block away from the ship.  We could have walked faster.

Our rooms weren't going to be ready until 3:00 in the afternoon so off we went on a walking tour with a Viking guide.

Beautiful shot of the Basilica of St. Nicholas with a rainbow.  This is located in the old part of the city across from the main train station.  It's also located in the heart of the Red Light District.  Our guide said he is forbidden to take Viking guests near the basilica because of its location.

Another view.  Of course everything in Amsterdam is surrounded by canals.

This is the main train station.  We went through there after we learned how to use the city's tram system.

The canals are lined with house boats and the sidewalks and streets are lined with bicycles.  Our guide told us that there are limited spaces in the canals for houseboats.  Buying the houseboat is the cheap part.  Securing a place to dock it can be 800K Euros.

Your head has to be on a swivel in Amsterdam.  Bicycles have the right of way above pedestrians, cars, and trams.  They come out of nowhere and aren't afraid to run you over.  The majority of locals were very tall and slender. probably because of all the bike riding they do.  We saw young kids to old grandmas riding through town.  

One of the old city gates.  European cities all have these cobblestone streets.  They are extremely beautiful, but very hard on the feet.  I bet women don't wear high heels on these streets.

Church at the end of a canal. I thought this was especially picturesque.

Stumbling stones were everywhere outside homes of Jewish people who were murdered by the Nazis.  In this case, an entire family.

Our guide took us to the National Holocaust Names Memorial.  

The names, birthdates, and age at death of the 102,000 Jewish people taken from Amsterdam are inscribed on the bricks.  They are arranged in alphabetical order.

The memorial is arranged in four sections to represent the Hebrew letters for In Memoriam.  It was deeply touching and emotional.  Everyone flocks to the bricks for Anne and Margot Frank because of their notoriety.  I chose to look through the bricks and choose a few to say a brief prayer for.  When you see all the kids who were so young, it was like a punch in the gut.

The ritzy canal part of town according to our guide.

During the English Reformation the Catholics of Amsterdam were persecuted.  Catholic churches were confiscated so they had to find alternate ways to worship.  

Chapels were hidden in houses.  This one is the Amsterdam Beguinage Chapel.  It was built in a community of Beguines who were single women who were not nuns, but took a vow of chastity and obedience to the parish priest.  The surrounding buildings are still a community for single women, mostly older, to live.  It was beautiful and well maintained.

This is the English Reformed Church that is located directly across from the hidden chapel.

I believe this was an entrance to an orphanage from back in the day.

The Amsterdam City Hall.

Of course we had to find a geocache in the city center.

This one was hidden in an alley and Irv was brave enough to stick his hand in that hole.

A typical street in Amsterdam.  The homes were built narrow and deep because taxes were based on the width of the facade.

We had tickets to visit the Anne Frank house that afternoon.  Thirty years ago when we visited we paid our entry fee at this door and explored the house on our own.  Since then they have built a wonderful museum that provides history on the Frank family.  It was really informative and I greatly enjoyed the museum even with the sad story it tells.  If you ever want to go keep in mind that tickets go on sale six weeks in advance and they always sell out quickly.

We had great fun exploring this cheese shop and sampling the many cheeses.  We purchased several chunks to bring home.

You can't go to Amsterdam without exploring a tulip museum.  We bought three different varieties to plant here at home.

This is the church and tower close to the Frank house that Anne wrote about in her diary.

I loved the decorated bicycles we came across.  This one was next to the Homomonument that commemorates all the gay men and lesbians who have been persecuted.  Our guide told us that Amsterdam is a very inclusive city that welcomes all people.

End of day one.